Parenting: The Teen Years
Teens: Young Adults-in-Training
Parents with young children shake their heads when confronted with parenting challenges, and worry about "the teen years." While these years often bring problems and stresses, they also offer parents the opportunity to enjoy their children as young adults-in-training, with one foot in the world of childhood, and one foot in the adult world.
Parents often lag behind their children in development (a fact often pointed out by teens), treating their children as somewhat younger and less capable than they are.
A World of Dangers for Teens
Committed and caring parents worry about the dangers of the world which teenagers are exploring, and with good reason. Yet it is important to remember that we, too, were once teenagers ? and somehow navigated through those years.
Guidance for Parenting
While we cannot always protect our teenaged children, we can communicate with them and help them to make sense of their rapidly-changing bodies and psyches. The recommended self help books in the section on Parenting Teenagers offer a wide range of ideas and guidance for negotiating this important time in our children's lives.