Parents, have you heard of the power of peer coaching?
As the new school year approaches, peer coaching is the solution to helping your teens navigate the numerous tough decisions that lie ahead.
Peer coaching is more than just relying on friends; it’s about developing a community where individuals can use coaching techniques to empower one another. While teens also should be leaning on parents and mentors for insight in decision making, youth often first turn to their friends.
Peer coaching enables teens to effectively grow each other while developing an internal compass that guides their choices with wisdom.
The Need for Decision-Making Help
Why do teens struggle with decisions?
Nel Wulfhart, who dubs herself a Decision Coach, said that people typically struggle to make choices because they fear regret. They don’t fear the decision itself; rather, they fear the unknown effects of it.
Teens especially feel this fear because adolescence brings frequent life-changing choices. Graduation, career, grades, extracurriculars — teens face pressure on every side.
All these options come with trade-offs, and some regrets are inevitable. The key is not to aim for perfection, but to make decisions with the best information available at the time.
It’s better to regret a choice than to regret not choosing at all. Often, we look back and wish we hadn’t waited so long.
Decision-making isn’t about always getting it right. It’s about moving forward with clarity, integrity, and courage.
The Benefits of Peer Coaching
What does peer coaching offer?
Peer coaching provides a way for students to find this clarity.
This type of coaching tool provides students with friends who listen deeply, ask meaningful questions, and steer them to uncovering the right next steps.
Students typically feel more comfortable opening up to their friends than to adults. And peer coaching elevates this trust even more.
Coaching creates a structured way for students to guide and challenge one another in a supportive way.
A student coach uses essential skills such as active listening, empathy, and asking powerful questions to lead friends to find meaningful solutions to problems. Then what they learn together is reinforced through support and accountability.
Effective peer coaching enables teens to guide one another and create an atmosphere where they can grow to reach their potential together. It builds trust, empathy, and leadership.
Tips for Relying on Peers
How does peer coaching help with decision-making?
The process starts by teaching teens to find trusted friends.
Parents, it feels scary to encourage your teens to seek the input of their friends, but with your guidance, you can help your kids find supportive, genuine peers.
Encourage your teens to think critically about who they turn to for advice. Your teens can reflect on this by asking:
- Does this person share my values?
- Do they support my growth?
- Do they truly listen to what I am saying?
Warn your kids gently: if someone gives advice that contradicts their goals or raises red flags, it’s okay to listen and then choose differently.
Then, when teens determine who to talk to, that friend can ask them powerful questions to help navigate decisions. (Check out my guide on peer coaching here.)
Students do not have to navigate their journey to success alone. Their friends can walk alongside them, providing support and advice through the ups and downs of adolescence.
Challenge your teens to embrace this concept. Urge them to find a peer to engage in a meaningful conversation with.
