Sometimes it would be so easy to give up on some of our adolescent kids. They can often be self-centred, anti social, ungrateful and downright rude – to name but a few of the more mentionable words expressed by some parents.
It’s difficult to compare adolescent periods over different generations, as the numerous pressures placed on children of this age by society are constantly varying.
Along with all the physical and mental changes our adolescents undergo, they are also under considerable pressure from their own peer groups.
Our responsibility as parents doesn’t cease when our children become old enough to make their own decisions. We must always remember, the heart that beats within the rebel adolescent also contains the moral and social values, we as parents, have given them over the years.
While their adolescent period might well be as frustrating for parents as it is for them, we must continue to love and support them through the good times and the hard times. It’s during this time of turmoil in their lives kids are learning from us, not their peers, what the real meaning of life and unconditional love is all about.
I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.