The teenage years are a tumultuous time for many. It’s not easy growing up, and your daughter might be feeling down as a result of the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. Given our extensive experience in alleviating the woes of stressed students here at Making Sense, we’ve compiled a guide for parents seeking to understand what’s going on with their teenage daughters and help them out of their funk.
Self-Image Issues
During puberty, your body changes. Teenagers may feel ill-equipped to handle all the transformations to their body and might consequently feel insecure. For girls, this tends to mean that they gauge their bodies against unrealistic physical standards in the media and compare their appearances to friends whose appearances better align with society’s conceptions of beauty. It’s important for parents to emphasize to their daughters that everyone’s body is unique and gorgeous in its own way, and that beauty is more than skin deep.
Fighting with Friends
Friendships are an important part of a teenager’s life. Without a healthy support system of friends, teenagers are prone to bouts of loneliness and depression. If your teenager’s friendships are strained, it could result in stress and moodiness. As parents, you can remind your daughter that while it’s okay for friends to fight over different points of views, she must learn how to talk things out and be open to mending relationships. If she’s cultivating unhealthy friendships, perhaps you could introduce her to a community of people her age who possess what you deem to be the right values and ethics.
Dating Problems
As girls hit puberty, raging hormones make them extremely susceptible to bouts of sexual attraction. Most of us experience our first crushes during our teenage years, and your daughter is probably no exception to this rule. However, because she’s had no experience with dating or relationships, it’s important for you to walk her through setting boundaries, taking precautions and cautioning her against unsafe sexual practices. Remind her that there’s nothing wrong with saying no to sex.
Stress from School
Students in Singapore are put under a lot of pressure to perform academically. If your teenager’s grades begin to slip, she could start to feel anxious or depressed about her results. Parents can help by assuring her that while she should never stop doing her best, just because you underperformed academically doesn’t make you stupid or intellectually inferior because intelligence cannot be gauged by grades. Give her space to organize her own study schedules and ask her how you can help her improve her grades. For instance, you could volunteer to help to monitor her mobile phone usage or offer her additional help from external tutors and tuition centres. Even if it amounts to nothing else, your daughter will take comfort in the fact that you’re willing and eager to help.
