Meeting the Challenges of Parenting

REARING children today, especially those of teenage years, is a formidable challenge for parents. The Gazette of Montreal, Canada, reports that experimentation with alcohol and drugs has become “the norm for adolescents.” It emphasizes that parents have “a responsibility to be vigilant about changes in [their] teenagers’ behaviour.”

What should parents look for that may indicate such adolescent problems? Some physical, emotional, and social warning signs identified by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry include lasting fatigue, change in personality and temperament, spending excessive time locked in the bedroom, confrontational behavior, and getting into trouble with the law.

How can parents protect their children from such harmful experimentation and its resulting negative consequences? Dr. Jeffrey L. Derevensky, of McGill University, believes that open communication and the fostering of mutual respect during the formative years of a child may minimize problems later. The Gazette adds that even though a desire for more independence surfaces during adolescence, teenagers continue to need “the guidance, support, structure and love provided by their parents.” These observations echo a Bible proverb that states: “Train up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) God counsels parents to be examples, companions, communicators, and teachers.​—Deuteronomy 6:6, 7.