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Keeping Tabs On Your Teen
By Johnathon Allen
The teen years are often the most difficult time of life for parents and teens. Teenagers struggle with their parents, peers, and selves to establish a sense of identity, while parents try desperately to understand and keep up. During this time, kids have a tendency to check out from their adult relationships, and parents run the gamut of responses -- from clamping down like dictators to adopting a hands off, laissez-faire attitude and hoping for the best.
Despite the fact that staying involved in your teen's life may be one of the hardest tasks you'll ever face, studies show that it's also one of the most significant things you can do to ensure your child makes it to a happy adulthood.
"Studies resoundingly show that a lack of parental support and guidance is one of the primary causes for at-risk behavior such as drinking, smoking, taking drugs and having unprotected sex," says Dr. Michael Anastasi, a family counselor from La Verne, Calif. "While there is certainly a balance to be struck, it's absolutely imperative that parents go through the struggle of keeping in touch with their teens and revising their role as caregivers."
Though many parents may dismiss such concerns and believe their teens would never take part in such behavior, Anastasi recommends that they take a deeper look. "On average, kids found by their parents to be using drugs, had been doing so for two years prior to the discovery, and a majority of high school students who said they were sexually active claimed their parents had no knowledge of it."
