Problems For Teenagers-Handling Them Effectively!

Problems For Teenagers-Handling them effectively!

Problems for teenagers are many. Handling them effectively and guiding them is a skill every parent or teacher or guardian should learn. How do you guide a young boy or a girl to do the right things? This is a question, every parent, teacher or any well wisher faces when they have to guide children between the ages of 15 to 18 and perhaps even beyond.

You need to understand the dynamics of the situation regarding problems with teenagers before you attempt to do anything.



Problems for teenagers are brought about by forces acting on them today? There are external forces and internal ones.


External forces that bring about problems for teenagers:


1. TV-violent programs and programs with matured content
2. Video games-Violent games with matured content
3. Peer influence-both the good and the bad influence
4. Role models – the good ones and the bad ones
5. Internet-Heavy usage for both good and bad
6. Social networking-the invisible influence
7. Relatives-good influence and bad influence
8. Advertisements-the positive ones and the negative ones
9. News-All kinds of news, mostly negative
10. Tremendous pressure to study-especially in Asian
      countries
11. The pressure you put on them as a parent.
12. Competition with peers, cousins, relatives or anyone the
      child thinks he or she is competing with.


Internal forces that spur problems for teenagers:


1. Hormones
2. The need to belong, especially to a peer group
3. The need to be independent
4. The need to be considered grown up
5. The need to be respected for his or her own opinion
6. The need to excel and be a success
7. Fear of failure
8. Inappropriate self-esteem
9. The need to look good in the eyes of the peers
10. The need to look good in the eyes of the parents


This is not an exhaustive list. However, you can immediately see how powerful these influences can be to bring about problems with teenagers. Many of the external forces are invisible to you.


Here are some tips to make your child do things that will be beneficial to him or her:


1. Build trust
2. Communicate-Listen with empathy
3. Become his or her friend
4. Spend quality time with your child
5. Discuss the day to day events in your child’s life with him
    or her
6. Know that your child needs parental guidance not just for
    movies but for life too
7. Be aware of the peer group your child belongs to
8. Clarify expectations of behavior with your child
9. Have fun together
10. Help your child to deal with the pressure from the school
11. Be alert to mood changes, especially signs of feeling low
12. Set goals together, both in studies as well as sports
13. Encourage your child to have many hobbies
14. Encourage your child to try out new things to discover his
      or her talents
15. Discuss the future, especially of the career path your
      child wants to take
16. Get an aptitude test done
17. Teach your child that success is important and failure too
      from a learning perspective
18. Introduce your child to wholesome self-help books
19. Be alert of negative influence of others on your child
20. Dream together of a very successful future
21. Help your child to develop a “ can do” attitude
22. Role model wholesome behavior
23. Be kind
24. Discuss with your spouse about your child
25. Solve problems together with your spouse so that both of
      you have one voice regarding the solution.


Problems for teenagers are many. However, these are some of the things you can do to make your child do things that will be beneficial to him or her.