Page 42 - Silver Lakes_Issue 7_2022

TODAY’S CHILD

TEEN STRUGGLES AND WHAT

YOU CAN DO TO HELP

By Nicoleen Davies, director: Life Talk Forum

e tend to parent our children or fully developed their interpersonal and know what they are doing online. It will
instinctively, according to the communication skills and filters, so they fail take effort on your part, but this is the world
Wway we were brought up – or if to pick up on social cues. your child is living in, and you need to have a
our upbringing wasn’t positive, we’ll parent good grasp of what’s going on in that space.
them in the exact opposite manner. Still, like Therefore, while social media is a great
everything else, parenting is a constantly way for people to connect, it is also an easy Start by limiting your child’s screen time at a
evolving experience. The old ways don’t platform for your teenager to become a young age, so you can create healthy online
work anymore because the world is such a target of bullying, hate speech and so-called habits for them going forward. Adolescents
different place from what it was when we “slut shaming”. It can also expose them to need to know that there is a time and a
grew up. inappropriate content, be it of a sexual or place for everything, and that downtime –
violent nature. going off social media – is just as important
We owe it to our children to be aware as sleeping and eating.
of their struggles. We need to educate As a parent, you need to help educate your
ourselves about the contemporary issues child about this virtual space and its perils #2: Bullying
affecting them, so that we can help them and protect them as much as you would in We all know how prevalent bullying is in
to better navigate through the difficult, any other environment. By helping them our schools. Social media makes it so much
transformative teenage years. Here are learn how to navigate social media in a safe easier to traumatise children because it
a few of the challenges that adolescents way, you’ll arm them with the tools they is always there, 24/7. Talk to your teen
grapple with: need to protect themselves. Keep yourself about bullying and keep an eye out for
informed and stay abreast of social media signs that they may be victims of bullying.
#1: Technology and social media trends (the latest websites, apps, platforms Signs include withdrawing from their daily
Technology is constantly changing and etc.), communicate with your teen and activities or extramurals, changes in their
even though it is a way of life for our
children – indeed, it has become an
extension of themselves – it brings its own
evolving challenges. They consume media
differently from the way we do, and it is
changing how they meet people, learn,
communicate, date, shop and even live
life in terms of exercise and eating. It can
alter their expectations, too. That’s because
social media influencers drive trends and
behaviour.

It’s important for parents to understand that
your teens and young adults become caught
up in this virtual world, and it becomes
increasingly difficult for them to discern
what is real and what is fiction. A related
component is their lack of people skills –
often, adolescents have not sufficiently

40 | INTRAMUROS AUGUST 2022