Supporting Your Adolescent: Tips for Parents

Adolescence is a time for young people to define their place in the family, peer groups, and the larger community. During this stage of their lives, youth struggle with the transition from childhood to adulthood. During childhood, they depended mainly on their parents for economic and emotional support × Support
Support / sup·port/ n. Noun Support is defined as the act or instance of supporting; serve as a foundation for something else. Support can be given to many different ways. Through the encouragement to perform and progress and also through being there for someone who needs help. Support is usually shown through family and peers but can come from anywhere from support centers, rehab centers, and treatment centers. Without a support, confidence would be very difficult to find. Support is key to getting through trials and problems. The ability to have someone that is supporting you and encouraging you to move forward and progress is important to growth and change. Especially with youth, that as they are trying to find out who they are that they feel supported in all of their doings. This is important because as support and encouragement is shown the youth feel confident to become the best they can be.
and direction. In adulthood, though, they will be expected to achieve independence and make choices about school, work, and personal relationships that will affect every aspect of their future.

Without question, adolescence is a difficult time for many young people. During this period, they must contend with physical changes, pressure to conform to current social trends and peer behaviors, and increased expectations from family members, teachers, and other adults. Adolescents × Adolescents
Adolescents /ad.o.les.cent/ n.Noun The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term adolescent as a young person living in the transitional period between the years of puberty and adulthood until they reach the age of full maturity. Adolescents or teenagers, are living in a turbulent and trying time in a person's lifetime. If ill prepared, teens may flounder or display negative behaviors at home. Adolescents are prone to negative behaviors such as, drug and alcohol abuse and other chemical dependencies, sexual misconduct or acting out, failing grades at school and disrespect towards authority. It is for this reason that parents of adolescents need to be particularly mindful when they reach their teenage years. If a teenager is struggling during thus time of adolescence it, is crucial for parents to seek the right care for their son or daughter.    During this time, people are typically more susceptible to negative behaviors and dangerous habits.
also must deal with sometimes conflicting messages from parents, peers × Peers
Peers /peer/ Peers are the people of which a person associates. Peers have a strong influence on person’s thoughts, actions, and will also play a key part in how a person develops and will determine who a person will become. Peers always have an influence but occur especially in a person’s youth. Parents should make it a priority to inform children of how important their peer group is on them. Discussions about this topic can help to prevent children from choosing friends that could lead them down dangerous paths. Peers who involve themselves in negative behaviors will begin to oppose school and parents and can also influence others in the peer group to do the same. It is important to support the finding of positively influential peers for children. However, peers can also help uplift others to strive to become better and want success. Those are the peers you should surround yourself with and also your children.
, or the media. They struggle with an increasing need to feel as if they “belong.” Young people also feel pressure to perform academically or socially.

For some young people, the usual challenges of adolescence are compounded by difficult family situations, overcrowded classrooms, disintegrating neighborhoods, or exposure to alcohol × Alcohol
al·co·hol n.noun a colorless volatile flammable liquid that is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel. When ingested, alcohol can be a deadly intoxicant. Teens and adults alike are more prone to make fateful and negative choices while drinking alcohol. A deadly intoxicant, alcohol has destroyed and ripped apart the lives of millions and yet, remains to be the drug of choice of troubled teens nationwide. Teenage minds are not yet able to fully appreciate the dangers that coincide with drinking. When drunk, teenagers commit and act out heinous activities which they would normally never commit or act out. Teenage pregnancy, driving under the influence, fighting and other consequences are more likely to occur while teens drink. Parents of teenage boys or girls who drink occasionally or struggle with the addiction of alcohol, need to seek immediate treatment for their son or daughter.
or other drugs. Without support and guidance, these young people may fall victim to behaviors that place them, and others, at risk. In our society, those behaviors include dropping out of school, running away from home, joining gangs, and using alcohol or drugs or becoming involved in other law-breaking behaviors. Some youth may become despondent, leading to academic problems, social isolation, or self-destructive behavior.

Growing Up Today

Each generation of young people and their families faces new, and perhaps more challenging, circumstances. Life for many young people is characterized by shrinking family incomes and growing options with regard to careers, beliefs, and lifestyle choices. More transient lifestyles result in isolation from extended families and a breakdown in the feeling of community. Today, therefore, youth need greater self-direction and poise than ever before to successfully move from adolescence to adulthood.

Today’s community and social structures place high demands on young people and their families. Fortunately, though, those systems also offer varied forms of support. Most communities have counseling × Counseling
coun·sel·ing The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines counseling as the provision of assistance and guidance in resolving personal, social, or psychological problems and difficulties, especially by a professional. Counseling can come in many different forms. These forms include, but are not limited to, child development, eating disorder, substance abuse, rehabilitation, mental health and educational counseling. The type of counseling needed for an individual depends on the type of issues or problems he/she happens to be facing. Counseling Troubled Youth Counseling offers hope to all kinds of troubled youth. Teens who struggle with personality disorders, emotional trauma, psychological disorders and/or learning disabilities, are all great candidates for counseling. These types of teens are often times, in desperate need for some type of counseling, and if some form of counseling is not achieved, are at high risk of fateful, dire consequences. These consequences may include drug addiction, imprisonment, or in some cases, even death.
services, specialized groups, hotlines, and educational courses for both youth and their parents.

Helping your child move to independence requires that you understand healthy adolescent development and how to find the resources that can help you when your child gets off track.

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