Something to reflect upon...

Many of the people out there think that teenage age is the period when kids go haywire. They no longer prefer family over friends, no longer want to go shopping with their mothers. But this is not what the teenage period is all about. The integral part of teenage life is:experimentation. It can be both good as well as bad experimentation. Whatever kind of experimentation it might be, it provides a lot of experience. Experience which will take one a long way in life. As a teenager, one will learn about a valuable feeling-trust. Due to the many betrayals one experiences as a teenager, one will learn to differentiate between the true and the fair-weather friends. Usually when friends are put over family, parents tend to panic or some accept it as just a passing phase. But what is needed is not just panicking or brushing the issue off, but counselling the teens on the fine line which shouuld be drawn between friends and family as sometimes, one's own friends can be one's undoing. But cautioning the child too much would give an impression that the parent is trying to be too authoritative. Parents should understand that a teen's mind is growing to be like an adult's and of course perceptions will change. We should leave room for that change. All I say is, allow a child to grow like a plant:provide nutrients, water and expose it to enough sunlight, but when they pests come be prepared and drive them away without hurting the plant.