We all want to be the best parents we can be for our children, but there is no single book that will help you raise a perfect kid who is confident, kind and successful. Throughout being a parent, it’s crucial to focus on balancing priorities and juggling responsibilities.
You’ve survived midnight feeding, toddler tantrums, and early-school blues, so why does the word “teenager” causing you to worry too much.
Modern parents understand that the teen years are a period of quick growth that goes beyond physical change but also with emotion and intellect. It’s logical that it’s a time of confusion and mayhem for many families.
Despite the many negative opinions about teens, they are actually energetic, idealistic and thoughtful combined with a deep interest in what’s fair and right. Therefore, while it can be a phase where the child will struggle against their parents, the teen years are also the right time to help your kids grow into the unique individuals that they will become.
Common knowledge and experts suggest that in order to raise a self-reliant child with high self-esteem, it is more effective to be authoritative than be authoritarian. You need your child to listen to you, respect and trust you instead of fear you. It’s more beneficial to be supportive, but not a hovering, spying parent.
However, as these things can be easy to set as goals, but difficult to achieve. The issue here is finding the right balance.
How to understand the teen years?
Everybody’s different, so everyone will start at their own pace. There are early bloomers, late ones, swift developers, and even slow-but-steady growers. Obviously, there is a wide range of what is considered normal.
Most kids evolve into adolescence through an intense change in their behavior around and towards their parents. They generally start to separate themselves from you and become more independent. Also, kids this age are becoming more aware of how others, especially their friends, see them and are looking to fit into cliques. Their peers will instantly become much more central than parents as far as making decisions.
Kids normally begin to try different identities and looks, plus they become more aware how they differ from other people, especially their peers, which can sometimes result in episodes of conflict and distress with parents.
Respect their privacy. Many parents understandably have a difficult time with giving privacy to their once super depended kids. They may feel that what their kids do is their business. But in order to help your teen become a successful young adult, it’s vital that you start giving them some privacy. In any case, you can invade your child’s privacy if you notice warning signs of trouble. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to back off.
Inform Your Teen — and Stay Informed Yourself. The teen years are typically a time of experimentation, and that experimentation may comprise of risky behaviors. Don’t try to avoid the subjects of drug, sex, alcohol, or tobacco use. Discussing these hot topics honestly and openly with your kids before they’re exposed to them can oftentimes make it more likely that they’ll act responsibly if ever a time of temptation comes. Impart your family values with your teen and have a talk about what is generally right and wrong, and why.
Set fair expectations. Many teens can act unhappy about expectations parents place on them. You must make them understand and know that you care enough about them to expect things such as acceptable behavior, good grades, and sticking to your house rules. If you have appropriate expectations, your teens will usually try their best to meet them. Unreasonable expectations can make your teen feel that you don’t care about him or her.
How you can help them adjust better
As teens mature, they start to think more abstractly and rationally. They’re forming their moral code. And parents of teens may find that kids who in the past was willing to follow to please them will abruptly start asserting themselves and their feelings more strongly and even rebelling against your control as parent.
Enrolling your pre-adolescent kids to the right school is also a key to make him or her more aware of the environment he’s growing up in while learning the best education available in your locality. There are private schools in Singapore like Global Indian School where your child can learn the value of diversity while being on a campus where facilities are complete and individuality is encouraged rather than hampered.
GIIS has grown to comprise an international network of award-winning institutions across 23 campuses in seven counties since its founding in 2002. The GIIS offers great environment and curriculum that makes it an amazing place for teenagers to learn, grow and develop into mature young adults.
As your child develops, the challenges will naturally change, plus your thinking can evolve as well, but you need to ensure that your actions are consistent, loving, but firm. Assist your kids in learning through personal experience that giving their best effort builds confidence and helps them tackle challenges better. Best of luck!