Parenting Information

Parenting Information

Parenting Videos


A variety of videos on a mixture of parenting topics for your information, or amusement!

7 Things To Teach Your Kids About Money


Did you know that many people retire broke?It's true. After a lifetime of hard work and having earned literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, they end up with nothing.

ADD / ADHD Children : Being Your Childs Best Friend


Do you live with an ADD / ADHD child? If so-- my hat is off to you! ADD / ADHD children are brilliant, full of energy, smart as a whip (as grandma says), and tons of work. They are also the rising sun and the setting star: meaning much of life revolves around them in one way or another.

A Chance for a Home


"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." - Johann von GoetheHome.

Its a Sick World


It's no joy to be sick. It's even less joy when your child is sick.

Son, Can I Use The Car Tonight?


I recall somewhere in the recesses of my aging brain a time past when kids actually asked to borrow the family car for the evening. Heck, I even recall myself uttering that request to my folks many times.

You Want Whaaat???


Not too long ago my teenage daughter approached me with a very special request..

The Importance of Fathers


There is no doubt that mothers play an all-important leading role in the lives of their children. They are the obvious heroes of child rearing.

The Ten Most Common Poisons Among Kids


For parents, keeping our kids safe is a constant top priority. But even with the best intentions it's possible to overlook some potentially harmful household poisons.

Joining a Gang: How to Help Kids Prevent it, How to Tell if Theyve Joined One, How to Help Them Out


While youth gangs are nothing new -- they've been traced back to the early 19th century -- the demographic of a youth gang is something that is constantly changing. Many people stereotype gang members as urban, inner city males from racial minorities, but in fact gangs are a problem in suburbs as well as cities, for all races and for girls as well as boys.

Best Investment


Every week I write something about the stock market - how to, when to and where to put your money and how to protect it from loss if you do. This week I want to say something very important to the young folks about success.

After the Driving School


If you visit search engines you can find several resources to assist you on this subject. Try searching on the phrase "parents with teen drivers".

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) for Teen Drivers


Drivers 16 years of age have little driving experience, putting them at high risk for traffic accidents. A series of five research papers published in a September 2002 supplement of Injury Prevention addresses reducing this risk.

Spending Time With Your Child


Why Is Spending Time with Your Child So Important?For children to get any sense that they are loved and wanted, you have to be prepared to spend some time with them. I know you are all thinking, so tell me something I don't know.

Discipline Without Damage


If your parenting methods include abuse of any kind; physical, sexual, emotional or verbal, please get help to stop as soon as possible. Adults are supposed to safeguard and protect the young among us.

Is Your Discipline Damaging the Spirit of the Child?


If your parenting methods include abuse of any kind; physical, sexual, emotional or verbal, please get help to stop as soon as possible. Adults are supposed to safeguard and protect the young among us.

More Articles from Parenting Information:
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MORE RESOURCES:

Moms have more freedom to complain about parenting?
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Parenting: Six common causes for kids' nightmares
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Though normally a person has nothing to worry about from a nightmare, it can be an unsettling, if not frightening, experience for a child. ...


Parenting with purpose: Fighting substance abuse
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Parenting - Google News

Supplementary Article

Parenting Teens - Getting Your Point Across

01/07/09

by Carolyn Schweitzer

Giving advice to a teenager is very easy; getting a teenager to take that advice is another matter altogether. It's not only a case of the advice 'falling on deaf ears', sometimes the teenager seems to go deliberately out of their way to do the exact opposite, that's when you know you've got a problem. So how do you go about giving advice to a teen?

The short answer to this question is "dont". Now at first glance this probably sounds ridiculous, after all parents have more experience of life and most would agree that a parent's job is to pass this experience onto their children. But the problem with giving advice is that it's really just a way of maintaining control. We often cover it up by saying we know what's best in the situation, we have the experience and knowledge, but in reality what we're saying is what we want to happen, this is what we want you to do.

Adolescence is a time for learning to self-manage, to take responsibility for yourself and your actions. It's an essential process if your teen is to become a well-adjusted, fully functioning adult ready for the 21st century. And a fundamental part of the process is handing over control to your teen.

For most parents this is a really scary thought. They're concerned about what will happen if they do, that if they give up some control it will mean they lose all control. They're concerned about what their teen will do or what happens if they get it wrong, in other words they feel a need to protect their teen.

Firstly, handing over control at this stage is more about handing over responsibility and accountability on how to do something, not handing over total control. It's about letting your teen have an involvement in how to solve a particular problem, it's about teaching them problem solving skills. If you always provide the solution how will they ever learn to do it for themselves?

Secondly, your teen is very likely to get it 'wrong', to make mistakes and what is wrong about that? Youre teaching them how to self-correct, just as they did when they first learned to ride a bike and kept falling off. Making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process; more learning comes from making mistakes than comes from getting it 'right'. How much does it really matter if they dont get it 'right' first time or choose the 'best' alternative?

Finally, is your solution the 'best'? It's easy to forget that our children are different to us when thinking about a solution to a problem. The solution may be the best one for you, but is it the best one for your teen?

Giving advice by telling teens what to do is only one way of passing on a parent's knowledge, there are other ways of achieving the same outcome and with a higher likelihood of success. And it's how you pass on that experience that makes the difference.

How to Get Your Point Across

1.Ask before you give. Always ask your teen if they want your advice before you start to give it. If they say, "yes please" then go ahead and have your say, if they say "no" respect their decision and keep quiet.
2.Question their intent. If your teen has refused advice, ask them specific questions about how theyre going to handle the situation. Asking questions about smaller 'parts' of the problem is a way to at least get your teen to think about whats involved.
3.Provide information instead. Directing your teen to a source of information that's neutral allows your teen access to information without having to agree to your point of view.
4.Give your teen time. Just because your teen hasn't given you an immediate answer to your question doesn't mean theyre ignoring it. Give them time to go away and think about the answers.
5.Highlight their qualities. Reminding teens of their strengths will focus their minds on choosing options that make the best of them. Focus on their weaknesses and they're likely to lose confidence in doing anything.
6.Listen to your teen. Often just listening to your teen without interrupting will show you that you don't even need to give advice; your teen already has a solution.

About the Author

Carol Shepley has been involved with teenagers for over 10 years and, as the parent of a teen herself, fully understands the pressures placed on parents and teens today. She now shares this knowledge and experience through her website http://www.howtohelpteens.com so that parents can help their teens become resilient, resourceful and responsible adults.

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