For some parents, having teenagers is even more challenging to supervise in their daily activities, especially when they’ll start to have a sense of their own identity and who they want to associate with.
The teenage years are probably one of the most tumultuous years of an individual’s life, especially when making preparations towards adulthood. Teenagers will start seeing radical changes in their bodies. This isn’t a surprise since an increase in hormonal activity can have drastic effects on the individual’s growth and behavior.
Since puberty is the natural process that everyone will go through, it’s bound to slow down as your son or daughter gets older gradually. But just because puberty is a natural process doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give adult supervision to your “child.” They will go through many physical and emotional changes during puberty, and it’s up to you as a parent to give them the right guidance.
Addressing Vices
First and foremost, we’ll need to address one of the bigger elephants in the room: substance abuse and vices. As most of us know, vices and substance abuse can easily plague teenagers, especially if they’re educated on the effects of such issues. If left unattended, these vices and abuse of substances can lead to destructive behavior and health complications in the early years of adulthood for your son/daughter.
Naturally, children and teenagers are known for being curious and will likely experiment and try out many things before finding something that they are truly interested in. You might need to have a frank discussion with your child regarding the dangers of taking such substances. Instead of directly telling them what they should and shouldn’t do, give them examples of what will happen if they try out certain types of vices.
Addressing Dental Hygiene
During your son or daughter’s teenage years, they should have now practiced good dental hygiene. Concerning the previous section, smoking and drinking (often prevalent among older teenagers) can easily damage and misaligned teeth. By this time, your son or daughter will start having a good set of permanent teeth, often called secondary or adult teeth. A great deal of care and hygiene is needed in taking care of teeth.
If needed, you might want to consider gold brace brackets as a means of protecting their teeth. Although, regular braces are enough in ensuring that your son or daughter will have a complete set of teeth, even during and after adulthood.
Addressing Violence
At some point in a teenager’s life, they’ll get into fights, especially when they’ll have raging hormones that will usually lead to brash behavior. According to the World Health Organization, inter-personal violence is one of the leading causes of death among teenagers and adolescents. Of course, this will depend on which part of the world that this is happening.
Still, it is possible to stem violent behavior. Here are some ways of dealing with a teenager who might be having behavioral problems.
- Instead of participating in violence, your child can participate in sports and other physical activities instead. Being able to have an outlet such as sports or martial arts can help reduce aggression.
- Sometimes, problems in sleep, appetite, or mental health can often lead to violent behavior. If this is the case, you might want to seek help from psychiatrists and professionals.
- One of the best ways of stemming from aggression in adolescents is by making them aware through guidance. Nurturing a wholesome environment can help them through tumultuous times.
Individuals will start undergoing radical changes during their teenage years, especially when puberty can cause most of these individuals to start producing a high amount of hormones. This can often lead to rebellious behavior, health complications, early pregnancies, and problems that could last until adulthood. Thus, it’s important that sit our child down as early as now and have a frank and mature discussion with them on what the teenage years hold.
Still, it’s important to have a balance of supervising your son or daughter and giving them the independence they want. If you manage your son/daughter too much, they could end up rebelling and might start doing the opposite of what you want to do. As such, it’s best to give them the personal space that they want instead of being authoritative with your parenting style.
Ultimately, teaching your child valuable lessons before and during their teenage years doesn’t necessarily cost a fortune. At the end of the day, teenagers should still have fun and create memorable experiences with their friends and family. After all, we will always have obstacles in our way when we go through life, and we should seize the day.
