Resilience is your ability to overcome hardship and bounce back stronger than ever. It is the cornerstone of your personal development that includes not just overcoming obstacles but ultimately growing stronger and becoming better prepared to handle such challenges in the future.
In today’s rapidly altering environment, teenagers encounter various difficulties that their parents may not be aware of. Therefore, it is essential for your teenager to become resilient to overcome life’s adversities and become stronger. This article will show you how to support your teen or adolescent to get the guidance needed for problem-solving, adaptability, and emotional strength.
Encourage Them to Make Connections
Teenagers need to engage and connect with their peers. When your child develops a healthy social connection with their peers, they’ll have a sense of well-being. This can positively impact their health in general and help reduce social anxiety and depression.
You can encourage your child to connect with their peers through texts, video chats, or phone calls. This doesn’t mean that you should force your teenager to mingle with people they aren’t comfortable around. Instead of doing that, brainstorm social connection ideas that suit their interests and personality.
For instance, you can assist them in exploring volunteering for a cause they are passionate about, joining a social group for teens, or acquiring a part-time job. If your child’s interests are online, you can allow them to connect with people their age or enjoy video games. Your role as a parent would be to ensure that it’s a safe space and that they’re not using the internet as an excuse to hide from the world.
Help Them Maintain a Daily Routine
A consistent and predictable routine can help your teenager prepare for their daily activities during their school years and when they become independent adults. The part of the human brain that drives emotions develops faster during the teenage years than the part that controls impulses. As a result, teenagers are more prone to risky, inconsistent, and boundary-testing behavior.
To help your teenager become self-reliant and a better manager of themselves, encourage them to plan their own routine. You can talk to your teenager about their day and what makes them feel stressed or tired. You can both work together towards a routine that helps them make the most of their days. Encourage your teen to document their daily plans so that you can talk about them together.
Celebrate their wins after implementing the new routine and revisit the conversation if you think they’re becoming inconsistent. There is no perfect routine for a teenager. However, encourage your child to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night and to spend two hours away from phone screens before bedtime. They should also have time for physical activity and school work, as these are essential for their growth and development.
Help Them Avoid Drugs
Teenagers’ brains focus more on risk-taking and rewards than adults. That’s why many tend to experiment with drugs and other substances that could put their health at risk. One way to prevent drug abuse in your teen is by talking to them about the consequences of substance addiction and the importance of making healthy choices and keeping the right friends. The friends your child keeps matter because teenagers are more likely to try out addictive substances for the first time in social settings.
If you suspect that your child is experimenting with alcohol or drugs, have an honest conversation with them. Remember, this subject matter is delicate, and a child with a drug abuse problem is already in a fragile state. Therefore, try to avoid confrontation. Instead, keep the discussion lines open and let them know you’re on their side. Consider getting substance abuse treatment for teens If you suspect they are not just experimenting but suffering from a substance abuse disorder.
Teach Them Self-Care
Self-care refers to those healthy habits and practices that help reduce stress and strain on our minds and bodies. They make us feel happy and at peace with ourselves. One of the ways for teenagers to learn coping skills for handling difficult situations is by practicing self-care.
Self-care should be all-encompassing. It should include physical, mental, and creative elements. Physical self-care includes exercise, sports, and pampering yourself with a massage at home, a manicure, or a nice long bath. Mental or emotional self-care involves spending time with nature or being in the company of friends, either in person or online.
It also entails enjoying entertainment through music, movies, or shows. Creative or spiritual self-care includes meditation or yoga, reading books, or engaging in activities that fuel your teen’s imagination, such as writing, painting, or taking photos.
