Dr Asha Pemberton
teenhealth.tt@gmail.com
International Adolescent Health Week (IAHW), is celebrated over the third week in March yearly. It is a global initiative for young people, their health care providers, their teachers, their parents, their advocates and their communities to come together and celebrate young people. The intent is collaboration towards improving the health and well-being of the over one billion adolescents across the globe today. The theme for IAHW 2022 is Transitions. Change is a natural, expected part of life but still presents challenges. For teenagers and tweens, life is full of change. Their bodies are changing, their social lives evolving, all while they are developing their sense of self.
Parenting teens through time of transition
The challenges teens face during a transition can have a ripple effect, impacting their sense of self, their relationships and their academic or overall functioning. As the parent of an adolescent, it is critically important to recognise the transitions in your child's life, and to lend support as they navigate through these changes. Successful transitions require acceptance of the changes, an ability to manage discomforts and a strategy to forge ahead into new experiences.
1. Allow for feelings. Although at times tempted, parents should refrain from minimising the emotions and feelings of their teens. Encourage young people to express how they feel, even if the intensity appears out of proportion to the event. Young people need to live through experiences and emotions, even if they seem extreme in order to learn how to manage them in their lives. Healthy emotional balance starts with recognition of feelings, without judgement or shame.
2. Listen. One of the most helpful things parents can do to support teenagers is to listen to their stories, hear their concerns and keep an open mind. Use mindfulness to assist you in remaining grounded in the present and give your young person your full attention.
3. Maintain routines. Even through times of major upheaval, routines lend familiarity and predictability, which can be comforting for young people. Teenagers thrive on consistency and during transitions, this can be particularly helpful.
4. Ensure self-care for both you and your teen. Nutritious meals, quality sleep, exercise and stress management allow you to stay physically able to cope. During transitions, these are the routines that are often first sacrificed, leading to additional stresses.
5. Maintain boundaries. Even when life becomes difficult, young people should not be permitted to break rules or engage in harmful behaviours. It is sometimes tempting to 'allow them to be happy' during times of stress; but these freedoms must remain within the limits of safety and good sense.
6. Stay realistic and positive. Some changes and transitions in life will require a complete shift in direction or plan. Meet these challenges head-on with flexibility and positivity. Take the time to sit with your young person and assist them in re-adju
