Dating Woes

When it comes to teenagers there are a lot of dating woes. Heartbreak, disappointment, and confusion are just some of them. Although I do believe that in some cases (rare though they may be) it can work out, in most cases dating as a teenager creates unnecessary woes. My husband and I have never really had a firm plan when it comes to dating. When my children were younger we tossed around some thoughts and ideas. We figured it was best to wait until that time arrived. Well, we are there. Our oldest son turned 16 this month. It seems … Continue reading

Can Dating Cause Teen Depression?

I had a conversation with my daughter some time back about dating. It wasn’t that she was interested in dating or anything, but I just wanted to make sure she didn’t have any expectations that it was something we would allow anytime soon. I explained that in my experience dating at a young age had caused more stress than happiness. Along with dating comes always worrying about how you look, worrying about your ‘relationship’, and worrying about competition and threats to your relationship. Teens also have to cope with unexpected break-ups that can really throw a teenager for a loop … Continue reading

Can Good Parenting Prevent Teen Violence

There is a reason that we talk so much about discipline, and child behavior so much. This is because it is important to do as good a job in parenting as possible in hoped that it will keep our children on the straight and narrow through childhood and into adulthood. But can all the parenting in the world prevent some of the bad teen issues we are seeing in the news right now. News of gang rapes, rapes in middle schools, setting children on fire, and girl on girl beatings are the extreme in bad teenage behavior. Whenever I see … Continue reading

Can Parents Protect Teens from Dating Violence

As a parent of two teens, a boy and a girl, one of my biggest worries is that they may fall someone with violent tendencies and experience dating violence. I have seen far too many incidences in my time of young women where controlled by their boyfriends and that control turned to violence and even death. I have even seen young men whose girlfriends start off very argumentative and before long start nagging constantly and even hitting and throwing things. Even after breaking free of a relationship such as this a young person is usually ruined for the chance of … Continue reading

Teen Dating Safety

Violence among dating relationships has increased greatly in recent years with one in three teenagers experiencing some form of dating violence. (See my blog Teen Dating Violence: A Serious Problem.) So as a parent how you help protect your teenager from dating violence and teach them that violence is not appropriate in relationships? First decide at what age you will allow your child to date. Then when your child does begin dating set up some dating guidelines and encourage your child to use these guidelines. Possible dating guidelines could be: Double-date the first few dates Let your parents know your … Continue reading