Parents of African-American teens who offer a combination of control and warmth help their children be more successful in school, Ohio State University reseachers reported in a recently released study.
More than 60 percent of the 11th and 12th graders enrolled in the Young Scholars program at Ohio State said their parents made regular demands and closely monitored all their activities but tempered the discipline with affection. Those students reporting a family closeness also had higher levels of self-esteem and said they believed they could do well in school. The Young Scholars Program is for low-income urban minority students who show academic promise and whose parents did not attend college.
“For those families in a special situation with a lot of stress and risk. . . the combination of a high level of guidance and involvement as well as warmth helps these teens succeed,” says Barbara Newman, professor of urban development and family studies at the College of Human Ecology at Ohio State. While most studies concentrate on middle-class white teenagers and emphasize a teen’s need for independence, Newman says, “This is a different model that works in these families and researchers have to be aware of it.”
