Parenting is a term that often goes utter with lots of instructions. However, it is said that there is no hard and fast rule for parenting, parenting adolescent children is different from parenting toddler or infant. We adults often forget that adolescence is the period where he/she is on the way to adulthood thus, people from this group expects to be treated like an adult. Therefore, where children need more warmth, attention, and physical comfort, adolescents need unconditional support, respect, trust, understanding, and most importantly being friends with them. However, the adolescent period is itself stormy, thus a slight deviation in support and understanding might result in detachment from parents.
As a parent, we always need to be responsive toward our adolescent children. We often see that after entering into the adolescent years, he/she maintains distance from his/her parents. This is the time when parents need to be more conscious about their parenting patterns and strategies.
At this stage few steps that could be beneficial both for the adolescent and parents are:
- Make friends with your adolescent child.
- Be his/her diary, which means let her share everything with you.
- Be patient about your adolescent child’s any sort of wrong turn, don’t try to rectify it immediately.
- Maintain a proper explanation for everything.
- Let him/her be independent.
- Let her make decisions independently.
- Try to give support on the issues which are stressing him/her.
- Encourage her/his self-care activities.
- Praise him/her for positive initiatives.
- Encourage involvement in Extracurricular activities which could help to boost her/his self-esteem, coping and confidence.
