Parents' Leading Resolutions For Kids In 2013? "Clean Your Room" And "Get More Engaged At School"

HERNDON, Va., Dec. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- What do parents want to see their children accomplish in 2013?  Not surprisingly:  clean their room and get more engaged at school.  But in general, make better choices.

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Almost seven in eight (87%) U.S. parents of children ages 6-17 want to choose a New Year's resolution for their child or children, according to a new Harris Interactive survey for K¹² Inc., the nation's leading provider of technology-powered individualized education for students in pre-kindergarten through high school.

When asked which New Year's resolutions, if any, they would select on behalf of their children, parents picked the following:

Top Five Resolutions for Kids

1. Clean up their room more often (47%)
2. Be more engaged in school (33%)
3. Have healthier eating habits (33%)
4. Get more physical activity (33%)
5. Play fewer video games (29%)

Other resolutions parents wish their children would make include minding manners (24%), better hygiene (22%), texting less and reading more (21%), being a better friend (11%) and other (4%). 

Overall, the survey speaks to the desire for kids to take personal responsibility, be engaged, and make good choices, from cleaning up their rooms to developing healthy eating habits to doing their homework. The resolutions parents chose confirm the findings of cognitive scientists—that much of life's success is made up of a series of well-executed basics repeated over time.

K¹² Inc.'s award-winning curriculum is based on cognitive science designed to increase educational engagement and effectiveness.  K¹² Vice President Michael Masalayak, Ed.D., a distinguished educator with over 40 years of public, private and parochial school experience, notes that some recent studies have questioned whether playing fewer video games (resolution #5) will necessarily lead to more engagement in school (resolution #2).  "Interestingly, when it comes to academics, one key to engagement is instruction designed to engage digital-centric 21^st century minds, and that sometimes means appropriately channeling the modern-day penchant for interactivity through video and games, which can captivate a young learner," Masalayak explained.   

"Ben Franklin listed thirteen virtues he resolved to live by, and kept charts of his progress. New Year's resolutions can work the same way for our children," commented John Holdren, K¹² Inc.'s Senior Vice President of Content and Curriculum. "When we get older, it's all about losing a few pounds. But when we're younger, it's about finding our way in the world, about building the habits and reinforcing the behaviors that bring out our best selves."

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of K¹² Inc. from Dec 17-19, 2012 among 2,309 adults ages 18 and older, among which 421 are parents of child(ren) age 6-17.  This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.  For complete survey methodology including weighting variables, please contact HarrisInteractive.com

About K¹²

With more than one million courses delivered to date, K¹²  is the leader – by a wide margin – in providing programs, products and services to public schools in the U.S.  Its managed online public schools are free to parents and offer K¹²'s acclaimed K-8 and high school programs.  K¹² also has private schools and offers direct purchase of courses with or without teacher support for enrichment and homeschooling. Options by state can be found on an interactive map: http://www.k12.com/enroll-or-buy/find-a-school-and-enroll/

K¹² students have been accepted at hundreds of post-secondary schools, including Princeton, Duke, Julliard, NYU, Stanford and the Art Institute of Chicago.  More information can be found at www.K12.com

SOURCE K12 Inc.