by Cynthia Springsteen

Created on: December 10, 2009

Do you trust your teenager? Have you done a good job raising them and preparing them for what they will face in their teen/high school years? You think back in time to when they were little and say to yourself, wow how did you get to this point in time? You remember how cute, little and innocent they were and now you’re faced with someone who is realizing there is a whole world out there to explore. This new world they will explore is filled with so many dangers to them, have you done a good job? Can you feel safe and confident that they will make the right choices and be safe?

From the beginning good communication is a future key to everything that you, your child and eventually your teenager will need. If your child is not comfortable talking to you, trusting you and confident that they can talk to you without major repercussions you will be possibly setting yourself up for trouble. They need to know that they can call on you and talk to you about situations that will arise and trust me they will arise, without worrying that you will punish them for what they tell you. Be prepared to hear things you may not want to hear, but feel confident in the long run that you are doing the right thing.

The teen years are extremely hard not just for parents, but also for teenage children. They are faced with so many stresses that as parents you must remember what it was like and do your best to sympathize with them. Make sure they know you understand what they are feeling. High school work is much harder and the children of today are given a lot more responsibilities.

Make a point to tell your teenager that you trust them and mean it. If you have done a good job raising them and providing them with all the tools they need, feel confident that they will make the right choices. This is extremely difficult even in the best of scenarios especially when you know how dangerous the world can be. Make sure your rules, expectations and their responsibilities are clearly stated to them. Should they not follow the rules then make sure they understand that losing your trust will limit what you allow them to do.  

Letting your teenager go off into the real world is very scary. They will be faced with many different situations that if you sit and think about them you will probably make yourself crazy. At one time you were a teenager, did you have a lot of freedom? Did your parents trust you and allow you out? Did they talk to you like you weren’t a baby and truly

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