Young people all over the world start being fascinated by romantic feelings as soon as they enter their puberty. The first deep feelings and emotions start to appear in young hearts, lots of new experiences start to happen to children. The hormones start to boil and make things hard to understand for the teenagers.
Their bodies change, their desires change, all of a sudden a whole new world of emotions appears, and for some children it might be shocking at first. Parents also get affected a lot by the changes that happen to their child. Shifts in lifestyle, behavior and personality, unexpected outbursts of emotions, sometimes very negative ones, are upsetting for both sides.
Teen age is a very confusing period not only for the teenagers but also for their parents. It is important for parents to understand the nature of their children’s emotions. In order to keep and maintain the authority among teenage children a parent has to be properly educated.
The importance of romantic feelings and the power of hormones should not be underestimated neither by schools and teachers, nor by parents. The changes that happen to adolescent bodies and minds are only natural and every human being has been through this period of life at some point. These changes are a shocking experience for the teenagers and neglecting them may result as unresolved psychological issues, complexes and troubles.
Parents want to take the situation under control and start providing limitations and rules that are normally seen by the children as cruel and unfair. It results in a growing misunderstanding in a family, conflicts, dramas, stresses. Parents react with more restrictions and children end up protesting and rebelling even more. This can easily turn into a cursed circle for both sides and create a very difficult period for the whole family.
In most cases teenage curiosity, hormones and desires to explore win the battle (C) between nature of adolescence and parental discipline. In the world (C) of teenagers breaking rules set by adults is “cool” and “adventurous”. A good parent must understand that it is impossible to isolate a child from interacting with the outer world and other children.
Parents of most teenagers start to worry that their children become too distracted from school and studies and too bothered by love, dating and relationships. Teenage interest in relationships is all-consuming (Coulson 2013). Contemporary dating may look different from what parents had in their teen age – internet gives opportunities to talk, video chat, message, exchange photos and post comments – but the feelings remain the same.
Remembering own teenage dating experiences is very important for a parent who wants to understand (D) what their child is going through. It is crucial to remember the emotional side, not the impracticality of the whole aspect. Often parents want to save their child from heartache and mistakes of this period (Romano 2009).
This is when it is important to know that by preventing a person from learning lessons and experiences a parent risks (D) to raise a dependant and insecure young adult not ready to face the life’s challenges. Teenage daters make many mistakes not because they are silly but because they do not know how to date properly. It is a whole new world to them. Punishing and criticizing them will only hurt them and make the gap between a child and a parent bigger.
Main thing a parent should try to keep during this period is the teenager’s trust. Teenagers are sure that they know everything; this is where it is important to show that there are aspects of life that a parent is more experienced at. It is necessary for a teenager not to feel lonely and misunderstood. An adolescent person is in the indefinite stage of being a dependent child and an independent adult at the same time but without fully being any of these.
To help a teenager cope with all the new experiences without getting in trouble a parent has to learn several things. First of all, communication plays a big role in the process of bonding between a child and a parent. Communication about dating has to start long before the child reaches adolescence.
Girls are easier to talk to about private emotions than boys. Talking about dating and expectations in theory will prepare the child for the practical side of this stage of life (Witmer 2014). Another crucial thing a parent must remember is that a teenager needs privacy.
It is hard to stay out of controlling the child’s life and making sure everything is well, but a parent has to realize that parenting is just like childhood – it has stages, the role of a parent changes over time, although whatever happens – a parent has to always be ready to give shelter, comfort and a hug when their child is too tired of being an “adult”.
Works Cited
Coulson, Justin. A Parent’s Guide to Surviving Your Teen’s First Love. 2013. Web.
Romano, Lisa A. Dangers of Teenage Dating. 2009. Web.
Witmer, Denise. Five Truths Teens and Dating. 2014.