The level of competition in the market today has gone up significantly in the last few decades. Education and level of skills that young people need to acquire to excel and do well in life has been no exception to the rules of competition. With new demands on skills, children are often forced to study and learn a lot more to achieve small successes in life. What more? Studies alone are not enough. For further education most postgraduate universities look at the extra curricular activities in which your child excels. So your child will also need to play some sport, learn more languages, play some musical instrument and they need to show significant achievements in these fields. This is where teenager problems related to stress and depression start. The demands on teenagers today are so high that they can barely have any time for themselves if they really want to excel in their life and career.
Let us look at how career pressures cause excessive stress and depression for teenagers.
Parental pressure: As parents sometimes we put our kids through significant stress as we want them to do well in their studies and all the extra curricular activities. We rarely try to understand the capacity of our child and we push them to do well in all areas leading to significant teenage stress. This is the onset of several teenager problems like teenage behaviour problems, decline in performance at school and finally teenager depression. Sometimes, the frustration from not being able to meet their parent's expectations could lead teenagers to commit suicide or try illegal drugs.
Constant comparisons: We live in a society of constant comparisons. This year's grades are compared to last year's grades. All students are ranked in their performance. At home elders compare siblings or cousins. Best performers are lauded and poor performers do not get any attention. The whole society is attuned to recognising people based on their achievements and individuals have lost their identity. It is similar situation for teenagers. Most teenagers are recognised based on the grades they achieve or their achievements rather than the individuals they are. Teenage stress and teenager depression is a common offshoot of this grading system. Some of the common teenager problems like suicidal tendencies and drug/alcohol abuse are a result of constant comparisons and grading system.
Friends: Another area that can cause significant teenager problems for parents is the peer group of your child. If your teenager moves around with people who are very intelligent or come from elite backgrounds where they have access to all the resources need to excel in their education, then it can lead to significant teenage stress. Most teenagers would compare themselves with their peers and if their parents cannot afford certain gadgets or resources required for them to excel in their studies or some sports they play, it could lead to teenager depression and teenage behavioural problems.
Most of the above teenager problems can be solved by proper communication with your teenager and giving them the right kind of support. In the book "Solving Teenager Problems", several tips and models are provided to improve communication with your teenager. The book also provides a number of exercises to structure communication with teenagers in order to get the best outcome.
About the Author
The author is a successful marketing executive in a large consumer good company and a mother of two boys. She has had a rough ride in the past two years and has successfully saved her family from the brink of disaster by working on her parenting techniques. She has recently built a website http://www.newparentingstyle.com and also written a book "Solving Teenage Problems", which can be accessed on http://www.teenageproblems.newparentingstyle.com.
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