Inside this post: The Six Words I Never Say As a Parent of Teens
Raising tweens and teens is not for the faint of heart.
Recently, I read about a former classmate’s 16-year old daughter who ran away with a much older guy. The mother believed it was an abduction, but in the end, it came to light that she went willingly. In fact, it was her idea.
Every day, I hear or read about a new story regarding a tween or teen.
The list of dangerous behavior is long: sexting, drugs, bullying, drinking and driving, sexual assault, eating disorders, pregnancy, cutting, cheating, STDs, and unfortunately suicide are things kids face every single day.
And not just in high school.
Social media is incessantly encouraging dangerous behavior among our youth.
What I often find ironic is that in many of these situations, there is one common denominator: they were “good” kids. Athletes. Academic scholars. Volunteers. Good citizens.
And so many of the parents all said the same six words at the onset of discovering these disturbing activities their children were participating in: “My kid would never do that.”
Related: The Most Important Reason Teens Should Not Have Their Phones At Night
The problem with these words is when we believe it about our sons and daughters, we put them above reproach. We stop asking questions. We ignore signs.
When we believe our kids would “never” do something, we stop talking to them about the big things.
We stop teaching them tips and tricks to get out of sticky situations.
We stop listening even though we think we are.
We stop parenting because we believe we already raised “good” people, we already raised kids that know right from wrong.
I always thought I had an open relationship with my kids.
I trusted they would talk to me about what is going on in their lives.
But now that we entered the teen stage, lately I’ve noticed that the words “fine” and “I don’t know” and “whatever” aren’t always used as weapons to drive me crazy.
They are filler words my kids turn to because they do not know how to express themselves. They do not know how to talk about what is going on in their minds, do not know how to process the ever-changing world around them.
At this moment in time, it is hard to imagine my girls would do any of the things I mentioned above; but just believing that it is possible could save their lives, or maybe it could save someone else’s child.
Because although I know the beauty and the softness of my kids’ hearts, I also must recognize the demons they face in the world each day and the importance of fitting in and just how easy it is to make one bad choice that impacts a life forever.
We need to move our thought process from “My kid would never do that” to “How can I help them understand.”
We need to stop judging each other’s parenting and start watching out for warning signs we see from young people.
We need to stop putting some kids — like athletes or the extremely attractive or wealthy — on pedestals and others in the gutter because of rumors or appearance or maybe even one mistake.
Related: Why You Shouldn’t Always Trust Your Teens to Make Good Choice
Don’t stop asking questions because you get the cold shoulder.
Don’t stop snooping around.
Don’t stop asking to meet their friends.
Don’t stop monitoring their grades. Don’t stop checking their social media.
Don’t stop chasing after them to try to get them to talk. And don’t stop thinking they can make bad choices.
Because as we’ve seen, one kid’s mistake can impact many others for the rest of their lives.
And the only words worse for a parent to utter than “my kid would never do that” is “If only I knew…”
Parenting teens and tweens is hard. These popular posts other parents found helpful might make it a little easier.
Here Are The Tech Rules You Need To Be Setting For Your Tweens and Teens
6 Tips That Will Help You Deal With Teenage Disrespect
Five New Life Lessons Teens Need In Today’s World
When you are in the thick of raising teens and tweens, we recommend Loving Hard When They’re Hard to Love by Whitney Fleming. In Loving Hard When They’re Hard to Love, blogger Whitney Fleming shares her favorite essays about raising three teenagers in today’s chaotic world. Written from the perspective of a fellow parent, each story will leave you with tears in your eyes and hope in your heart because someone else is saying exactly what’s been going through your mind.
Totally agree! I tell my friends if tell me my kid said or did something I am that parent that says sorry I bet they did