Coming Up In September In WorkLife Essentials

This month's topic is "Those Teen Years" OK, so this is a big topic! And there are so many different aspects to approaching it… Adolescence is another term for those teen years. It is a very important transitional stage of physical and mental development experienced during puberty. Throughout history puberty has been heavily associated with teenagers and the onset of adolescent development. The end of adolescence and the beginning of adulthood varies in many cases by societal function such as voting, driving, legal sexual relationships, voting or joining the military, drinking alcohol or being responsible for legal contracts. Adolescence is also accompanied by an increased independence allowed by the parents or legal guardians and less supervision. For a lot of parents this time can be a confused blend of poor decisions, childish behaviour and amazing maturity. For teenagers, their desire for and NEED for freedom is the BIG THING, but too much too soon can leave teens adrift and unable to cope. They still need the stability and support parents can offer. Our resource on “Letting Go But Staying Involved During the Young Adolescent Years” may be of interest in this area. What all these factors mean when mixed with each of our different families is an important contributor our daily work life ‘load’ and in this month’s promotional topic called “Those Teen Years” we begin to explore different aspects. An important first step is understanding the issues around good communication. For good communication to happen, a parent needs to be involved and foster a good relationship with their teens. The home environment and parents are important contributor to the choices and behavior of teens. If you have a good relationship with your teen they will be less likely to act out with risky behaviors. Our resources “Being an Involved Father During the Teenage Years”, and “Building a Good Relationship With Your Teenager” are a good place to start. If you are a single parent the article “Raising a Teenager as a Single Parent” can offer that additional perspective on how to cope when you can’t share the load. Understanding that because of popular culture, communications at school with peers, and increasing demands from society to behave to higher standards, your teens can feel stress and pressure to do things they are not ready for. We explore some of these issues in the resources “Sexuality and Early Adolescence”, “Stress and Your Young Adolescent Child”, “Your Young Adolescent's Social Life”, and “Sibling Competition”. Sometimes dealing with normal recurring events like taking time off brings it own sets of challenges. One time of year we all face as families is taking time off of work. You may want to catch up on some of the issues in “Your Teenager and the Holidays”… These are just a few entry points into a fascinating and important topic, which is additionally supported with suggested readings, links and related article within WLE this month. Enjoy! Also, you can stay up to date with the latest news and content at our blog.

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