Parents isolated at home with children, teens, and college students are saying to themselves, “Yikes—I need hope for my kid’s future during COVID-19.”
Hope is here.
Here, 7 reasons to have hope for your kid’s future during COVID-19.
Pass this on to a friend who needs increased hope in uncertain times.
1. The at-home schooling you’re doing now is not going to hurt your kid’s future.
I know it’s imperfect. I know it’s difficult to have a school routine when you don’t have enough quiet workspaces for all of your kids—and you’re trying to work from home too. It’s OK. Just do what you can, and trust that the gaps in your kids’ education during COVID-19 will even out later. They will.
2. Carefully isolating your family is the best thing you can do for your kid’s future during COVID-19.
I know it takes time and energy. I know it’s stressful. I know you’re having to think about survival details you’ve never thought of before. I know you wonder when it will ever be over.
But keep on. One day at a time.
When you isolate, you help protect your kids and others from grief over the deaths of people they love—and you protect us all from an unnecessarily prolonged economic downturn.
The more diligently we isolate, the faster this will be over. I promise.
3. Remind yourself daily: This is temporary.
Dr. Eileen M Feliciano, Psy.D. comforts us with these words: “Take time to remind yourself that although this is very scary and difficult, and will go on for an undetermined amount of time, it is a season of life and it will pass. We will return to feeling free, safe, busy, and connected in the days ahead.”
4. COVID-19 will not diminish your child’s future college or grad school prospects.
If you’re from a family that takes education seriously, you may worry that you’re missing key steps you should be taking now if you want to get your child to a bright future.
Don’t worry.
Every family is in the same boat as you are. Colleges and grad schools know what’s going on, and they are scrambling to accommodate. Everything in education is going more slowly than it usually does, and that’s OK. Just do what you can, and let go of the rest.
Things will slowly come back to normal when the storm is past, and you won’t be behind. I promise.
5. Don’t waste any energy worrying about whether elite education can still be a part of your kid’s future.
If you tend to worry about this, listen to this short podcast episode where I cite Gallup research demonstrating that elite education doesn’t move the needle one bit on 5 separate measures of human happiness.
Then skim this article, where I repeatedly quote a Yale professor who tells us that our kids would be better off if we’d talk them out of applying to the Ivy League.
Your child does not need elite education to have a fantastic life. Please—let go of anxiety over that.
All this said, if you do still really want elite education—don’t worry. Ivy League schools will still be accepting students as they usually do.
6. Wonderful help is available in these Mental Health Tips for Quarantine by Eileen M Feliciano, Psy.D.
Dr. Feliciano’s ideas on how to respond to children and teens who are acting out or melting down are particularly helpful.
You can find Dr. Feliciano’s tips here.
Do even a fraction of what she suggests, and you’ll have done much to protect and care for both yourself, and your kid’s future during COVID-19.
7. If faith is a part of your family story, stand strong in it.
Your child has a calling and a purpose in this life. Hold on tightly to faith—and you can see truly astounding things accomplished in your kids’ lives as the decades go by.
If you’d like to, please join me as I sing and pray for kids and parents everywhere. I’ll be logging in and joining with thousands of others here at 9:00 am CDT, every Sunday morning during isolation.
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Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, and on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.