Leaving Lifetime Influence

Children grow up into young adolescents and young adults. They are off to high school and will make friends and meet all sorts of influences both good and bad. How can parents prepare for this stage of growth?

The young adult begins pondering and criticizing all manners of human nature, good, evil, truth, lies and justice. They realize that they are thinking, others are thinking and start to worry, what others are thinking of them.

The search for self-identity will find some young adults conforming to their parents values and expectations while others will be defiant and combative. Others may not immediately find themselves and struggle for identity through their teen years and reappear during events in their adult years.

Testing out roles in different situations with family and social circles can overlap and create conflict. Parents don’t always realize their teenager is in the process of learning to find a balance to form a single identity. Positive relations with parents has revealed young adolescents usually find a supportive positive circle of friends.

The young adolescent is going to "break" from childhood and explore the need for more independence. Conflicts will occurs with indulgent parents and a child who has been raised to be strong-willed. Realizing our child has hit this stage of growth will make the transition easier for you, the family and your young, upcoming adult.

Parents can learn to help influence their teenager by pointing out and providing help and supporting their decisions to explore areas of interests. Speaking from my own experience, one son wanted to learn to fly and I encouraged him to enroll in Air Cadets. Rock bands, arpeggios and riffs and music were of interest therefore both my sons have guitars and keyboards.

I don’t foresee a career in rock bands but I do and have seen them display and share their guitar skills with their cousins, friends and community and the emotional effects of their actions. My other son is still pondering whether to enter the aviation field. They are still young and I will let them decide for themselves on careers.

I never cease to remind them that they can be and do whatever they choose any day, year or time in their life but let it be something that makes them look great to others. I discourage illegal acts or 'short cuts'. Learning to earn, by themselves, for whatever they want will bring a far greater sense of accomplishment than if it is just given to them.

Some youths will want programs that expose them to feeling competent and useful, feel they belong, and/or give them a sense of power and influence. Encourage learning about entrepreneurship and leadership opportunities such as part-time home business, join a youth group, team club or social cause.

Learning to identify and encourage our children to enter area’s of their own interests will help them develop their own individuality and independence that will stay with them. This is only a possibility and not a truth. As parents we can give our best social, emotional, and material support and empower our children. We can hope they will grow into responsible and dependable adults. The end of the day they are the ones who will live by their choices.
Read related –> here and there or SHOPPING.

I hope you found this article informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and share your own observations plus give your Vote. Send me a email if you have a request on a topic of interest. It’s FREE to join my Fan club, subscribe by Email or my RSS Feed or join me on Hubpages.

Article(C)2009 Dame Scribe, all rights reserved. Dame Scribe creates articles and posts online. She creates articles on business skills & development, health, science, technology and society and has a strong passion for writing.