Things every teenager should know
Teenage have lots of pressure and sometimes they don’t know how to handle the issues they face. It may be issues at home, school or with their peers. Added to the daily challenges, is the pressure social media exerts on them. It’s easy for their confidence to suffer as a result. As a parent you …
Teenage have lots of pressure and sometimes they don’t know how to handle the issues they face. It may be issues at home, school or with their peers. Added to the daily challenges, is the pressure social media exerts on them. It’s easy for their confidence to suffer as a result. As a parent you need to assure your teen that whatever situation they face, they need to remember five important things.
- Be kind to yourself
From a young age, kids have dreams and ambitions and plan how they want their life to go as they grow. You need to emphasise that in life not everything will turn out the way they want it to. When things don’t go their way, they shouldn’t beat themselves up. Emphasise that It’s okay to make mistakes but they need to learn from those mistakes. You need to enforce that they must be kind to themselves. Whenever they feel down, they must say things to themselves that they would normally tell a friend if they didn’t achieve what they hoped for.
- Perfection is limiting
Your teen needs to know that although they have ambitions of being perfect, it is unrealistic and limiting. They will never attain perfection because they set the bar and decide what the definition of perfection is. What is perfect to one person, may not be perfect to you and vice versa. Perfection adds to the detriment of your self-confidence and potentially your mental and physical health.
- Don’t be easily influenced
Even though celebrities portray a perfect life with their posts on social media and magazines, you need to teach your child to take what they see with a pinch of salt because behind the scenes, their life isn’t as perfect. You must emphasise that celebs also experience problems like normal human beings. Show your teen how social comparison is dangerous. You also need to teach them that they are worthy and that their worth is far more than a ‘like’ on social media.
- The power of one
One kind word, one small gesture, or a minute to practise mindfulness. One small adjustment to their daily routine to help them achieve their goals. One friend who has their back and whose back they have. If your teen knows the power of one, they won’t be under pressure to fit in with the popular girls. They will get that all they need is that one person who gets them, supports and uplifts them and vice versa. Teach them this and they will realise as they get older the power of ‘one’.
- Be grateful
As hard as it is to feel grateful under the current circumstances and parents feeling highly pressurised to provide, you need to teach your teen that there is always something to be grateful for. It’s so easy to focus on the things that they don’t have or the bad things that are happening around them. As parent show them that if they keep doing that, they are going to miss out on the amazing things that they have going for them. Tell them to show gratitude because:
- They live in a country that encourages them to attend school, learn to drive cars and doesn’t promote under-age marriages
- For food every day, a roof over their head and clothes on their backs
- That they can read and have the ability to learn
- For their health in a time that people are battling the Corona virus pandemic.
