Preparing our teens for the future.

[JAKGR8]

As parents of teens, one of our biggest concerns is getting the prepared to leave home and succeed at life.

Part of this includes employment; we encourage our children to either find/study for work doing something they enjoy (because we spend a lot of time there) or find work that will pay for them to do what they enjoy as recreation.

Another part art is setting them up socially, helping develop life long friendships or connections. Once our kids got phones we insisted they had grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc contact details and made an effort to stay in touch. After all, they are really my phones I just let the kids borrow them.

Hopefully we have started them on the right path physically. They know how eat well and to exercise but I’m not sure 🤔 how we’re doing with this one. Sports, scouts, volunteering fit under this one.;

We have tried to build their mental health by breaking down stigma, taking mental health days, meditation etc.

Then today I read this article about the meaning in life which really summed it up for me. Once you get through the jargon it seems pretty good. The highlights for me were,

“...three central components of meaning:

1. purpose: having goals and direction in life
2. significance: the degree to which a person believes his or her life has value, worth, and importance
3. coherence: the sense that one’s life is characterised by predictability and routine.”
And the conclusion, “Rather than pursuing happiness as an end-state, ensuring one’s activities provide a sense of meaning might be a better route to living well and flourishing throughout life.”

I would love to hear what you do to prepare your teens, or what you think is important.

[Jay-RO]

Hey there @JAKGR8, 

This is a wonderful thread. It's true that there is a lot to prepare teenagers for in the future so that they may succeed in life. That article sounds like it held some great insights for you, those three highlights are some excellent points. Your points of employment, social, physical and mental skills are all fantastic as well, each area is so important to the future and wellbeing of teenagers and can sometimes be challenging. 

ReachOut has some great articles on several of these topics including effective communication, problem solving, coping skills and many more here and here if you're interested in reading

I'm also going to tag in some of our fabulous members for their thoughts on the topic. Thanks again for creating such a wonderful thread @JAKGR8!

@sunflowermom, @Faob_1, @Moloko, @WhaeaM, @compassion, @Zo_ey, @Mbfwt, @Mumof5boys 

[Jess1-RO]

Just going to tag a few more parents @taokat @Happy @PositiveWhisper @Honeytoast @Helpful_Mum

Such a great topic and so relevant to so many parents!