How to Live with a Teenager: 10 Tips

Tips to make living with teenagers beneficial for both parties.

Living with teenagers can be difficult most of the time, because it is a stage of many changes both physically, emotionally and psychologically.

However, there are a series of guidelines and tips to make living with a teenager successful and profitable for both parties.. Let's see the most important ones.

Tips for living well with a teenager

Relationship problems, outbursts of tone, recurrent conflicts, bad harmony... If you wish to know which are the most efficient advices to coexist with a teenager, continue reading.

1. Respect their privacy

Adolescence is a stage of self-affirmation. The individual begins to claim a series of rights that were not part of his or her priorities during childhood.

One of these essential rights for the natural development of the person is the right to intimacy and privacy. during adolescence, it is advisable to give the young person more private spaces without interfering too much in their affairs.

Some of the most common ways to respect their privacy may be: not entering their room in their absence, knocking on their door before entering, trying not to ask in an inquisitive tone about their friendships (unless they want to share them) and not excessively controlling their daily activities if there are no signs of compromising their physical or mental health.

2. Take an interest in their hobbies

Showing a genuine interest in a teenager's new hobbies can be another way to establish a positive relationship with that person, as well as to encourage proper emotional development and healthy socialization at the family level. and also encourage proper emotional development and healthy socialization at the family level.

In addition to that, teenagers often need external approval from both friends and family about their interests, skills or hobbies and seeing that these are recognized and appreciated is also of great importance for the construction of their personality.

3. Attend to their needs

The emotional family support is essential during any stage of the growth, and more during adolescence, since it is a period of great importance for the construction of the child's personality.It is a period of great emotional imbalances for the person.

Being aware of the daily difficulties that the adolescent may have, whether emotional, relational or physical, is a good way to help and guide him/her in a period of great uncertainty and disorientation such as adolescence.

Some of the problems that may arise in the life of an adolescent may be eating disorders, bullying, school difficulties of all kinds or academic failure.

4. Sharing time together

In the same way, in order to attend to the daily needs of the adolescent, it is also necessary to spend time with him/her.This also helps us to get to know their personal interests and hobbies.

Although sometimes it may seem that they seek isolation from the family, teenagers also need to spend time with their families, to share their daily lives and ask for help if needed.

5. Avoid excessive prohibitions

An educational model with too many prohibitions or restrictions can result in an overly rebellious adolescent who ends up not respecting any type of authority.

That is why it is necessary to be permissive is necessary to be permissive regarding, for example, the use of the Internet and social networks, since they are part of their main channels of socialization and communication with other people their age. and communication with people his age and without which he could feel isolated from the world around him.

6. Respect their freedom

Individual freedom is another essential element for the correct socialization with the environment in the adolescent stage and feeling that you have enough room for maneuver to carry out leisure or even creative activities will promote that there will be between people of different generations..

As with privacy, there are also some ways to respect the personal freedom of the adolescent and some of them may be: to let him/her have the freedom to decorate his/her room, to dress as he/she wants, to allow some leeway in the times he/she comes home and not to control his/her friendships.

Economic freedom is also necessary, so it is often a good thing for the adolescent to have some money for personal expenses or to develop hobbies and activities of his own.

7. Respect their opinion

Respect is essential for the proper functioning of any interpersonal relationship, and most teenagers also need respect.Most teenagers also need to see that their opinion is respected, even if it does not coincide with that of their parents.

The usual trend in adolescence is the questioning of certain culturally ingrained beliefs accepted by previous generations, and parents do not always understand that they are no longer the main reference point for their children (other young people their age probably are), which is why, during this stage, arguments and conflicts easily arise. during this stage, arguments and conflicts easily arise..

That is why even if we follow an educational model based on discipline, it is also necessary to show respect towards the ideas, positions or approaches that they may have on any subject, in this way we will contribute positively to their personality building. Even if we believe that the adolescents are wrong, it is necessary to be able to confront ideas from the respect.

8. Avoid comparisons

While the adolescent is growing up often go through many ups and downs with regard to their self-esteem and mental stability, which is why it is recommended to avoid comparisons with other young people their age.That is why it is recommended to avoid comparisons with other young people their age.

Feeling inferior to other classmates or believing that their family does not value them enough can be a hard blow to the teenager's self-esteem, to their socialization and in general to their mental health.

9. Treat them by accepting their psychological maturation progress.

For the adolescent to feel respected, loved and valued, we should not treat him as a child.. Keeping in mind that he is almost an adult is something that will greatly benefit his self-esteem and his process of shaping his adult personality.

Taking their opinion into account, apologizing whenever we can offend them, not lying to them or hiding anything from them can be a good way to start treating the adolescent as a responsible person with the capacity to make reasonable decisions.

10. Praise their qualities

Another good way to contribute to the positive development of the adolescent both affectively and socially is to praise his or her qualities, appreciating their achievements and rewarding their efforts whenever necessary..

Adolescents tend to have an unrealistic perception of themselves and tend to be overly critical of themselves, which is why external support and approval can be a great help.