If there’s one thing we continue to hear from our readers is that we are living in the age of anxiety. We are stressed, and our teens are stressed, and as parents we want ways to help our teenagers cope with the feeling of overwhelm. Today’s guest blogger, writer Harsha Goel, weighs in with advice on how to help your teenager handle the stress of these challenging years. 

High school plays an important role in the life of a teenager. For some teens, high school is an exciting experience. But for some teens, it is a scary and confusing experience.

In a high school, teenagers usually experience excessive stress over fitting in as well as competitive pressure for grades and popularity. This may cause issues in teenagers like anger problems and mood swings. So as a parents, it’s our responsibility to make sure our children get involved in activities that will raise their self esteem and enjoy theses years as much as possible.

In case, you find your child suffering from high school stress, the following ways will help you cope

Set the routine

Help your teen establish a routine. The lack of one can lead to the feeling of hopelessness and sadness among the teenagers. In creating a routine, make sure it includes proper time to study, time for a healthy diet, and plenty of sleep time. Also, talk to your teen about leaving enough time for exercise. The proper timing for every activity will keep your child physically and mentally healthy and lead to greater teenage success.

Always make your child feel worthy

Nowadays, our teenagers think their grades or athletic ability decides their worth. It is important for us to spend some time with our teen and discuss anything positive that helps them to feel more worthy. Take an interest in their hobbies. Play together, spend some quality time together and love them unconditionally.

Guide your child at every stage of life

The teenage years are that crucial time of children’s lives when they usually make mistakes.  We need to provide the proper guidance to our teenagers to push them on the right path. We can teach them the difference between a good or bad decision and suggest the best option for any situation. When they do mess up, we need to help them acknowledge their mistake and learn from it.

Understand the difference between stress and depression.

Often teens can handle stress but depression is more difficult.  You can never predict when the stress will turn into depression.

Did your child become anti-social? Are his grades falling? Is he getting panic attacks, or involved in drugs and alcohol?” All of these are signs of depression.

Get your child enrolled in meditation classes or  seek professional advice.

Use tactics to manage teenage stress

  • As a parent, you need to understand that your anxiety might be one of the reasons for your teen’s stress. So, you need to realize that it is not a big deal if your child doesn’t get selected in a top college. You don’t have to echo your child’s reaction.
  • It’s your role as a parent to help your teen manage their struggles and failures. Always remind them, if one opportunity closes, another will be waiting for them.
  • As a parent you need to understand that checking your child’s grade on a daily basis causes everyone stress. So, limit your checking to once in a week or month.
  • Sleep is an important factor in a teenager’s life. Encourage good sleep habits.

Remember, the teenage years are a delicate time in a child’s life and require positive parenting.  These tips should help you make your child mentally strong to cope up with high school pressure. As parents we are their cheerleaders, always around to boost them up, even when they don’t want us around.