From moving up to moving out.

This may be one of the toughest school transitions your child will make. Not only are their bodies changing, but their social life becomes the most important thing in the world to them. (Middle school cliques are the worst!) Tack on new academic challenges, and you can see why your child might feel anxious before the new school year.

As parents, we can take steps to make moving up to middle school a little easier to navigate. Here are a few tips that can help:

• Accentuate the positive: Talk about the new opportunities that lie ahead. They can try out for a school sport. Join the drama or art club. Learn to play an instrument in band. All these are great ways to make healthy social connections and forge new friendships.
• Set them up for success: Staying organized is key at this age. Sit down together to create a homework schedule and make a calendar of after-school activities. Be sure to include family meals and time with friends. Sprinkle in a little downtime as well.
• Contact the school to plan a visit: Changing classes for the first time can feel a bit daunting. Walking through the halls to find their homeroom and other classrooms can help them get more familiar with their new surroundings.

Talk about being a small fish in a big pond. Freshman year of high school can be particularly intimidating. Your teen may be grappling with fears about getting around in a new building or managing higher-level coursework. But there is one thing to be keenly aware of and prepared for — peer pressure.

While peer pressure certainly doesn’t start in high school, this is peak time for risky behaviors among teens. With higher incidences of drug and alcohol use, smoking, or other dangerous behaviors like driving too fast, high school peer pressures should be talked about early and often.

Giving your teen strategies to have in their back pocket can empower them to avoid risky situations. Here are some ideas to talk about:

• Practice saying “no”: Help your teen learn to politely but firmly decline invitations that may make them feel uncomfortable.
• Offer an alternate plan: Whether it’s going to shoot hoops or play the latest video game, sometimes breaking the boredom is all it takes.
• Avoid risky situations: Encourage your teen to skip parties when they know there will be drugs or alcohol there. Offer to take them to a movie with friends instead.
• Encourage meaningful friendships: Being part of healthy social groups—kids getting good grades, on sports teams or in school clubs—can be positive influences on your teen.

If college is right for your teenager, they’ve probably been planning for and thinking about it for years. Now it’s time to leave home and become truly independent. Making this transition as stress-free as possible can help set your teen up for success. Experts say the best way to do this is with compassion and communication.*

Here are some of the main concerns college-bound teens have. Talk about them with your teen before packing up the car.

• Balancing academics with a social life
• Sharing their personal space with roommates
• Getting homesick
• Taking on student debt
• Accessing health services and other support when they need it (we have an app for that!)

Staying healthy while away from home

Lack of sleep. Added stress. Dorm bathrooms. It’s no wonder college kids get sick so often. Teaching your kid the virtues of virtual care can help.

With MDLIVE for Cigna Healthcare^®, your teen can connect to a board-certified doctor by phone or video, 24/7, for care and treatment of common illnesses such as the flu, urinary tract infections (UTIs), sore throats and more. They can also access virtual therapy, dermatology care, and our new E-treatment feature.