Home | Self Improvement | Motivation

Getting your Teen to Listen to You and Your Advice

Posted By: Christina Botto | Posted On: 2008-08-27 | Article ID: 88856

The biggest challenge when parenting a teenager is how to get your teen to listen to you and your advice. You want to protect your teen from bad decisions and choices. Your teen knows it all and does not listen to you.

Between the ages of 13 and 18, your teenager will transform from a child that followed your lead and had everything done for him to a young adult that makes choices and decisions.

Where is your teenager today, and where do you want her to be when she graduates high school? Think for a minute about this tremendous change. Reflect on all the various areas in which she will have to gain experience, and the decisions that she will have to learn to make.

Your son or daughter will have to learn everything from washing clothes to earning a living to handling personal relationships. They will have to decide if they will go to college, what their field of study will be, what profession they want to pursue, and which college to go to.

They will get a driver’s license, and will start going their own way instead of going along with the rest of the family.

During these five years you have the unique opportunity to give your teenager more and more responsibility and allow him to make more and more decisions. He will grow more independent with each day.

As long as he is still living with you, you will be there for him if he fails or makes a wrong choice. Be careful not to underestimate your teenager. At the same time, don't ask too much of him too soon, thus discouraging him from making decisions.

Give him enough space to develop, while standing by to help.

The following strategy can be applied to many situations. It will boost your teen's self confidence. It will also establish your credibility:

My younger daughter, then 14, switched cell-phones, and needed assistance with reprogramming her phone. Instead of taking her phone and calling the provider, I gave her the number and told her to call herself.

To ease some of her nervousness I explained the process to her, that she would have to go through several choices on the menu, to have all parts ready, and that she will be asked some security questions. I told her to call me once she got to that point. I would be close enough to hear her calling if she needed me.

After she had wiggled her way through the menus she did call me for the answers to the security questions. Once they were answered, I left.

A few minutes later, when she walked by me, I asked her “How did it go?” Proudly she answered, “I am all set.”

This exercise boosted her self-confidence; it also proved to her that by listening to me she would succeed - I had gained her trust.

 

Article Source: http://www.articlecell.com

About The Author
Christina Botto
Christina Botto is the author of Help Me With My Teenager! A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents that Works and Fitting The Pieces. For tools and resources to help you better understand and relate to your teen, or help with specific issues visit her web site at Parenting A Teenager.



Please Rate this Article     
Not yet Rated

 


 



Ken Wilson
Author ID - 2683
    View - Ken's Profile
    View - Ken's Articles

Lee Dobbins
Author ID - 148
    View - Lee's Profile
    View - Lee's Articles

Jim McDonald
Author ID - 1638
    View - Jim's Profile
    View - Jim's Articles
 Submit Articles
 Member Login
 Submission Guidelines
 Ezine Notifications
 Popular Articles
 Article RSS Feeds
 New Stuff
 About Us
 Link to Us
 Contact Us
 Privacy Policy
 Terms of Service
 

EnterArticles.com

Submit Articles

 

Monsterputt.com

Golf Clubs and Accessories

 

MarketingAU.com

Internet Marketing Help


 

ArticleCell.com » Copyright © 2006 - 2007
Terms of Service | Submission Guidelines | Contact Us | Link to Us | Privacy Policy | About Us

Bridgestone J33R 460CC Driver | J36 Cavity Back Irons | Bridgestone Golf

Powered by Article Dashboard