Adolescence is an exciting yet crucial stage for almost every child. It is the phase where adrenaline runs high, and kids are bursting with energy. However, the ride is not always a smooth one due to the rapid developments and changes. The transition from childhood to adulthood is where children know who they are and where they belong.
Adolescence is a fairly long phase in a child’s life, starting at age 12 and lasting until they turn 18. During this period, the children undergo significant changes, probably the most important ones since birth.
In their early years, children have little recollection and control of their lives and are mostly guided by their parents. However, during adolescence, they are fully aware of their development and can make decisions on their own. The pronounced changes that children go through are:
One of the most noticeable changes teens experience is physical. Development occurs through a process called puberty, during which the brain releases hormones that cause widespread change.
The child goes through a growth spurt, gaining height and weight. It also changes their voice, body odor, causes acne, and increases body hair. However, the most important development is the maturity of sexual organs in both girls and boys.
Every child experiences physical changes, but the timing may vary. Some kids may mature early, while some late, but being on either end causes unsettling social awkwardness.
A child’s brain is constantly developing since birth. However, the pace speeds up for children after the age of 10. Children usually take things as they come without going into any specifics or logic. Adolescents, on the other hand, can delve into greater details about how they see and perceive things. They can imagine new ideas and unknown possibilities – and this can be a scary stage for many.
When cognitive change happens, neurons in the brain grow considerably. The more the nerves connect, the more complex thinking processes in children grow. However, since things are so volatile and constantly changing in the brain, adolescents can make poor decisions, especially when it comes to sexual experimentation, drug use, or alcohol consumption.
From a young age, children think about who they want to be and how they fit in the world. There is a discernible way in which they interact with their family, friends, and peers. However, most teens want to enjoy freedom. It results in spending less time with their parents and more with people in their age group with similar interests.
In the later part of their teenage, boys and girls develop intimate relationships and go on frequent dates. The relationship between a boy and a girl often precedes their relationship with their peers, parents, and family. Teens spending less time at home mostly builds into a conflict and is challenging for parents to manage.
Adolescence is a stage where most children go through what psychologists say is an ‘identity crisis.’ It is nothing to worry about, but it can cause discomfort. As their physical and psychological well-being takes shape, teens develop and groom their overall personalities.
This includes taking a keen interest in their appearance, career goals, thoughts, opinions, social standpoints, and political affiliations. As children discover themselves, they are bound to know their hidden talents and experience the shifts in relationships, whether it’s their parents or those around them
Parents keep track of their children’s needs and upbringing through their early years. However, a time comes when the child is entering adolescence, and the parents are faced with two major challenges. The first is giving independence, and the second is keeping control but not in an intrusive way.
Let us discuss some of the key challenges parents have to experience and manage
Most teens communicate with their parents but not with the same excitement as when they were children. They may discuss some of the obvious things but not disclose some of their private ones. For example, discuss their day at school but do not elaborate on who they are going on a date with.
When kids enter their teenage years, they are more resistant to their parents’ influence – this phenomenon is also commonly known as ‘rebellion.’ As a parent, you may feel left out and wonder if your kids even love you or value your presence.
If you force your involvement, it might trigger a rather unwelcome response. Teens may vent their anger through shouts, grunting, throwing things, and even violent outbursts. If this behavior persists, a large void will develop, so you must acknowledge your child’s space and make them feel you are around for support.
Growing up, almost every child dreams of the day when they can fully revel in their independence. This includes everything from owning a smartphone to driving a car, going alone or with friends to movies, camping trips, and breaking midnight curfews.
If you try to assert restrictions and keep checks, children may turn rebellious and do what they feelis best. As a parent, you must develop a plan to keep necessary limits and slowly give them room to enjoy their freedom.
Other kids your child’s age may be given more leverage from their parents. Your child may feel left out, and negative thoughts might take hold. The key is acknowledging the children’s quest for independence and setting terms that both can agree on.
Teens often develop stronger emotional attachments to things. This happens because the part of the brain that records emotions develops at a quicker pace during adolescence. It is also the reason why, on some occasions, children tend to react dramatically and emotionally rather than with reason.
Not making it to the Ivy League or breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend may make children feel a flood of emotions. Kids are new to these temporary shocks and may lock themselves out and even not discuss it with their parents. Often children keep things to themselves out of sheer embarrassment, and mostly when bullied.
As a parent, you must coach and support the kids through the emotional highs and lows. It is best to relate to their experiences and guide them. You need to encourage them in activities such as meditation and journaling and tell them to focus on nutrition and exercise.
Teenage is a stage where emotions run high, and children are making snap decisions and not thinking about the good or bad of their choices. If your child often runs into trouble or causes problems for themselves and those around them, you may want to discipline them.
