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Helping Your Children Navigate Their Teenage Years:
A Guide for Parents
Introduction
This is an exciting time to be a teenager
in America. Young people today
are growing up in a rapidly changing society
with hopes for a very promising
future. Survey results show that 84% of
high-school students plan to attend a
four-year college. Teens overwhelmingly
share their parents’ values of honesty and
hard work, and are engaged in positive
activities. More than half of all teenagers
volunteer with a community organization,
attend a house of worship weekly, read the
newspaper twice a week or more, and
attend cultural events or visit museums.
In spite of this positive outlook, however,
adolescence—the transition between
childhood and adulthood—is still one of
the most difficult times for children and
parents alike. Growing up is more than
the physical changes that occur, such as
getting taller or more muscular. This passage
is a time for establishing independence,
testing limits, trying
on different roles, exploring
new feelings, and fostering
intellectual growth. Above
all, adolescence is a process
that takes time to happen.
We have all heard the frightening and
heart-breaking statistics about youth violence,
depression, tobacco, and alcohol
and other drug use. Even the best-informed
young people are constantly
tested by social pressures, emotional
needs, and their peers. The push and pull
between right and wrong can become a
tug of war between adolescent and parent.
Being a parent, grandparent, foster
parent, or caregiver of a teen is both
rewarding and challenging. Caring adults
can make all the difference in a child’s life.
This guide provides some useful tools
to improve your communication with your
teenager to help him or her get through
adolescence successfully. Read it all or
select the sections that help you the most.
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