CHAPTER SIX: Help Your Teenager to Thrive

HAVING a teenager in the house is very different from having a five-year-old or even a ten-year-old. the teen years bring their own challenges and problems, but they can also bring joys and rewards. Examples such as Joseph, David, Josiah, and Timothy show that young people can act responsibly and have a fine relationship with Jehovah.  (Genesis 37:2-11; 1 Samuel 16:11-13; 2 Kings 22:3-7; Acts 16:1, 2)  Many teenagers today prove the same point. Likely, you know some of them.

Yet, for some the teen years are turbulent. Adolescents experience emotional ups and downs. Teenage boys and girls may want to be more independent, and they may resent limits placed on them by their parents.  Yet, such youths are still quite inexperienced and in need of loving, patient help from their parents. Yes, the teen years can be exciting but they can also be confusing-both for parents and for teenagers. How can youths be helped during these years? 

Parents who follow Bible counsel give their adolescent offspring the best possible opportunity to make their way successfully through those trials to responsible adulthood. In all lands and during all time periods, parents and teenagers who applied Bible principles together have been blessed with success. -Psalm 119:1.

Next time: Help Your Teenager to Thrive/HONEST AND OPEN COMMUNICATION

From the book: The Secret of FAMILY HAPPINESS