(ThyBlackMan.com) As a parent, you always want the very best for your children. But as they enter their teenage years, what they want and need from you changes. You can’t just carry on treating them like children, even if they’re proper adults yet. So, how do you deal with this challenge? It’s certainly not easy for parents, and you probably will make mistakes. That’s natural. To help you get your approach right, here’s some advice.
Step Back But Not Away
Stepping back is not an easy thing for some parents to do. It’s your natural instinct to help your children in whatever way you can. And this can often mean stepping in and helping out all the time. However, that’s not always the best way to conduct your parenting as your children enter their teen years. They will need a bit more 
space and a looser form of parenting. This will help them to find themselves and become individuals away from the family. This is an important part of growing up, as you will probably know from your own teenage years. That doesn’t mean you have to step away completely, though. They will still need you.
Help Them Learn What Their Goals Are
It’s in their teenage years that your children will start to think more about what they want to do in life. They might start to realize what profession they want to pursue. Or they might just start to learn what they want to do at college. These things are all important, and you should be there to help guide them as they make these important decisions. They will need your experience and knowledge of the world as they take these vital steps forward. If you’re not there to help them with these things, the decisions they make might be the wrong ones.
Give Them the Life Skills They’ll Need
There are some life skills that all people will need to learn as they pass from childhood into adulthood. And your children’s teenage years will act as that transition phase between childhood and adulthood, meaning this is the time to teach them important skills that they will use in life. To start with, teach them how to manage their money properly. This is one of the most important things of all. You can also help them with learning how to drive. Assist them in any way you can. You can also provide them with free DMV resources, including permit practice tests.
Find New Ways to Emphasize the Importance of Education
Finally, you should find ways to keep them focused on education. This is something that you enforce through parental authority when they’re young. But that tactic isn’t going to work as well when they are teenagers. You will need to find new ways to engage them and show them that their education is as important or even more important than it has ever been at any other stage of their life. It won’t be easy, but you can do it if you put in the time and effort as a parent.
Staff Writer; Jerry Poole
