If you’re the parent of a teen, chances are you’re always looking for teen parenting tips. After all, it’s a completely different game than it was “back in the day” or even a couple of years ago, right? When “we” were teenagers, it was a whole different world, wasn’t it? Our parents told us what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, and we did it. If we didn’t do it exactly as we were told to do it, we knew the result would be utterly unpleasant and not soon to be forgotten.
However, today, teenagers are a whole new breed. Their disrespect is unmatched, they don’t listen to a word we say, they live a life with no rules, and they’re just out of control in general. It’s no wonder so many parents are looking for parenting advice for teens. People are desperate to find a way to take control of their families and get back on track with their teenage children. The good news is that it can be done, as long as you’re willing to put in a little bit of effort. Let’s take a quick look at how things got as “bad” as they are, for a minute.
The Law – Now, I’m not saying I’m okay with “spanking” or using the threat of physical violence against your teen to get them to listen, but let’s face facts for a minute. Back in the “day,” even the thought of your dad coming home from work and finding out you were misbehaving was enough to make you play by the rules, right? These days, teenagers are not afraid of anything. They know you can’t spank them, physically restrain them, or anything like that. If he does, the police will most likely be called. You may be laughing a little at that statement, but the kids have done it recently. The sad part is that in some cases the parents were arrested and charged with spanking their child.
Society: The way society is right now has taught our children, especially our teens, that it’s okay to act a certain way. It’s okay for them to drink, smoke, steal, do drugs, and any number of other things that we as parents don’t find acceptable. After all, what will happen if they do any of those things?
Relationships: At some point, the relationships parents had with teens shifted from parent-child to “friends.” The evidence of this is all around us. In a tattoo parlor somewhere RIGHT NOW there is a father with his 16 year old son or daughter getting tattooed. At some party somewhere, right now there’s a dad walking in the front door with a case of beer for all the teens, so everyone thinks the dad is “cool.”
The sad fact of the matter is that even if you are not one of the parents who is parenting poorly, there is a good chance that your teen is being exposed to those parents, or at least exposed to the children of those parents. So your teenager will most likely find some of the examples I’ve given above acceptable and, to some extent, how things should be. Because of this, responsible parents like you and me need some good parenting tips for teens to get things back on track. don’t make the mistake that things will get better on their own. Seek, find, and follow some solid parenting tips for teens to make sure your teen is on the right track.
