Before They Become Teenagers

Ever since I became a parent , I became so inquisitive over many things concerning child upbringing. I am always open to learning or reading information concerning a child and what possibly can affect a child positively or negatively as growth continues to take place. I have come to the realization teenage stage of every child shouldn't be taken lightly.

This is because , at that stage , a lot of children are curious to explore and discover things themselves, even without the knowledge of their parents. At that time, too, I discovered that some kids love clicking with their peers, either for positive or negative impacts; most of them tend to have strong bonds with their friends. Some children, too, their behavior is greatly influenced by the environment they find themselves in.

It will interest you to know that none of my kids has reached the teenage stage; my first child is still 10 years old, but I am preparing myself ahead of what is coming. This is why I don't hesitate to read information concerning teenage experiences and general knowledge concerning children at every stage of their development.

Something really prompted me to write this blog today , and that's because , while I was engaging on the chain last week, I read a post from a Hiver who shared his experiences as a teenager. There were lots of crazy things he did at ages 13 to 16 years, and it got me thinking as a parent. According to this user, he said that at age 13, he started smoking, and he also began drinking alcohol, things that teenagers shouldn’t be doing. He went further to say that he tried marijuana with his friends at a spot and got high for the first time. Again, he joined a fraternity group and kept all those things away from his mom.

Then at age 16, he got tattoos and continued till adulthood.That was some kind of experience I wasn't expecting a child of such age to have, especially knowing that he still lives under the same roof with his parents. The truth is, I don't know if I should think that the issue with the child here is that the parents didn't place their eyes on him or not. I understand that sometimes, parents can do everything right, and the kids will still go astray. The environment a child is raised in matters a lot. It could mean that he lived in an area where all the 'cool kids' smoked all the time and belonged to a fraternity. I wouldn't know, but in the midst of the uncertainties about why the child had such an experience at his age, being sensitive as a parent also matters so we could detect when things go wrong .

Also, some parents live in an environment too rugged to raise a child without some kind of influence. Leaving such an area might take care of exposing a child to negative influence, but what if the parents couldn't afford to? It's a concern, and still, I will stress that being sensitive as a parent can help to some extent.

Overall, it's expected that we parents strive to be open with the kids so the kids will be open with us in turn, because if your kids don't tell you certain things, you won't know what is going on in their lives and stepping in before things escalates becomes a challenge.

Images are mine!!