Guardians and parents may help young people build positive behaviors by modeling positive conduct. Adolescents are typically dismissive of advice, particularly criticism, but parents can demonstrate by example how to live a healthy lifestyle, including taking vitamins and exercising. Young people’s mental development is much more complex, occurring during adolescent crises. At this point, the best thing a parent can do is be a supportive and trustworthy person for the teen, and if trouble arises, the adolescent will seek assistance from the guardians.
It can be difficult for parents to communicate with adolescents, as this is when they begin to feel alienated, and peers’ opinions take precedence over parents’. The best method is to have a heart-to-heart conversation, but at the same time, one should not intrude too deeply into the adolescent’s private life; one should respect the future adult’s boundaries (Hurley et al., 2020).
The most common misconception is that teenagers lack respect for their parents, which is incorrect. What the adult needs to understand is that the teen is asserting their boundaries and attempting to fit into adult society. A parent can be someone who can always be relied on and accepts that quarrels will occur; it is up to the adult to decide how the quarrel will develop.
Youth’s main changes include “taking others’ perspectives, regulating emotions and managing peer influence, facilitating successful social transition into adulthood” (Andrews et al., 2021, p. 3). Although a parent is rarely able to be present with a group of adolescents, they can assist them by teaching them how to communicate, why betrayals should not be forgiven, and by using their own experiences as examples. Teenagers are usually very interested in hearing about this, and they may take some of the advice seriously.
Guardians can help teenagers properly assert their personal boundaries and boost their self-esteem. This can be accomplished through advice or by taking the adolescent to shops and hairdressers and allowing them to experiment. We can help teens by complimenting them, encouraging their achievements, and emphasizing their uniqueness. At the same time, we must explain to them the importance of loving themselves, their bodies, and taking care of their physical and mental health, and they must lead by our example.
References
Andrews, J. L., Ahmed, S. P., & Blakemore, S. J. (2021). Navigating the social environment in adolescence: The role of social brain development. Biological Psychiatry, 89(2), 109-118.
Hurley, D., Swann, C., Allen, M. S., Ferguson, H. L., & Vella, S. A. (2020). A systematic review of parent and caregiver mental health literacy. Community mental health journal, 56, 2-21.