Being a teenager’s Parent, I can understand the challenges faced by other parents. It’s not only challanging phase for child but also for parents too. The child is confused at times, we must provide them support. They have develop their opinion about things. We must listen to them and discuss. They become angry, impatient.

It’s very crucial year in life of a child. We as parents have to be calm in each and every situation and give them ample space to grow and live independently. It’s our duty and responsibility to act wisely and with giving space must have a watch on their activities, how much time child spend on mobile and what he is watching or doing. To know this there are two options, one is to spy on them or win their trust and they will tell you everything. And they will feel confident that they have someone to talk.

Child will be thankful for understanding him/her in these crucial years. We should avoid scolding them or get angry instead the best option is to give them work like, cleaning their room, helping in household work etc. By this they will though do the work as punishment but they will learn various things which will help them may be in future to live independently. Every child is special and have unique qualities never ever compare your child with other child. In this competitive world they are already struggling to make their mark and if we also starting comparing them with others will make the situation more worse.

The challanges which I just started being through makes me write about this topic. We have to act normally but still should understand the seriousness of this phase. Try to make your child happy, cook their favorite food, help them develop any hobby if they still don’t have, encourage them to focus on their studies and passion too. The more busy they will be, the more they will forget about conflict within themselves.

Bullying is another problem faced by child in teenage. Let’s always support our child and know what he/ she feels when someone bully them. Tell them how to control their anger or how to approach elders about the situation. Things become vunarable when child don’t know how to react. Parents as mentors lighten up their child’s path. It becomes easy to make your teenager happy when you appreciate them, be a friend to them, give importance to their choices and not force them anything.

Discussing problems is worrisome and time-consuming too, rather we must focus on solutions. The approach and reaction to the same situation might be different and depends upon person to person. Like one parent might argue with their teenager when he or she gets angry on the other hand another parent calmly manage the situation. We must be in touch with other parents, so that we are get assured that we are not alone in this.

Always be updated, be it technology, knowlegde, current affairs etc so that you can talk on any and every topic,it will also boost your confidence. Always respect child’s opinion, if you will then child will always tell you everything, small or big. Obesity and academic performance are other important things to focus on. Due to obesity the teenage child can be bullied by other child, physical appearance could be compared and commented on. The best, important and vital thing which you can do for your child in this phase is being a friend to them on the same time control them being a parent. This dual role might be challenging for parents but if you stay calm and tactfully handle everything, your child will tell you as a friend and will respect you as their parents.

So, happy teen birthday to your teenage child and you. Welcome to new world of happiness, which your child is ready to enter. All the best, stay positive and remember ‘child never learn from what you say, but what you do’.

Ramneet Kaur