What Parents Worry About in 2026, and How to Say It Back

Part of the martial arts marketing system by Grand Master Stephen Oliver. New here? Start with the complete guide and the full marketing library.

Updated November 11, 2026

Parents of school-age children in 2026 worry most about low confidence, screen time and social media, anxiety and fear of failure, poor focus, giving up too easily, bullying, weak social skills and loneliness, poor emotional regulation, entitlement and lack of responsibility, and too little physical activity. A martial arts school markets well to these parents when it names those concerns in the parents’ own words, acknowledges that raising kids right now is hard, shows a real family who got through it, and invites them to a free introductory class rather than pitching a year-long program.

At the October 4, 2026 Martial Arts Wealth Mastery “Million Dollar School” session, Grand Master Stephen Oliver opened one segment by reading out a list. He had asked an AI tool a simple question: what are the ten biggest concerns parents have for their children right now? The answers were a good summary of what is on the mind of every parent who walks into a school.

What are parents most worried about for their kids?

• Low confidence
• Screen time and social media
• Anxiety and fear of failure
• Poor focus and attention
• Giving up too easily
• Bullying
• Weak social skills and loneliness
• Poor emotional regulation
• Entitlement and lack of responsibility
• Not enough physical activity

Grand Master Oliver asked the room to notice how much of that list traces back to phones and social media. He also pointed out that the underlying fear isn’t new. A generation ago, parents worried about television. Now they worry about the phone. The worry changes form, but the message a good school offers stays the same.

What do parents want their children to have instead?

Turn the list around and you have your message. In the session, the presenters described what parents are looking for as change speeds up:

• Resilience: the ability to get through a hard situation and keep going
• Confidence to handle negative situations, online and off
• Real, in-person friendships instead of only online ones
• Movement and physical health
• The ability to learn, not just look things up. Some parents now worry that learning has become too easy because a child can ask a chatbot for any answer.
• Character strong enough that social media doesn’t define how they see themselves

Every item on that list is something a good martial arts class already teaches. The work is in saying so in language parents recognize.

Why does your marketing sound like you instead of like parents?

Because you spend all day inside your school. The presenters described how owners drift into their own vocabulary without noticing. Words like “leads” and “conversions” feel normal to anyone in the business, but plenty of parents (and some owners) don’t know what they mean. The same goes for program names, rank names and martial arts terms that mean nothing to a family who has never stepped on a mat.

The fix is to borrow your customers’ words. Read your Google reviews, testimonials and parent emails, and note the exact phrases parents use when they brag about their child: “he finally stopped giving up,” “she has friends now,” “he looks people in the eye.” Those phrases belong in your headlines. An AI tool can help sort through hundreds of reviews and pull out the most common phrases. For a step-by-step version, see How to Use AI to Write a Parent-to-Parent Testimonial Letter.

One caution from the session: if you ask what people complain about online, you’ll hear that prices are high and that schools use agreements. Don’t take that as a reason to change your model. Complaints about price are not the same thing as the reasons families choose you.

How should a school page be structured?

Chief Master Greg Moody, Ph.D. suggested a simple page structure that works for school owners as well as for parents:

1. Start with a problem the reader already believes. For parents, something like “My kid quits everything,” or “He’s on his phone the minute he gets home.”
2. Follow it with a real testimonial from a parent who felt the same way and saw their child change.
3. Add two or three key points about how the class helps.

He also highlighted the value of acknowledging how people feel before you offer a solution. A draft line that stood out in the session said, in effect, that this year really is harder and it isn’t the reader’s imagination. In Chief Master Moody’s words, the approach is “kind of acknowledging people’s feelings about it,” and then you can move them from there.

Should you use fear in your ads?

The group agreed that ads naming a real problem usually outperform soft, inspirational ones. Grand Master Oliver recalled a television commercial he ran about 30 years ago with a gentle, uplifting script. It didn’t work very well. The lesson isn’t to scare parents. It’s to be specific. “Builds confidence” is easy to ignore. “If your child gives up the moment something gets hard, this is for you” gets read.

What should the offer be?

Make the free introductory class the main call to action. The presenters noted that their own marketing improved every time it was made to work more like a martial arts school’s: you aren’t asking someone to commit to a year on a web page. You’re inviting them to come in, try a couple of classes, and see what their child will learn. Save the program conversation for the enrollment conference, where it belongs.

Does AI make martial arts less relevant to parents?

The presenters argued the opposite. AI makes accounting, ad copy and research easier, but it can’t stand on a mat with a seven-year-old. As those tasks get automated, Grand Master Oliver said, the in-person instruction, and the face-to-face conversation with a parent, become more valuable, not less. A message built around confidence, resilience and real friendships fits that moment.

Frequently asked questions

What are parents’ biggest concerns for their children in 2026?

The list discussed at the October 2026 Martial Arts Wealth Mastery session: low confidence, screen time and social media, anxiety and fear of failure, poor focus, giving up too easily, bullying, weak social skills and loneliness, poor emotional regulation, entitlement and lack of responsibility, and lack of physical activity.

How should a martial arts school write marketing for parents?

Use the words parents use in your reviews, avoid industry jargon, open with a problem the parent already believes, follow with a real parent testimonial, and make a free introductory class the main offer.

Should martial arts ads be fear-based?

The presenters found that ads naming a specific problem outperform soft inspirational ones. The goal is to be specific about the child’s challenge, not to frighten parents.

Can I use AI to find the words parents use?

Yes. An AI tool can read your reviews and testimonials and pull out the most common phrases parents use about their children’s progress. Use those phrases in your headlines and pages.

Want help rewriting your school’s pages in your parents’ words? Book a Most Valuable Hour strategy session.