The Problems Teenagers Face Today
The problems teenagers face today are far worse than those of the last generation: how parents can help
The transition from adolescence to adulthood is one of the most difficult periods in a teenager’s life. The problems teenagers face today are daunting indeed. While peer pressure and cliques have been negative influences for decades, there are some new elements which are frightening, both for teens and parents. When you put it all together, it is hard to know how to manage and help overcome these challenging problems teenagers face in the modern world. Here we take a look, point by point, at six major elements and how to help teens get through this stressful, dangerous period.
Peer pressure is an old problem, but nonetheless a major problem for teens. Kids are just beginning to spread their wings and start exercising independence. Most teens have a strong desire to fit in to the structure of their peer’s society. Peer pressure is basically a remake of the grade school ‘I dare you to …’, where one kid wants to be top dog, or get another child to go along with something they are doing that is usually unacceptable or dangerous behavior. Peer pressure is a problem teenagers face that has subtle implications, feeding in to many other elements we discuss here.
Oddly, schools rarely address this in a class setting, teaching teens how to deal with this or understand the phenomena for what it is. Schools generally address this after the fact. One solution is for parents and teens to get together for a kitchen table style discussion that both educates and reinforces the benefits of thinking for themselves.
Cliques are essentially, just another facet of peer pressure and the desire to belong to the cool groups. Among the problems teenagers face, this is perhaps one of the easiest to explain to teens in a straightforward discussion. Teens are naturally rebellious and once they realize that cliques are exclusivity ‘clubs’, structured towards sameness, they may have no desire to belong to such groups. They want to be different!
Just one generation ago, school violence was not the norm. While drugs have been available on school campuses for many years, this generation of teens report that anything and everything is now available at school, including drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin. The use and dealing of drugs on campus dramatically increases the potential for school violence. Of all of the problems teenagers face, this is one of the most common and dangerous.
Have your kids look online and find the facts on these drugs. Help them with a little investigation of your own. What goes into them? How many kids quickly become addicts? What will addicts do to get a fix? Make this an assignment. it is not a pretty picture. it is almost guaranteed your teen will want no part of injecting battery acid into their veins. They’ll have good reason to say, ‘No thanks!’
Many of the problems teenagers face now are driven by rebellion as well as fear. A little like a scary movie, the element of fear insinuates itself into their consciousness, but with a unhealthy dose of ‘it can not happen to me’. Online predators are a case in point. Chat groups are regularly infiltrated by child predators. Kids lack the sophistication and experience to recognize such predatory individuals, hiding behind a seemingly innocent persona. Parents can help by going online with their kids, locating chat groups that are geared towards teens. do not choose one in which they already participate ñ yet. Sit down and ‘lurk’ together. Point out suspicious characters and let them know why the behavior is suspicious. If your teen remarks that someone in their chat room shows similar behavior, suggest you take a look together. Of course, let them know that they should never reveal any personal or identifying information about themselves, nor should they ever agree to a meeting. A few news clips of disastrous true events should drive your point home.
it is no secret that our educational system has gone downhill, leaving teens lacking skills and knowledge to adequately prepare them for college. These educational shortcomings can create a sense of hopelessness, despair and low self esteem. When you combine this factor with all of the other major problems teenagers face, you have got a recipe for disaster, unless you take the time to help. All parents should try to identify areas the school does not address and provide home school lessons to fill in the gaps.
The problems teenagers face today are far more challenging than you might think. We owe it to our kids to prepare them for the real world. You can help!
