What can parents do to support their teens today?

Raising a human is the most difficult thing. Young humans have just arrived here, they are getting so easily excited and disappointed at the same time. Sometimes they think everyone is a friend of theirs and they can trust anybody, while most of the times they feel lost and alone on this planet, moving around in pointless circles around the sun. It’s pointless. We are all going to die. And this while you are trying to persuade them to study for school and eat this stupid salad.
Peer pressure, family issues and inside bomb attacks are making it even worse. It is normal to want to be acceptable from the herd in this age, while at the same time you want to make the impression to your parents that you really don’t care about their opinion. The truth is that the only thing that they care about is to make their parents feel proud of them and get their attention. That is why they shout. They shout for acceptance and love.
What today parents need to understand though is that they are unique in human history! Yes, you are not only gorgeous and brave, but you are also a unique parent too. You are the generation of parents that raise the first generation of humans who are experiencing with true knowledge to technology systems. You are the ones that raise humans with free access to knowledge about history, astronomy, and all the crazy stuff.
No human never had this ability. To have access to instant knowledge, interaction with fellow humans from all around the beautiful globe, speak more than two different languages and reach their full potential and dreams, no matter where they are born. This is magnificent from the one side, overwhelming from the other. Because no matter how easily this generation has the ability to adapt to changes, they are humans. And this potential of deep knowledge can literally make them feel that they are not good enough.
Today, there are no excuses you know, like I was raised in a small village I couldn’t go to the university, I didn’t have money for books, I was raised in a poor family. Today basic knowledge is free and distance is not an issue anymore. What can you do to support your child, who is a member of generation alpha, the first generation with the potential to travel among the stars? What can you do help your child not feel lost and fall behind in future changes? Most of all, what can you do for your child to be happy to be themselves and celebrate their lives as much as possible?

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash
Buy them a telescope. This is an easy step to help your child get to know the Cosmos and love the place they are part of. Buying them a telescope will make them literally love their life. Buying a mirror gives the potential to look at ourselves. Buying a telescope gives us the potential to look in the universe. To dream. To understand. To philosophize. All the people I know that spend their time looking at the stars are optimistic and loving. They get excited about new things and they have an understanding of diversity and science. This is what we need for future generations. To love life and science. To be optimistic and dreamers. Dreamers used to be old fashioned, they used to be made fun of in the past. Thank the 21st century, this is not true anymore.
Don’t pass your personal fears to your child. Fears are personal issues and I think they are the only issues that must not be shared. Your child does not have to know if you are afraid of heights or spiders. Your child does not have to know if you are afraid of risk or change. Let them have their own fears and why not, not have any fears at all! Fears are illusions and some of them are just the fears of others that where passed on us. Your child should not care if a spider walked on you when you were 6 and you are afraid of it since then. Maybe this will help you grow wiser too. Dogmas come with fears too.
Embrace their change. And now this is the most important part. Embracing change in ourselves and the children. Chance and transformation is a universal law. The universe itself changes, it expands, it moves, it thrives. I mean come on guys! We can’t be the same people all over our lives! This is not only against everything around us, but it is also boring! Be an example of the change and encourage your children to be themselves. Our time is limited. Scientists are working to make our lives longer, but it still is small.
Please be the person your child will turn to talk to when others make them feel they are different and they are weird. And this will not happen just by telling them “I want you to be free, I want you to be different”. This will come by being free and different by yourself. By hanging out with different people, by accepting we are all loving humans. Kids are essential people, you know. They never listen to words, they are only watching behaviors. Sometimes they want it, some others not. But they are repeating behaviors, they hardly ever listen. Not because they don’t want to. But because they cannot pretend.
Our behavior is their comfort zone. We have the power to create someone else’s comfort zone. Let it be knowledge, awareness, love, and excitement.
We need happy humans and all of them, we want them to love themselves.
We want all teenagers alive.
First published in my blog: https://restartrevolt.com/2019/02/24/teen-anxiety-what-can-parents-do-to...