Your teenage girl has got her hair straightened. Your son has got the latest tribal tattoo. Your adolescents are constantly striving for freedom and independence and you are constantly having arguments with them…
When a child reaches his or her teen, this is what usually happens. Suddenly they feel they have come out of their shell and they want to totally relish their newly found freedom! At this critical stage, a parent has to be careful. A parent constantly juggles to draw the limit line. How much freedom should be given? What kind of limits should be set at home? You will certainly feel apprehensive as a parent when your teenage child goes to late night parties. Hence instilling good values and thoughts at the very beginning is essential. Because these thoughts stay for long…Children who have been brought up with good values and ethics have a strong base and do not pick up any wrong habits in their teenage.
The point is that being a very strict parent will not help. You will have to give some amount of freedom to your child. You will have to trust him and offer them their life choices. But what you can do is to sit with them, talk and have long discussions. This will give a glimpse of their thought processes, their ideas, their opinions and their attitude towards life.
What you can also do is know more about your son’s/daughter’s friends: How does he/she feel about these kids? Teenage is a beautiful chapter in your son’s/daughter’s life. Just handle it carefully!