Parenting Teens: Their Most Influential Time in Life

So whats the big deal with parenting? There are many reasons for parenting--especial teens. A couple of those reasons include:

• Its an opportunity to learn to love and to be loved
•     Parents learn from children (child-like qualities)
•     Children learn the values of their parents
•      Parents need to learn to create and care for their creations (just like Heavenly Father).

But what kinds of parents out there? How do we know which category we fall under? There are three types of parenting styles:

·         Authoritarian- “DO WHAT I SAY BECAUSE I SAID SO”; Adult regulates

·         Authoritative - means they are the authority but there is give and take with the children.

·         Permissive- Often disengaged; Parents are friends not the parent; the parent wants the child’s approval; no respect

Popkins, of Family Research, said that the purposes of parenting are to:

•                 Protect our children
•                 Prepare our children to survive and thrive in the world

Popkins teaches 4 Ballast characteristics (all children need to be successful in life):

1.       Courage- means do the right thing even know I am scared.

2.       Responsibility

3.       Cooperation

4.       Respect

Along with this list, Popkins also has said that there are 5 major needs that everone (especially children) must get:

Negative (What they do)	Need	Positive (What we need to do)
Undo Attention Seeking	Contact, Belonging	Offer it freely          Teach them to contribute
Control Others           -Power struggles	Power	Give them choices       Have them Learn natural consequences= Responsible
	Protection
	Withdrawals (breaks from life)
	Challenge

If these needs aren't met, they will do the negative part of it. We must fulfill these needs so that we can complete our purpose as parents.

I know that the way the LDS Church is set up, the gospel with all of its programs and responsibilities that it requires on its members, that it is set up in a way to help our children become the next generation of leaders. I wasn't fortunate to grow up in a home of gospel principles and thus, had to learn many things the hard way. I was blessed to learn many other principles, such as work ethic, but didnt get the chance to learn the essentials that the gospel teaches. May we learn these principles to protect and teach our children, while becoming like our Heavenly Father as we do so.