Teenagers, Rules and Rebellion
“My daughter will be 13 soon,” says a mother. She groans: “There’s trouble ahead!” The other mothers nod in sympathy. Yes, life is about to get very difficult. It always does when there’s a teenager in the family.
But are teenagers really trouble? I discuss this question with my own teenage daughters, Imogen, Charlotte and Sophie, in this week’s podcast.
We talk about the pressures teenagers have to face, and how a parent can unwittingly magnify those pressures.
We discuss the practice of making lots of rules and regulations. Do rules really protect teenagers from the dangers of the outside world? Or do they drive a wedge between parents and children? Is there a better way of helping teenagers, as they move from childhood towards adulthood?
We also talk about making mistakes, the need for forgiveness, and also honesty. It’s not only teenagers who need to be honest. Parents are sometimes guilty of deception too. I was. I confess this as I tell the story of how I was severely afflicted with a bad case of adult peer pressure.
I really love having teenagers in the family. I feel very connected to my older children. But it hasn’t always been this way. I share a little about how I stumbled along as I parented Felicity, our first teenager
And though teenagers aren’t ‘trouble’, some do face troubles that can overwhelm them. I end with a few words about this.
Sophie (13)
Imogen (19)
I hope you will join Imogen, Charlotte, Sophie and me for this week’s podcast: Teenagers, Rules and Rebellion. It’s a few minutes longer than usual. Teenagers have lots to say. (So do mothers!) You might need your knitting or something else to keep your hands busy while you listen!
You can find my other podcasts on my podcast page.
You can find my children’s stories on the pages of my novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek