PARENTING TEENS DURING COVID
Adolescents may be missing school, friends and their social life. It is important to provide them with extra support as well as the space to express themselves independently.
Spend time with your teen
- Plan creative ways to communicate with friends and family (e.g. writing messages or drawing pictures).
- Cook a favorite meal together.
- Exercise together to their favorite music.
- Talk about something they like: sports, music, celebrities, friends.
Talking about COVID-19
- Involve them in fact-finding and listen to their questions.
- Task them with exploring a topic and reporting back to the family from a radio programme, a newspaper article or the internet.
Sharing responsibilities
- Teens appreciate having extra responsibilities. Allow them to choose a special job that helps out.
- Create a time during the day where everyone shares one thing that they enjoyed.
- Share responsibilities equally amongst women/men and girls/boys.
Making routines
- Involve your teen in creating daily schedules.
- Set goals and rewards together.
- Make sure your teen has time to relax along with structured time for chores and schoolwork.
Dealing with difficult behavior
- Talk through the effects of challenging behavior.
- Explore alternatives with your teen and let them make suggestions.
- Decide together on clear and fair rules and boundaries.
- Praise your teen when they behave well and follow guidelines.
Promote kindness and compassion
- Model kindness and compassion for those who are sick and those who are caring for the sick.
- Share how your teen can make a difference like standing donating to a neighbor in need.
Help your teen manage stress
- Teens will get stressed too – sometimes from different things than you.
- Allow them to express how they feel and accept their feelings.
- Try to listen to your teen and see things from their perspective.
- Do relaxing and fun activities together.
Keep your teen safe online
- Involve your teen in creating family tech agreements about healthy device use.
- Help your teen learn how to keep personal information private, especially from strangers.
- Remind your teen that they can talk to you whenever they experience something upsetting online.
(Adopted from UNICEF)