As parents we love our children and only want the best for them. An open honest line of communication facilitates a healthy parent/child relationship. But there are certain things that it may be best not to tell your teenager. Children especially teens may tend to use our own words against us. Taking that into consideration here are 3 things you might not want to discuss with your teenager.

Dropping out of high school

Dropping out of high school is nothing to be proud of but it’s nothing to be ashamed of either. It is however a piece of information you might not want to share with our teen especially if your teenager has given any indication that he/she would like to quit school. If a teenager knows that a parent dropped out of school he/she may very well try to use that information as leverage to prove his/her own point. Although this may not make any difference in your feelings toward the subject discussing such information can make for uncomfortable conversation or possibly even arguments between parent and teenager.

Use of alcohol or drugs

Letting your child know that you tried alcohol or drugs at a certain age can be an open door for some teenagers. Let your past remain in the past. It is only normal for teenagers to succumb to peer pressure and try things to fit in but a teen may take a parent’s past actions as a way to justify their own. They often feel that if you did it so can they.

Sex

Never discuss the age you lost your virginity. You might ask what kind of parent would discuss something as personal as that bit of information in the first place. While most parents would shy away from the subject of sex there are some parents who have a completely open, honest relationship with their teenager may be able to discuss sex comfortably. The topic of sex is not viewed as taboo as it once was. Still yet, answering questions or giving advice about sex need not include discussions of your own sex life in your teen years.

However you decide to handle these topic with your teenager it is always best to admit to a mistake and focus on what you have learned from the experience so as to end the discussion with moralistic undertones. For example, if you dropped out of high school and your teenager knows this, you might explain why you quit school, how the decision affected your life and what you learned from your choice. You might also discuss any other steps you took such as going back to school, getting your GED and furthering your education. The point is that if you must discuss negative aspects of your youth with your teens that may be misconstrued as a means to justify their own negative behavior do so on a positive note and leave them with a moral to consider.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, help for parents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.