Dear Parents, How Do You Get Your Child To Focus?

We've all dealt with it.  Why isn't my kid paying attention?  What do I need to do to get through to them?  

These moments happen in every family and every household.  You want the best for your children, but sometimes it seems like their future might be a little...muddy.

I've often said that my listeners are the "smartest listeners in the world."  They've always had answers that helped us parents.  So, maybe you could help with this parent's dilemma...

I got this email from a listener:

Hey Brett,

I know how many parents you have that listen to your show and thought you might be able to reach out to them about something that I’m struggling with.  I’m sure I’m not the only one, and probably won’t be the last one but how in the world do you get kids to focus these days?  We never had as many distractions as they do now, so we can’t quite parent the same way as our parents did.

My daughter is very bright.  In the past, she’s always done really well in school.  She always scores really high on tests and seems to be understanding the material that is presented to her.  But recently my husband and I were shocked to see that her grades have fallen way below what we consider acceptable grades.  After looking into why they were so low, it turns out she just isn’t turning homework in.  So she’s gotten a bunch of zeroes!

After asking her why she wasn’t doing her homework, we find that she HAS been doing it.  She just isn’t turning it in because she “forgets.”

The very next day we got an email from her coach saying that she’s having a hard time focusing at practice too.

In the past, we’ve taken things away.  No more cell phone…no more computer…no more TV.  But it’s not helping.  And she’s not a bad kid.  She just seems to be struggling with focusing on tasks.

We used to always laugh about when you’d go on the air and ask your listeners to help with a predicament because you had “the smartest listeners in the world.”

So we’re hoping your smartest listeners in the world might have gone through it…have been able to help their kids…and might be able to help ours.

Thanks,

Mandy

As a parent, I've had these moments too!  Have you been through this?  How did you get your child to focus on the task at hand?  What would you suggest?