Our Family Our Rules

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)

Come and learn why parenting teenagers can be challenging as well as rewarding, why balancing responsibility and freedom for teenagers can be a ‘tricky’ business! As teenagers grow, thrill seeking behaviours may be considered typical, however, it is also a main safety concern for the caregivers because teenagers may have different understanding when it comes to safety. During this developmental stage ‘direct teaching’ may need to change in to guiding, negotiating, conveying and clarifying parental expectations. Having clear family rules that are negotiated, discussed and developed with the family helps to clarify expectations and provides boundaries that guide teenagers. Adding to the family rules, using collaborative problem solving approach will further teenagers ability to explore the new found world as well as learn and utilize their problem solving / solution seeking skills.