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Parenting Advice from a Teen
Owen Bennett, Guelph, ON
Parenting, the activity of bringing up a child as a parent. Thanks Google! That is the very basic level of parenting if you skin the word down to the bone, but like any other words there are many layers to it.
This is how to parent, from the point of view of a child.
I could abuse my power in many ways knowing that my mother will read this and follow it word for word because she loves me and whatnot, but this is a chance for me to give my honest opinion.
My parents are great, both of them. But there are some things that I would change. Again, I am a kid who doesn’t have any experience in being a parent.
There is only one thing that I suggest that I feel is reasonable and can be fit into most families.
Don’t give your kids a false sense of freedom.
All kids tend to get more and more privileges when they grow up, or at least that’s the idea. Most times kids get told they get more freedom and a say in what they do. While this is true, parents still get final rule, leaving the kid with a false sense of freedom. This is really hard for your kid to tackle once (or if) they figure it out.
Obviously when they are young, they haven’t been around long enough to figure out that maybe watching Sleepy Hollow at the age of six isn’t the best idea (thanks for that one mom, that definitely would have traumatized me).
But when they get to an age where you can trust them to make good decisions, let them put their foot down about the things that you give them freedom for, even if it is a mistake.
Unless of course it affects them from a safety standpoint. That or be very clear what the boundaries of their control are with no exceptions. This lets them be their own person. This is just one of many things that I’d change as a kid now.
I am almost certain that my opinion will change on a lot of things when I am a parent, but it will be nice to know in twenty years what it was like to be a kid.
This is a great article. I love to hear from a kids perspective because lots of times you only hear from an adults point of view and you don’t really hear what a kid thinks they would benefit from.
Great article nice to see a teen recognize his parents.
Good advice! On a lighter note… My 10-year-old wanted a haircut I hated. I respected his choice and let him go for it. A year later he questions me, “Mom how could you let me do such a stupid thing!”. 🙂
Thank you for your opinion. I always love to listen to my kids, and I believe we all learn from each other.