Parenting teenagers

Bringing up kids in the 21st Century is a complex and demanding task.

Their needs from their parents are very high. While little ones have very high care needs most people who have been through it all say that the teenage years are the most difficult to parent.

To be fair to the kids, this is, in no small part, due to the complexities that they are facing. Not only do they have all of the physical and physiological changes that their body is going through but today’s society has them confront social media and other technology issues on a daily basis. They also have to deal with handling increasing freedoms and responsibilities, going to a school that may not meet their needs, decisions about big issues like alcohol, drugs, sex and careers, while mixing (for a lot of them) part-time work into their education, social and sporting calendars.

The path from child to adult that they are on also requires that they learn to be assertive, rebel against authority and break away from their parents while establishing their independence. All this at a time when the part of the brain that is responsible for good decision-making will not finish developing for another 10 years. Being the support person for all that development is incredibly demanding.

In these sessions we will look at gaining the best understanding of why parenting a teen is difficult and how to support your child so that everybody emerges from the other side of the experience with the best possible outcomes.