3 Tips For Teenage Educators

Raising a teenager is not always easy

1. Give them more freedom, but also more responsibility

Daughters tend to develop earlier than sons, and when they reach the age of 11-12, they may begin to demand more freedoms.

In boys, maturing takes a little longer. Usually at the age of about 13 – suddenly, completely without any warning – they become more stubborn and proud, and they start reacting to things in ways you can’t comprehend.

Your children are growing up. They become part of the adult world, yet they are basically still children. And this is not easy for them. So try to remember that they are at the mercy of their own hormones and personal dramas, and you can help them into what kind of people they become.

Your teen should get opportunities to learn more about themselves, gain more freedom, and understand the consequences of their actions.

The best thing you can do here is to help maintain a balance between their freedoms and responsibilities. For example, they can go out on the weekends if they are doing well in school.

Make it clear to them that they need to respect their arrival times  and if they come home late, the privileges they have gained will be lost.

The most important thing here is for the teenager to learn that life is full of rules and requirements, and they apply to everyone – especially adults. They should be obeyed, so it is best if this is understood early on. Things don’t just drip from the sky if they want them. To make money, one has to work hard, and then one can buy food, clothes and goods – then one can live.

You need to get your teen to take responsibility for his or her own studies and actions. And remember, you are the one who sets the requirements, so you need to make sure they are stable. Instead, if you change your requirements every day, you will lose the respect of your teen.

2. Positive encouragement is a better means than punishment

Some parents make the mistake of constantly punishing their teens. They talk to them in a derogatory way and give negative feedback every time a child does something wrong. Instead, one should learn to maintain balance. For example, if they fail the test and get bad grades, they shouldn’t be barking at being lazy and one that will never achieve anything in life.

This really should be avoided. This only creates negative emotions, low self-esteem and despair. Instead, one should ask what happened, as well as try to rebuild their self-confidence.

So tell them that you believe in your child and know that next time the test will go better. Say you know your teen is fully capable of achieving good grades if she just does a lot of work.

When a child makes mistakes, tell them how he or she could do things better – don’t sink to the level of a critic. Choose a strategy that increases their self-confidence and does not punish them. This is definitely a better way.

3. Communicate and build trust between you

Take some time each single day to spend time with your teen. Ask him how his day has gone. Don’t judge him based on what he has done or failed to do.

As a parent, you need to guide your child, and the only way you can do that is to communicate and maintain trust – constantly.

So try to prevent your teen from becoming the typical boy or girl who is always behind closed doors in their room with their music or computer. Try to avoid your child coming out of their room just to eat or meet their friends.

Prevent your child from becoming isolated by promoting key family activities at home, and do this from the time your child is young.

During meals, turn off the TV and talk to your children. Ask them what they like, who their friends are, or who is the person you know they are interested in. Try to be a part of their lives, but don’t do this by pressing.

Hopefully they will then learn that they have an ally in life – not an enemy that only offers criticism or punishment.

Listen to your child, guide him, be their father or mother – and be your best friend too. Set boundaries when appropriate, and give freedom when it is earned through maturity and responsible behavior.

In conclusion from all this, we can say that raising a teenager may not be easy. No one knows the perfect way to raise a child. But we are confident that if you stay positive and show love and respect to your child, your teen will grow into a mature and responsible person.

People who are genuinely happy understand that in order to get far in life, you will have to work hard. In order to have good friends, you need to be respectful and understanding. This level of emotional intelligence and awareness is something you can help build in your own child.

Last but not least, we will say the following: it is very important that parents agree on the upbringing of their children. Two parents should work together to promote the same values ​​- and for the same reasons.