Positive Parenting

Teaching Generation Z How to Hope

A child’s capacity for hope is directly proportional to their wellbeing. Here, find four strategies to help youth feel hopeful about their ability to shape their futures.

By Chan M. Hellman, Ph.D., Updated on June 4, 2025
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Hope — the belief that the future is bright and that you have the power to make it so — is a vital cognitive skill. Children who feel more hopeful about the future consistently have better attendance, classroom engagement, grades, and self-regulation. Resilience literature also tells us that hope is a major protective factor against adversity.

Parent and educators can help the children in their lives flourish by teaching them how to hope by following these steps.

1. Talk about hope.

Hope is not frivolous or fleeting. It is a mindset centered on taking action to achieve the future one wants. Hope is powered by three key components: goals, pathways (i.e., how to move towards goals), and willpower (i.e., keeping your eye on the prize).

[Free Webinar: Learn About the Science and Power of Hope]

Hope does not sprout from a one-time conversation, so talk to your child or students often about hope, its components, and hopes they hold personally.

2. Find examples of hope in age-appropriate media.

Children’s movies, television, and books are filled with lessons on hope, as characters commonly work toward goals in the face of barriers and adversity.

While reading a book or watching a movie, ask your child or student about the goals of a character. How is the character trying to achieve their goals? What barriers does the character face, and how does it affect their hope? Does the character struggle to maintain motivation? Does the character eventually keep going? If so, what motivates them? How did they change course to overcome the barriers?

In practically all children’s media, the main character can’t overcome barriers without the help of friends. This is the social gift of hope. Ask: How can you rely on friends and others to help you overcome barriers? How can you help your friends remain hopeful in reaching their goals?

[Read: ADHD & the Art of Persistence — Teaching Goal-Setting Skills]

3. Create a visual map of hope.

Help your child or students map out their goals and hopes in a powerful visual reminder of what it means to take action toward a better future. Help them find pictures that represent a goal, that goal’s pathways (at least three), and willpower. Have them write a few sentences about how a picture symbolizes a component of hope. The final product will be a graphic display of hope, goals, pathways, and willpower in a framework.

4. Be attentive to future-oriented statements.

Listen for statements about wanting to do something, like joining the school band or basketball team. These are future expectations, and it’s on you to help your child or student figure out how to engage in pathways and sustain motivation to achieve those goals.

Why Is Hope Important?: Next Steps

The content for this article was derived from the ADDitude ADHD Experts webinar titled, “The Science and Power of Hope” [Video Replay & Podcast #486] with Chan M. Hellman, Ph.D., which was broadcast on January 10, 2024.

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