Parenting Teenage Children

Parenting teenagers often brings a unique set of challenges and opportunities as they navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood. Adolescents crave independence, yet still need guidance, emotional support, and a direction. Striking the right balance involves open communication, active listening, self-discipline, a loving atmosphere at home, and wisdom imparted by parents.

Parents must recognise and respect their child's growing need for self-expression, while also teaching them responsibility. The parent-child relationship at this age must have a balance of love, respect and trust. With patience, understanding, and empathy, parents can create an environment that fosters healthy growth, resilience, and long-term well-being for their teenage children.

Title: "𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙏𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣"

Subtitle: "𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎."

✶𝗔𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻: 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺/𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴). 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. "𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜"

The following was written in response to a query we received on our Samadhan WhatsApp group in May 2024.

🌱There are only 2 main responsibilities of a parent:

to LOVE and NURTURE the child
to HELP them 'grow' with life-experience & discipline

🪴For the first 5 years —give your children unconditional love & nurture them all you want as a parent.

🌿From age 6 to 14 —slowly by slowy teach your children life-values and virtues. Give them the "essential lessons" of life--not only by your words but also by your behavior. Become an "example" for your children.

🌷From age 14 and above —"become a friend" to your children. Have regular conversations, do not judge them but offer them your valuable experience & advice whenever they ask or need.

☝️This is the right way of parenting.

———————————

🪻Now, if you have not followed this and you find that your child has fallen victim to the today's atmosphere of materialsm—then it is time to get your children back.

Practical Advice

🌈Depending on how you prefer, you may have to be strict if you are to save your children from bad company of friends or the bad effects of internet. And this you can do by taking their phone or making strict rules on how much time they are allowed to spend on the internet or games.

🍁Speaking of which, it is more so important to not let them play violent games. Most of their bad behavior is caused by playing such games. If they want to play for entertainment, then ask them to play nice, cognitive & sports-related games. There are many of them. Even better is to play outside. Playing outside is not only good for physical health, but more so emotional. Children develop cognitive skills as their senses are involved in the activity.

Remember: All this can be done also by "talking with them & explaining the importance of life" >> life should not be wasted like this, and there is nothing you will gain from playing those games. You will be much happier if you play outside or do something resourceful.

Being Careful

🌻 All this you explain as a parent & make sure they understand and implement. If they resist, just ask them to implement this for a few days and see how their life and their mood is enhanced. Explain them like this: "Only for a few days, you stop playing video games, and play outside, read books, listen to good music, go for evening walks, and do some exercise." Let them find out and see the good result.

✶Please read our forum post on 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 and 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿-𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