I help high schoolhigh-school students in the US and internationally launch their organizations, businesses, and create capstone projects. Now that schools across the country and public spaces are starting to close, many of my students need to find ways to adjust their activities so that they can work and study from home. OneFor instance, one of my students, for instance, was making video games accessible to kids with cancer in hospitals. For obvious reasons, this project won’t be viable anymore. This brings me to what I think are two central life skills teens should learn during this time of uncertainty and social distancing: creative thinking and problem-solving using the internet.

I’ve realized that even though most of my students are very familiar and know how to use social media, most of them do not actually know how to use the internet to pursue their interests and core passions. Parents should encourage their teens to continue to explore their passions utilizing the web. Students who were tutoring subjects can still give video conference presentations, for instance.

There’s plenty of free online resources that can allow students to launch their websites or create online blogs. Now is a great time for teens to learn a different facet of the internet and develop their creative-thinking and problem-solving skills.