Parenting Teens

By Roger

Parenting teens start way before the age of 13. You have to start when they are of elementary school age. That's the time you should gey your children invovled in certain activities. For my wife and I it was dance class, brownies, and baton twirling for our daughter and scouts, bowling, and martial arts for our boys. Not only should you sign your children up for these activities, you should try to be a part of those activities even if you are just there to cheer them on. I became an assistant scout master, while my boys were in scouts and always cheered them on in the other activities. My wife became involved in the baton group my daughter was in and now my daughter is teaching baton twirling to girls who are the same age as when she started.

This early parent and child togetherness will plant a seed that grows into mutual admoration toward each other. My wife and I were always there for our children and our children learned to expect that.

As our children became teenagers they knew that we would be there for them for anything they needed us for. My wife and I were also a part of the things they did as teens. An example is, before letting our teens go to a party or just to go over to a friends house, we would contact the parents of the party giver or a parent of the person who invited our child to thier house to make sure a responsible person (preferably a parent) would be there. At first this embarassed our teens but they soon got over it. All the parents we contacted this way were gratefull that we called. We always knew where our teens were and how to get a hold of them.

To raise responsible teens the most important thing to do is get involved in the things they do. Get to know thier friends and thier friends parents. Give then all the love you can and pray for them daily.