ParentingHub

Here are some questions to ponder when dealing with teenagers. Before you can communicate effectively with your teen, you need to have things straight in your own head.

Do you feel you have the same conversation over again with your teen?

Do you feel as though you can predict exactly where each conversation is going?.

What do you usually talk about with your teen?

What was the last meaningful conversation you had? How did it end?

When you are having a conversation with your teen, what do you appreciate most about it?

When you are having a conversation with your teen, what do you dislike most about it?

Are there things you would like to discuss with your teen but feel you can’t? If your answer is yes, why not?

Describe your experience of a good conversation. A bad conversation.

How do you feel about your teen’s side of the conversation?

Tips for Communicating

Know that the world has changed and the changes to the reality of today’s youth are very drastic

It is important that you respect the ways that their world is different than the one you remember living in as a teen

Judgements tend to be made from experience and are always shaped by the perspective of the person offering them, when talking to teens try to remember this

Listen to what they say about their world, relate it to what you remember and try to offer information rather than opinions. Rather than thinking in terms of “I wish I hadn’t done that so I’m going to forbid my child from doing it”, ask yourself, “What could have been said to me when I made that mistake to make me change my mind?”

Know that arming your teens with the truth, sharing your experiences, and presenting facts is more likely to reach them than any amount of lecturing