Tonight with your 13 to 17 year old

The prompt

“If you had to explain to a younger kid what school like yours actually teaches you, beyond the classes, what would you say?”

What to listen for

Listen for whether they focus on social survival skills, resilience, self-discipline, or something about figuring out who they are. Whatever they lead with is likely what's felt most real and hard-won for them lately.

If they get philosophical or surprisingly wise about it, let them keep going without jumping in with your own take, this is their chance to synthesize their own experience out loud.

If they just say "idk, how to survive," laugh with them, that's a real answer too, and you can follow up lightly asking what "surviving" has looked like for them this year.

What this tells you

This tells you what lessons they feel they've actually earned from this stage of life, which is often more revealing than any report card.