They are going to find themselves working in teams and in groups. They are going to find that the consumer pressures in their lives will leave an emotional and perhaps a spiritual void. We, as parents, may find that we are not able to do as much for our teens as we might like, or they might need. Without this, parents often have only economic and punitive leverage to use with their teens. And these are not ideal strategies.
Positive emotions are essential for healthy adolescent growth.
The skills parents and children possess in goal setting and problem solving help keep teens on course and turn good ideas into constructive actions. Our ability to help them make healthy connections will be at least as important as things we do for and with them directly. There is a lot more to this that we will go over. For now, we want to give you an overview of some of the main things we need to do with our teens, and why. We don't want to give you more than you can use, but we want to give you enough so that you have choices and can find approaches that fit your circumstances, children, and style.