In this article, you will find things that you should know about teenagers. Everything in here was written by a teen, and is good advice for you to follow in order to adapt a better relationship with your teen. Hope it's helpful!
Some teens DO NOT do drugs.
Although many of todays teenagers are involved in potentially dangerous activities, many others also refrain from the activities. I am 16 and know many people my age who are involved in drugs. I personally stay away from that group of people.
You can tell a lot about your child by who he or she hangs out with. I hang out with mostly girls my age who dress like young women should dress. We don't walk around with it all hanging out. That shows my parents that I am mature enough to make appropriate decisions about things I am pressured to do, and trust me I have been begged many times to try drugs.
My parents have talked to me about drugs, and I know that I should not try them, therefore I do my best to stay away from the peer pressure of doing them by staying away from the people who do them.
Yes....Sex does happen sometimes.
When a teen girl gets romantically involved with a guy, she is very tempted to have sex with him. At my age, hormones are raging and often the girl will feel a strong desire to have sex. Talking to your children about safe sex is definitely a good idea.
Be sure that if you have a daughter, put her on birth control when she gets involved with a guy. Tell her that although you do not want her to have sex, you know that things sometimes happen unexpectedly and you want to know that she will not get pregnant if something should happen. Explain that if she decides to have sex, to be sure that it is what she really wants and to not allow him to pressure her into it.
ALWAYS allow your child to talk freely to you about it. Encourage them to talk to you about sex, put don't push them. It always feels awkward talking to my parents about sex, but when the give me the opportunity to do so, I am more open with them.
Give your child some space.
I know it is hard watching your "baby" grow up and all, but please give them some space. Don't hound them about what they are doing, because this urges them to participate in bad activities because it gives them a sense of your distrust in them. When my parents allow me to go out and hang out with friends without them calling me every 5 minutes to see where I am, it makes me more willing to be home by my curfew.
Don't Be a Man: LISTEN!!!
We all know how women talk about how bad they hate when men don't listen. I have news for you, TEENAGERS HATE IT WHEN PARENTS DON'T LISTEN!!!! If your child is willing to talk to you, you better welcome them with open arms, because trust me, it WILL NOT happen very often. I know adults are always busy and often tend to push children away as they do not always have time to talk, but it is always best to listen if your child is desperate enough to actually talk to you about something.
Our bark is worse than our bite
All teenagers talk about how they hate school and they are just going to quit trying and blah blah blah. Let me let you in on a little secret: with most of us it is all talk. I have said numerous times to my parents that it is the teacher's fault that I didn't have enough time to do something so I am just not going to try anymore....yeah right. With graduation at my fingertips, there is no way I am quitting now!!!
We really do know a thing or two
So yeah...we know that "we're just kids that don't know anything about love", but mom and dad, wake up and smell the coffee. We do fall in love and we will all get our hearts broken numerous times, and we will probably fall for at least one of the same people twice. We know when we are in love, and we know when our heart gets broken, but no matter how in love we are, most of us are still afraid of commitment, seeing as commitment means that their opinion of what you do after work on Friday night actually matters. Remember, no matter how much we love some guy or girl, we will always love you just as much.
