Teenagers Today's Health Advisory Panel Answers: Would it be bad to move after our teenager's freshman year?

By Chris Crutcher Author Licensed Child and Family Therapist

Question:

We are thinking of moving and have a teenager about to enter ninth grade in 2004. We have some flexibility in when we move. Are there published studies on the best and worst times to move a high school student? Should we move before high school? Would it be bad to move after her freshman year or after her second year? Is no time good to move a teenager? What things can be done to minimize the pain and stress?

Answer:

I don't know what the literature says, if there is in fact such literature (which I'm sure there is – there's literature about everything.) It's always hard to move. It's hard to leave people. But I would do it at the most "natural" time. Between junior high and high school is one of those times. It's probably preferable, if a teenager is well connected, to not move at all if that's a possibility, but it's often not. I would simply look at the least disruptive time. A lot of times the teenager him or herself can tell you that, but of course they may say NEVER.