Parenting Tips For Teens
The work of a parent doesn’t end. It seems that the teen years can be a mixture of challenging and periods of short breaks. You see your child nudging towards independence while at times displaying certain behaviors or actions that require a supportive shift.
3 Parenting Tips For Teens
1. Spend individual time with your child.
A wonderful way to support your child with growing as an individual while building a healthy relationship with you is through the practice of one-on-one quality.
The one-on-one time provides your child with a space to share thoughts and feelings, develop mutual interests, and nurture a healthy and constructive relationship with you.
Key benefits of spending one on one time with your child:
- Strengthen your understanding of your child’s interests and day-to-day activities.
- Address challenges in the relationship.
- Spend devoted quality time together.
2. Provide your child with autonomy to discuss and carry out their actions.
I often notice that parents of teens struggle with situations in which the teen wants to do a certain thing in life their way. For instance, a teen may tell the parent that they want to go to bed at 1 AM.
The parent tells the teens, NO. That they need to go to bed at 10 PM in order to have enough rested hours of sleep. The parent tells the counselor, that this is a constant issue with no solution.
One strategy is to provide your teen with autonomy by letting them be the leader in their life. You can do this by encouraging your teen to think about how their decision would support their goals.
In addition, share with your teen your position. Such as, “I want you to follow the process that you think would work best. I’m going to take a step back. If you need me, please feel free to ask for support.”
What takes place is that your teen will notice that you (as the parent) are taking a step back. They are left to trust their own process of decision-making versus relying on you to tell them what to do.
3. Talk with your teen about values.
Values act as a pivotal driving force for teens and just about everyone else.
I commonly hear that parents experience a struggle with directing their teen to positive and productive behaviors. Such as pursuing goals, making good decisions, or not being easily persuaded by others.
To support parents, I encourage them to spend time with their teens on developing values.
Let’s imagine that your teen wants to go to a party the evening before they have a big art project. You notice that you are going back and for the with them on not going. You educate them for hours and still are not getting anywhere.
What you can try to do, is shift your conversation to values.
Such as, asking your teen what their values are. Let’s say that your teen values creativity. You can ask them, how their action of going or not going to the party impacts their value.
The goal is to give your teen space to process their thoughts and feelings in a healthy and constructive way.
For more supportive reads on parenting and raising happy kids see the links below:
