11 Major Role of Parents in Adolescence Period [Must Check #5]

A child is the biggest treasure of his parents. All through their life, parents wish nothing but just the best for their child. They act as a big support and influence for their child and instill basic and positive values in them.

They tell their child about good behaviour, how to behave in proper way and respect elders. If you wish to understand the importance of family in child development, then you can go through our article Importance of Family in Child Development.

Parents also guide a child regarding his future and educational options. They help him understand what is important for him and what is not. As and when the child keeps on growing his relation with his parents keep on changing.

The stronger the relation would be, the closer the child will be to his parents. They help him interact with people and socialize. In order to understand the family’s role in teaching the child socialization, kindly go through the article Role of Family in Socialization of Child.

The relation between parents and child becomes more important as and when the child grows up and enters into the adolescence age. In this article, we will try to understand the role of parents in the child’s adolescence age.

What are the Role of Parents in Adolescence Period?

Adolescence refers to the age that falls between 10 and 19. This is the age in which maximum brain development happens and a child gains knowledge of things around him and becomes more aware.

During this age, a lot of parents keep on thinking and wondering that whether their adolescent child cares about their opinion or what they think is right or not. Maximum number of times, the answer to this question is that the child really cares about their parents’ opinion but at times they hesitate from saying so.

Parents influence their adolescent child’s behaviour by guiding them. Those teens who are being guided by their parents regarding the harmful effects of the drugs are generally less likely to use them. Parents’ play many roles in their teenagers’ lives.

Let us study about the roles that the parents play in the lives of their adolescent child:

1. Friendship

Parents are the first friends of a child. They help, guide and teach him. All through their lives parents try to help their children. They do so by adopting the various roles sometimes that of a teacher while the other times of a guide or mentor.

However, when a child enters teenage or adolescence, then the parents’ major role begins. At this age, the child is in a very fragile state of mind. He doesn’t want anyone to be his guide or teacher. He just wants a person to be there for his moral support.

In other words, a child in his adolescence age wants a friend rather a teacher. If the parents are able to become the friends of his child then their relationship tends to strengthen and become stronger over time.

2. Respectful relations

Parents teach their child how to be respectful of his relations. They sometime do so by setting an example by themselves or the other times they do so by telling stories or narrating instances of how having relationships that have respect in them tend to be better than any other kind of relation.

Children tend to get inspired when they see their parents lead by example and try to emulate the same in their lives. Such children then tend to develop healthy relationships in their lives and have better scope of having sorted and peaceful adolescent age.

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3. Role model for good habits

Every child at all aspects of his age looks towards his parents for acceptance and guidance. Consciously or unconsciously, knowingly or unknowingly, parents are the role model for each child. The habits that parents have, children try to emulate and copy them in their lives.

So, by default, parents become role models for their children and they must enact the role to perfection. This will help them understand what the child is learning and how his futuristic life might be. An adolescent child is quite impressionable so he is easily able to mould himself into the structure in which he finds his parents to be.

4. Healthy lifestyle

Parents have another very crucial role to play, which is to ensure that their child follows a healthy lifestyle. They must ensure that the child is eating the right kind of food, does the right amount of exercise, sleeps and wakes on time and gets the right amount of outside sunshine and air.

If the child follows a healthy lifestyle then it will be beneficial for him. He will grow up to be a healthy and mentally and physical strong individual. Such a child faces no health or mental problem ever and he or she grows up to be a fine person.

5. Positive attitude towards life and learning

Parents tend to influence the attitude of their adolescence child towards the various things. Some such things are life and learning that life teaches us. Like, if parents tell the children that learning is fun and enjoyable, then there is a higher rate of the child developing a positive attitude towards school and learning.

If in their adolescent age only, the child tends to develop a positive attitude, then he gets excited to learn different things, like a new language or some new hobby like knitting or painting, or study about an unfamiliar topic, regarding which they had no previous knowledge. This kind of positive behaviour towards things makes a child develop positive outlook towards life.

6. Correct usage of technology

Another important role of parents in case of adolescent child is to teach them how to use the technology in a correct manner. Technology is both a boon and bane depending on its usage. So, parents play the major role of teaching the teenage children of how to use the technology in the correct manner and not fall prey to its flaws.

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If the children in their adolescence only are able to understand the benefits of technology and use it to their benefit then it is good for them. Parents are also assured then that the child is getting benefited from technology.

7. Emotional support

The biggest support that parents can give to their adolescent children is the emotional support. They can be there for their children wherever it is needed. If they help the child during the time when they are emotionally weak then the child sees it as a sign of support and also backup.

Such a child who gets mental and emotional support from home itself through his parents tends to become quite emotionally strong. During the adolescent age, it becomes even more prominent as at such a fragile age, the child tends to become more emotionally weak. So, emotional support from parents makes the child stronger.

8. Answer to their philosophical questions

Parents are the only one in the entire world who have the infinite patience to deal with all the crazy questions of their children. In childhood, the questions are mostly related to things around them while when they grow up and enter adolescence, then, most of the times, their questions tend to be more philosophical in nature.

Such questions need to be answered and parents are the best option for a child to get the answers to his questions. They always tell the child the right things and explain the answers in the manner they should so that the child is able to come to terms with it.

9. Updated on latest events

Teens have questions about what is going on in the world and in their community. Such questions can only be answered by someone they trust and believe explicitly. At the crucial age of adolescence, the questions tend to be of various types.

So, parents can become the mentor that the child needs and answer all his questions or help him find answers to his questions. This will help strengthen the bond between the parents and child and also bring the child up to speed about whatever is happening around him. Such updation helps increase the child’s knowledge too.

10. Discussion and support on the latest happenings of their lives

Teenagers wish to always share what is happening in their lives. So, parents can become that person in their children’s lives who they tell about what is happening in their lives.

If they become their child’s friends, then they will be able to learn about what is happening in their child’s lives and it is a good thing. In this way, they will be able to support the child when he requires support and also know about all the right or wrongs happening in it.

11. Support for parents as well

If parents want to know about their child then in a similar manner the child also wants to know about his parents. He also wants to know about how his parents’ childhood and adolescence was. So, in this manner it turns out to be a support for the parents as well, which also get to relive their lives.

Why the Role of Parents in Adolescence is Important for Children?

Parents are the first and most important role models of their children. Whatever step they take or do in their lives inevitably affect their child’s life, his behaviour, attitude and the way he grows up to become.

Parents should try to make their child a part of their family conversations and help him lead a happy and healthy life. Their major role is to guide the child and tell him to be positive and brave even when facing any difficulties in life.

Parents should also tell their child that he should always take responsibility for his actions. Here, the role of parents becomes even more important because they tend to influence their child’s values, morals and long-term choices.

All of this reflects on the strength of the relationship that the parent has with his child.

Final Thoughts

The role of parents in adolescence is marked with lots of difficulties. They tend to help, guide and mentor the child who at such a difficult age might not willingly agree to whatever his parents are saying or trying to make him understand.

They try to influence the adolescent development by showing him examples to make him understand the implications of the actions he takes. The child never seems to understand the mental struggle that the parent is going through while trying to guide the child.

It is so because the parents don’t want their child to fall into any bad situation. They always want him to grow up and be a good person; one of which they can be proud of.