How do we help our children transition? A question that in today’s times could have a multitude of meaning but let’s focus on the most obvious. The adolescence trials and tribulations of leaving school and moving into the big wide world.
As a mother of three sons, ages varying from 19 to 35, I am experiencing and have experienced this turmoil that our children face through this time.
Never could it be more difficult than now for our teens in the areas of leaving school and adjusting to either a gap year, college or university, and what was that during an era of Covid, lockdowns, virtual and or class teaching, natural hormones, the fear of the unknown, social media, heartbreak and peer pressure? These have could have manifested in mental health issues or just the fear of failure.
A friend and I were chatting this week on how most of these young people really need an adult mentor or coach where they can feel free to speak their minds with no judgement, exclusion from the pressure of parents and their expectations usually defined by what’s deemed “normal” and just to have some tools of what really to expect, how to behave and manage this new phase in their developing to adulthood.
Nothing is as it was 20 years ago. This world and country are a different place. As parents we now need to listen and look out for different signs, ask the right questions, be a little more forgiving and ensure we are enlightened by what’s current, acceptable and how to negotiate the process from parental dependence to responsible independence.
This being said, parents do their best based on their correct way of perceiving this new time for their child, I try harder every day but young adults also need an outlet, not a psychologist, but just to engage and gather a few tips and tricks to navigate the “shock” of what the new world has to offer and become the best versions of themselves.
The link below is written by a teen in South Africa and is a heart-warming but real insight to how our children feel about their current circumstances. I have copied and excerpt but please read the full content.
“Being a Teen in the world today is very different to how it was 100,50 or even 10 years ago. The evolutions of digital technology and the immense increase in population has resulted in the teens of today facing much more advanced problems and problems teens of the past would never in thought of. Teens today have higher levels of stress and anxiety according to the APA (American Psychological Association) than that of their adult counterparts. I put out a census to 800 of the teens in greater Johannesburg and received 87 responses back in which teenagers expressed what is driving their anxiety levels through the roof. 4 major topics came up, these were social media, a struggle of sexuality and acceptance, pressure placed on them by school and parents, and the idea that everything they are doing now is not going to be good enough because there will always be someone better that comes along after.”
https://psychmatters.co.za/teen-21st-century/
I will be offering a 5-session course for the TEEN TO 20SMONETHING plight. Contact me on the site for more information.
