How to Help Teen Girls
- 1). Give your time to your girl. Spend time asking about her day at school. Plan activities to do together; go shopping or an afternoon outing. Attend her school function or a teacher-parents get-together. Keep your promises to her and when you fall back on a promise, give her the reason. Was it work demands that kept you away or were you unwell? Demonstrate to her that you are a mother willing to listen to her daughter and be there for her, whenever she needs her. Be sure to say at least once a day that you love her and that she is a wonderful person.
- 2). Stop judging your daughter's academic success on the basis of her grades. While grades are important, they are not everything. Do not automatically assume that low grades on her report card mean that she was fooling around or was not studying hard enough. Instead, ask her the reason for the low grades. Be curious, not judgmental. Maybe she was recovering from a fever or from a bad peer relationship. Teenage years are a whirlwind of emotions. Do not set your expectations too high and expect your daughter to achieve them. Accept that there are times when your girl just couldn't have tried harder.
- 3). Allow your daughter to choose her line of interest. Avoid expecting her to be academically brilliant just because you are. Her interests may lie in sports or performing arts or other activities. Talk to her; ask her what she is interested in and accept and value her interests. Take concrete efforts to help her pursue her interests and value her achievements. For example, if your teen has a passion for tennis, enroll her in a good coaching class. Learn about the sport. Leave office early and be there at the venue to watch her play. Such actions tell her that you will accept and love her for what she is.
- 4). Have family meals. According to the ABC News article: "Family Meals Can Help Teen Girls Avoid Drugs, Alcohol," family meals reduce the risk of a teenage girl taking the wrong path. Have family dinners at least five days in a week.
Talk to her about substance abuse frequently. Do not give her a stern lecture. Draw her into conversations instead. For example, if you hear a drug abuse news story on the radio, ask her what she thinks about it to know what is in her mind. - 5). Be an example to your girl. Eat healthy and cope with stress using positive techniques such as exercise. Avoid smoking, drugs and alcohol. Maintain a balance between your work and personal life and lead by example.