Top Five Challenges Parents Face with Teenagers

In a matter of only a few months, your once loving and thoughtful child has become an unruly mess who spends equal times crying on their cell phone as they do sulking. Even if your child has not become the typical angst ridden stereotype, there are several issues that parents of a teenager can expect to face.

1. Change in Behavior and Friends:
• Teenagers may be trying different activities and making different friends. Many parents fear that as they branch out and make friends on their own, a teen will not make the best choices. No parent wants their child to be running with the “bad crowd.” Just remember that everything is not as it appears, do not judge only by appearance.
• As teenagers are growing and becoming more independent, they will test every boundary they can. As a parent, it is important to allow them to become independent while teaching them to make good decisions. Stay firm in your decisions, but try to remember that you likely kept your parents up for one or two sleepless nights.

2. Emotions:
• Teenager and emotional are one in the same, as teenagers continue to experience all the wonderful new things that come along with their status as teenagers. As parents, try to remember how confused and frustrated you were when you were a teenager.
• Males and females handle the emotions of being a teenager differently, and a once confident child could become very sensitive to everything.
• There will be fights that seem to make no sense to you as a parent. Again, your teenager is trying to find who they are in this world, and many times that means that they are humiliated to be associated in public with their parent

3. Body Issues:
• Again, this is another issue where male and females will have different issues. For females, your once shy child may blossom into a popular young lady as a result of developing a chest. Males may find that they are not as endowed as their other friends and become closed-off.
• During their teen years, overweight or very thin children may suffer due the heckling or unpopularity with the opposite sex. For many children, eating disorders develop during their teen years.
• It is important, as parents, to ensure that your teenager is healthy and knows that they are special.

4. Dating:
• Teenagers are going to date and parents are not going to be happy about it. Whether it is because you do not agree with their choices or are just not happy it is happening, watching your child navigate teenage dating is challenging.
• Much like making new friends, dating is part of growing up, and it is important to be supportive during break ups and puppy love.

5. Technology:
• Technology is something that parents did not have to deal with before, but as every teenager now seemingly has a cell phone attached to their hip and computers next to their bed it is something parents need to pay attention to.
• As parents of teenagers, it is important to make sure that your teenager understands the dangers of the internet and text messages. As parents, it is difficult to stay ahead of the latest technology.