Parental influence on Mexican American students academics

Abstract

This study examined how Mexican American parents influence their adolescent children’s academics. Eleven Mexican American high school students took part in this study which occurred in a small Midwestern town. Four factors of parental influence were examined using questionnaires that were administered through interviews. The factors of parental influence were: parental ability to help with academics, parental support, parental monitoring and parental education level. It was hypothesized that Mexican American parents who are able to provide support and monitoring, and who have the ability to help their adolescent students with school work will positively influence their adolescents academically. It was also hypothesized that the more education the parents have, the better their children will do with their academics. Key words: Mexican American, adolescents, parenting, academics.