Adolescence and Socioemotional Development

Individuals Shift from Childhood to Adolescence

Individuals shift from childhood to adolescence between the ages of 9 and 13. When their children reach adolescence, parents discover that it gets more difficult to elicit cooperation and obedience from them. The adolescents learn that they have passed the age at which their parents can order them and have entered a key stage in their life in which their parents or guardians must seek their approval on any situation that may occur. Furthermore, adolescents at this point understand that their parents cannot prevent them from making decisions unless they come from them (Randall, Bohnert & Travers, 2015).

Retaining Influence and Allowing Exploration

Although the influence of parents wanes with the onset of adolescence, it does not imply that they lose the influence of their children. Parents can still retain some control of their children while at the same allowing them to explore their identity when their adolescence stage kicks in. With the effective exercise of managerial skills among the offspring, parents can demonstrate that through the provision of example based leadership at home. They should inspire their children by the model of behaviors and beliefs they display.

Navigating the Challenges

Furthermore, parents can also navigate the situation of their children through the meticulous provision of instructions. The knowledge and skills they transfer to their children should provide them with the opportunity to learn how they can handle the physiological and emotional changes that come through adolescence. Parents can also guide their children through methods such as self-disclosure. Lessons from their experiences and personal history will be significant in guiding the adolescents. In situations where the parental influence of adolescents hits a snag, patents can navigate this by avoiding power struggle with the children at such a stage because even if the parent wins, it will result in the training and creation of a stronger and more determined future adversary. Therefore, it is crucial to know when to stop engaging the adolescent in an argument for the sake of not hardening his newly acquired argumentative resolve (Pickhardt, 2013).

References

Pickhardt, C. (2013). Surviving your child’s adolescence: How to understand, and even enjoy, the rocky road to independence. John Wiley & Sons.

Randall, E. T., Bohnert, A. M., & Travers, L. V. (2015). Understanding affluent adolescent adjustment: The interplay of parental perfectionism, perceived parental pressure, and organized activity involvement. Journal of Adolescence, 41, 56-66. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.03.005