However, it is not always about punishment but finding a way to decrease undesirable behavior. Punishing your child shakes their confidence and hurts their emotional and mental well-being.
Making kids realize the results of their untoward actions can help them reflect on their attitude and avoid it. With the right discipline, you can help children learn about rights and wrongs, set boundaries, and traverse in the adult world.
Of all the challenges, the one with which parents struggle the most is when and how to manage technology adoption among children. Gen Z kids are more tech-savvy than their parents and more aware and adept at developing technologies. They’re growing up surrounded by smartphones, gaming consoles, tablets, and fast internet connectivity.
These ubiquitous digital tools and access to social media bring a whole lot of different mental health challenges among teens. Presenting an ideal version of themselves on social media makes teens anxious and stressed. Different strangers online may get access to their profiles and cyberbully them on their appearance and comments.
One of the developing trends among teens that parents may be completely unaware of is Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). It is a condition where a teen may spend hours worrying about the flaws in their appearance. Your child might struggle to cope with the unrealistic expectations set by things they see online on social media.
There may come a point when the disorder impacts their daily life. Your child may isolate themselves, not socialize, and try to cope in silence.
To prevent this, you will need to seek a solution that balances your child’s use of technology and gives you access to their usage.
As a parent, you go to considerable lengths to ensure your child’s physical or online well-being. This is where Xnspy comes in. It is a monitoring app for parents that helps you monitor call logs, messages, multimedia, GPS location, typed words, social media activities, and browsing history. It provides tools to monitor the child’s smartphone activity without compromising their privacy
Let us explore how Xnspy functionalities can be used to track children’s digital usage and limit their exposure to harmful content.
Xnspy provides a holistic view of your child’s activities through Screen Recording and Screenshots. These allow you to see what your child posts online, the content they consume, and who they communicate with.
Both features capture real-time details and even the messages or photos your child may delete. The recordings and screenshots are instantly uploaded and you can access them through the dashboard.
Unrestricted and unsupervised social media use can increase the risks of children becoming victims of cyberbullying and abuse to varying degrees. Xnspy offers features such as IM (instant messaging) monitoring that helps to access to complete messaging history on all the popular apps.
You can read chat threads and view photos saved in a gallery from apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Tinder, Viber, Kik, and Instagram.
Teenagers, in particular, are more active on social media apps and the internet than anybody else. They eagerly use the apps to communicate, upload photos and videos, and post their thoughts and opinions. Xnspy’s social media monitoring features make it easy for parents to monitor all activity from a single dashboard.
According to the Pew Research Center, 95% of teens keep a smartphone, and from that, 97% use the Internet daily. The kids may use the internet to learn about numerous things. However, there is an influx of adult and disturbing content, and many malicious links are disguised as online ads.
One wrong click can expose the children to inappropriate content and even unintentionally share personal information. Without proper parental control, the child could surf anything from age-restricted to graphic content to dating and gambling websites.
Xnspy knows the dangers lurking on the internet and gives you access to the internet history to know all about the child’s web searches. Through the dashboard, you can check all the URLs of the websites along with the date and time stamps.
Xnspy performs special analysis that lets you view the 10 most visited websites, track the saved bookmarks, and access history a child may delete after browsing.
Xnspy allows you to monitor your child’s entire screen time and the apps that spend the most time on. If excessive time on apps affects their sleep and performance at school, you can limit and block their access to certain apps. You may give them warnings and limit app usage, but the kids may find a way to dodge it, so it is better to block the app altogether and erase the data.
Teens are known to evade the privacy and restrictions parents may have tied them to. There are dozens of apps available designed for entertainment, gaming, or education. However, as a parent, you must remain on top of it – and Xnspy is the perfect tool.
Using social media apps in the early part of their teens can easily expose them to cyberbullying, online predators, and adult content. The teens may even find their way on dating and gaming apps unsuitable for their age.
Xnspy also allows you to set up instant alerts for certain activities the child may perform. For example, you will be notified if they send or receive specific keywords in their text, email, or chat.
Teens are very adept at technology and use creative ways when communicating or searching the internet. Combing through all their activity can be time-consuming and particularly challenging if you are tied at work.
Xnspy provides the ideal solution through its keylogging and watchlist feature. The keylogger records all your child’s keystrokes while sending texts or making web searches. This can help you see if they use inappropriate words or share personal information.
To know more about how you can limit your teen’s app and phone usage, visit XNSPY’s official website.
Parenting a teenager in this modern age can sometimes feel like walking on a tightrope. Understanding and connecting with an adolescent is not always as easy as it might seem. Sooner or later your children will be using technology and getting familiar with its good and bad sides.
You forever hope they always interact with the good side, but you must be mindful of the potential dangers. Fortunately, Xnspy can be your digital ally and empower you to balance your teen’s access to technology and keep them safe from cyber threats.
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