What Parents Mean to Teenagers?

When lots of other things in teenagers lives are changing they need support and love from parents. Through ordinary, everyday activities you can keep a strong relationship with your teenage child.

Teenagers, parents and family relationships

As children move into the teenage years, many people think that families become less important to them. But your child needs the support family offers as much as he did when he was younger.
When your child was young, your role was to guide and nurture him. It’s true that family relationships change during adolescence, your relationship with your child is becoming more equal.

Most young people and their families have some ups and downs during these years, but things usually improve by late adolescence as children become more mature.

For teenagers and parents families are a source of emotional support and care. Families give teenagers material, financial and practical help, so most teenagers still want to spend time with their families, having fun and sharing ideas.

For teenagers, it’s normal to be moody or seem uncommunicative, but they still need you. Your child still wants you to be involved in his life and loves you; even from time to time his body language, behavior or attitude might seem to say he doesn’t.

The family is the most important thing to teenagers, even they think friends are more important, but they’re not. Friends are great, but they’ll come and go, the family is always there.

Why your child needs you?

Adolescence can be a difficult time – your child is going through emotional ups and downs as well as rapid physical changes, they aren’t always sure where they fit and still trying to work it out. Adolescence can also be a time when relationships and peer influences can cause your child and you some stress.

During this time, no matter what’s going on in the rest of his life, your family is still a secure emotional base where your child feels accepted and loved. Your family can support and build your child’s identity, confidence, optimism, and self-belief.

When your family sets boundaries, rules, and standards of behavior, you give your child a sense of predictability and consistency. Believe it or not, your knowledge and life experiences can be really useful to your child – he just might not always want you to know that!

Close and supportive family relationships protect your child from problems like depression and risky behavior like alcohol and other drug use. Your support and interest in what your child is doing at school can boost his desire to do well academically too.

Knowing what your child is doing and being available to him can mean fewer teenage behavior problems. Being available could be as simple as just being in the kitchen when your child is in his room, so he knows he can talk to you if he wants to. Teenagers benefit from knowing that support is available, even though they might not be using it.

Strong family relationships can go a long way towards helping your child grow into a caring, well-adjusted and considerate adult.