Teens Have Always Gotten A Bad Wrap
Do you remember back in the day when old people would sit around and complain about “kids these days”? They’d say stupid crazy things like:
- “Walkmans are ruining kids today.”
- “Back in my day, we worked from sunup to sundown, with no breaks. Kids just don’t know how to work anymore.”
- “When I was a teen, I was perfect. I did everything that I was asked, without complaining, and I loved it!
Okay that last one is a stretch, but you get the drift.
And remember later, in the same conversation, your two favorite uncles bragging about the wild and rebellious crap they used to do?
Yeah, they were full of crap. Teens have always been knuckleheads. We were no worse than they were, and today’s teens are no worse than we were.
Complaining about “kids these days” is just something old people do.
Remember how old those people seemed. I mean, anyone older than 29 was O-L-D, which is sad because I’m almost a decade older than 29.
And now here we are, doing the same thing. Sitting back and complaining about today’s teens.
We’ve got to stop spreading these lies.
There’s nothing wrong with today’s teens.
Why This IS a Problem
So, you might be saying to yourself, “So what? I went through it. I’m okay.”
Well, the problem is, today’s teens are actually believing these lies. They actually believe that there is something wrong with them.
They believe that they aren’t good enough. Which makes sense. I mean, we keep telling them everything that’s wrong with today’s teens.
So, the problem is, it’s all a lie. We’ve bought into it and now our teens are buying it.
Our teens are living up, or down, to our complaints against them.
I’m Not Saying Teens Don’t Have Any Problems . . .
They do have problems, but so do you, and so do I, and practically everyone I know.
We all have problems, and it kind of sucks when people sit around discussing and pointing out all of your problems.
Teens do have problems, and they need our help, so let’s give ‘em a break and a little support.
So, Where Do We Go From Here?
Well first of all, let’s all stop complaining about “kids these days”.
Seriously, imagine the power of just stopping this one negative practice of complaining. Imagine all the brain power that that will free up.
Second, with all of this newly freed up brain power, let’s start looking for things that we could complement our teens on, like:
- “Man, you are so good at connecting everything in our home to the internet,” or
- “Thanks for putting up with me as your parent for all these years. You know, I don’t actually have any clue what I’m doing.”
And, third, let’s start being intentional with our relationships with our teens. Let’s put in the work to build powerful relationships that can serve as a solid foundation when it comes to parenting, teaching, correcting, and loving.
Take ACTION! Today.
Seriously, today is the BEST time to make things better with your teen.
- Get the FREE Teen Relationship Tuneup Training
- Schedule a FREE coaching session with me and learn how to be more intentional as a parent, teacher, and impactful influence in your teen’s life.