4 Resources and Tips for Supporting Young Parents
At this point in my story, I was a sophomore in high school and working two jobs to help me take care of my son. I share four resources and tips for supporting young parents.
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Spend money wisely (create a budget)
A budget helps you plan for your money before you receive it. Having a budget ensured I only spent money on the necessities to support my son. I didn’t come from a wealthy family so I learned how to track my expenses and find avenues to save money. The impact of the budget was I could stretch my money for longer. Money adds up, so if you save a little as often as you can, in no time at all you’ll have a lot saved in the end.
Question: Where might you be wasting money?
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A heart of gratitude (show appreciation)
I moved in with my grandmother after running away from home. If you missed my previous post, I had an argument with my stepfather which led me to run away from home. Even then I soon learned that I could run but not hide from the fact that I was soon going to be a teen mother. Living with my grandmother, I didn’t have a bed of my own. But my mom’s friend gave me one and I was so thankful. At the time, it was all I had. It was used and didn’t look good. But it was a bed. My choices were limited so I made do with what I had. And I was thankful for the roof over my head and the support.
Question: Are you appreciative for the little things and big things which people have been doing for you?
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Stay in school (work hard and don’t give up)
It’s hard enough being a teenager. Add in being a mother, holding down two jobs, and still going to school and you can imagine that I needed all the resources and tips for supporting young parents I could find. As a young parent, stay in school and work hard so you don’t have to later. I understood that doing well in high school meant a scholarship to college. A scholarship meant no tuition. While a college education would lead to a good job. My advice for young parents is to keep pushing and trying. If you can learn anything from my story, it’s that hard work pays off.
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Evaluate your resources (internal and external)
As a young parent, you have way more resources at your disposal than you think. Your internal resources are your focus, willpower and determination. Your external resources include your family and friends. Think about using resources like the internet, a phone or a tablet. Instead of spending all your time on social media, use resources like your phone to study, research different colleges, and explore different career options.
Those are my four resources and tips for supporting young parents.
Final word: Be focused and use your resources to figure things out.
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I’m Summer Owens, and my passion is helping youth and young adults realize success no matter what obstacles they face. As an international resilience and leadership keynote speaker, author, S.O. What! Success Coach, and creator of the S.O. What! Literacy, Life Skills, and Character Education curriculum, I empower people to say, “So what!” to even their greatest challenges. provide a framework to help people see past their challenges and focus on solutions using the S.O. What! Success System (Overcome Obstacles + Eliminate Excuses + Calculate Choices = S.O. What! Success). Through keynotes, workshops, books, online courses, and workbooks, I use life’s challenges and my own story of resilience as a rape survivor and teen mom success story to help others confidently pursue their dreams.
Looking for an inspiring college motivational speaker? A high school literacy curriculum? A middle school life skills workbook? A great example for teen mothers? A women’s empowerment or single mother’s conference speaker? I’m your girl and will help any audience say, “S.O. What!”.
