Parenting Tips and Strategies
Dear LS-development,
The other day I ran into my eldest boy acting in a very peculiar way. He was just in the kitchen and I had discovered that he was hiding a couple of beers behind his back, he was trying to sneak them out of the fridge for who knows what reason. My son is only 15 years old, any idea of how to handle this matter?
-Well first of all you must sit your boy down and discuss what has happened, make it clear that he is at fault. Get him to talk to you and explain why he has the beers. Tell the boy he is much too young to start drinking and if his peers are influencing him to do this that they're not the people he wants to hangout with. Drinking the beers could be detrimental to his health. Next, discuss his actions and how they could have put him in a much worse situation if you were not the one to catch him. After the chit chat, you have to break out some Authoritarian parenting styles, and punish the child. Just so he knows not to repeat this action until he is ready. Make sure he knows that is he is caught again the punishment will be more severe.
-Editor
The other day I ran into my eldest boy acting in a very peculiar way. He was just in the kitchen and I had discovered that he was hiding a couple of beers behind his back, he was trying to sneak them out of the fridge for who knows what reason. My son is only 15 years old, any idea of how to handle this matter?
-Well first of all you must sit your boy down and discuss what has happened, make it clear that he is at fault. Get him to talk to you and explain why he has the beers. Tell the boy he is much too young to start drinking and if his peers are influencing him to do this that they're not the people he wants to hangout with. Drinking the beers could be detrimental to his health. Next, discuss his actions and how they could have put him in a much worse situation if you were not the one to catch him. After the chit chat, you have to break out some Authoritarian parenting styles, and punish the child. Just so he knows not to repeat this action until he is ready. Make sure he knows that is he is caught again the punishment will be more severe.
-Editor
Dear LS-development,
My daughter is only ten year old, yet she insists on dressing like a teenager. She insists on wearing makeup, nylons, and earrings. We are trying to be persistent when telling her that she cannot wear these things, but she doesn't under stand our reasoning. Her main argument is that all of her friends wear these things. What should we do?
-If you slowly ease into letting her wear what she wants, as long as it isn't too provocative, everything should be fine. The parenting style which has been proven to show the best results is the authoritative style. One of the main characteristics of this style is bartering with child to an extent. If she wants to wear earrings, then start her off with studs. Nowadays, earrings are something that is very common for girls to wear earrings. Since you are the parent, then it is ultimately your decision, but just remember that your relationship with your daughter may be negatively affected if she is not allowed to make some of her own decisions.
-Editor
My daughter is only ten year old, yet she insists on dressing like a teenager. She insists on wearing makeup, nylons, and earrings. We are trying to be persistent when telling her that she cannot wear these things, but she doesn't under stand our reasoning. Her main argument is that all of her friends wear these things. What should we do?
-If you slowly ease into letting her wear what she wants, as long as it isn't too provocative, everything should be fine. The parenting style which has been proven to show the best results is the authoritative style. One of the main characteristics of this style is bartering with child to an extent. If she wants to wear earrings, then start her off with studs. Nowadays, earrings are something that is very common for girls to wear earrings. Since you are the parent, then it is ultimately your decision, but just remember that your relationship with your daughter may be negatively affected if she is not allowed to make some of her own decisions.
-Editor
Dear LS-development,
I have a son who is in the sixth grade. He is usually a very respectful kid, but he has begun using swear words in his everyday conversations around the house. This completely came out of nowhere. What can we do about it?
-It is obviously not acceptable for a young child of that age to use vulgar language. If he is comfortable to just start swearing in front of his parents out of the blue, then the parenting structure must not be very strong. From the sound of it, you use the permissive parenting style. The permissive style of parenting can be described as when the parents are not really of an authority figure even though they are very involved in their child's life. It is important to have a good relationship with your child, but authority is needed. You may want to sit him down and discuss why his language is a problem because he may not understand why it is and this type of behavior may spread to outside of the house.
-Editor
I have a son who is in the sixth grade. He is usually a very respectful kid, but he has begun using swear words in his everyday conversations around the house. This completely came out of nowhere. What can we do about it?
-It is obviously not acceptable for a young child of that age to use vulgar language. If he is comfortable to just start swearing in front of his parents out of the blue, then the parenting structure must not be very strong. From the sound of it, you use the permissive parenting style. The permissive style of parenting can be described as when the parents are not really of an authority figure even though they are very involved in their child's life. It is important to have a good relationship with your child, but authority is needed. You may want to sit him down and discuss why his language is a problem because he may not understand why it is and this type of behavior may spread to outside of the house.
-Editor
Dear LS-development,
My 14-year-old son usually gets okay grades in the "B-C" range. He recently brought home a report card which was drastically worse. In this one he had one "C", two "D's" and a number of "F's," which is not normal for him. This is first report card that has ever been this bad. What can I do to fix this?
-Depending on what your son plans to do after school, his grade point average may or may not be very important for him to get into the college of his choice. If his grades continue to follow this pattern, then everything will be very difficult for him by the end of his Senior year. It may seem like a good option to stay out of his business and let him get everything settled by himself, but this neglectful style of parenting will not really help him. He needs to know that he has support from you and that he is not alone during his struggle. Try talking to him about the situation and see if there is anything bugging him that would make his grades drop so drastically. When he knows that he has support, it may be a jump start for him to get everything back in order.
-Editor
My 14-year-old son usually gets okay grades in the "B-C" range. He recently brought home a report card which was drastically worse. In this one he had one "C", two "D's" and a number of "F's," which is not normal for him. This is first report card that has ever been this bad. What can I do to fix this?
-Depending on what your son plans to do after school, his grade point average may or may not be very important for him to get into the college of his choice. If his grades continue to follow this pattern, then everything will be very difficult for him by the end of his Senior year. It may seem like a good option to stay out of his business and let him get everything settled by himself, but this neglectful style of parenting will not really help him. He needs to know that he has support from you and that he is not alone during his struggle. Try talking to him about the situation and see if there is anything bugging him that would make his grades drop so drastically. When he knows that he has support, it may be a jump start for him to get everything back in order.
-Editor