Teens and Parents

Teens and Parents

Lucy Androski is a young public speaker. She is 13 years old and
just completed her 7th-grade year at Okoboji Middle School. She
enjoys music, art, and playing tennis. Being a teenager, she has a
unique view on how to parent teens.

She explains, in this video that the rules that apply to teens vis à
vis their phones should apply to parents, too. If they spend 12
hours in front of the screen and allow their kids one-hour screen
time, then there is a problem, Lucy says.

According to Lucy, Technology is something that parents and teens

don’t see eye-to-eye. Technology is one of the areas where teenagers and parents don't get along,
mainly because of the difference between today's technology and parents' routines, considering that
when our parents were teenagers they didn't have any kind of technology. In your opinion, a child
should have a phone based on environment and age.

Emotions are very intense from an early age and parents need to stay calm and help their children
understand what they are feeling, even if it is difficult for both of them. Some of them don't
understand them and that's where different types of parents come in.

She asks that adults follow simple step

to build good relationship with their
teens. That they understand what teens
think of them. She explains how some
teens describe their parents using
certain stereotypes. These stereotypes
fall into two categories: the ‘boss’, who
is too strict and doesn't deal well with
emotions, and the ‘loosey-goosey’, that
gives their kids too much freedoom. But
there is third kind also, who is in the
middle, called the ‘listener’, this one
gives directions but let their teen have options.

She narrates a personal experience; one day, after tennis practice, she felt like giving up on the
sport. Her mother said they have committed to the team. The waves of emotions hit her so hard that
she cried all the way home, but her mother was calm. She was expecting her mom to get mad at her
but she didn’t. When she got home, she calmed down and realised she had her first mood swing.

From there, she got to learn about parenting. She advises that when a teen is experiencing a wave of
emotions, the key for any parent is to stay calm. If the adult stays calm, the wave will pass and teen
will realise they were being silly. But if they fight back then, it may lead to an argument.

In conclusion, we think that all the parents should be the listeners and help their kids to deal with
emotions.