Do you have a teenager in the house?
We asked fifteen teenagers age 12 to 16 what one piece of advice they would give their parents in order to raise happy, confident and independent teenagers. Putting all the answers together this is what we found:
- Back off and give me space. I do need you but not that much. I will enjoy your company more if you are not ‘in my face all the time’.
- LISTEN, don’t talk or give me advice all the time. It would be really great if you could sometimes just listen to what I’m saying, without the need to talk so much.
- Don’t give up on me. Yes I know I’m annoying and irritating, but I really don’t know why I do it – so please love me unconditionally otherwise it is just too hard to be a teen.
- I do like spending time with you. but only if you stop asking me questions or interrogating me about what’s happening in my life or trying to ‘sort out things’.
- Does it really matter that my room is a mess? Let it go.
- Trust me. I know what I am doing! I need to make my own mistakes.
- I feel really bad when you do everything for me. I know you are trying to be nice but it makes me really angry that you think I can’t do it myself. I’m almost an adult!
- Don’t try to be my friend. That it’s soo annoying – just be my mum/dad.
So if you are a parent to teenagers we hope you got a few tips on how to raise your teenager.
We regularly run Raising Teenagers workshops CLICK HERE to find out more
All the best,
The ParentingSuccess Team www.parentingsuccesscoaching.com