Having teenagers confined at home during the Coronavirus crisis may not be as labour-intensive as being holed up with small children, but it still definitely has its challenges for moms and dads. While younger children may be thrilled at the prospect of having parental attention 24/7, adolescents are likely to feel differently.

Here are some tips for parenting teenagers (or young adults staying home from college) while your family is on lockdown or in quarantine:

Emphasise Social Distancing

The first challenge with teens and young adults may be getting them to comply with the guidelines for social distancing.

Teenagers tend to feel invincible, and they are likely to be well aware that the new coronavirus is not as problematic for their age range as it is for older people. This means parents are getting a lot of pushback when teens are told they can’t go out and get together with friends.

It’s important to explain to your teens that even if they feel fine or are at lower risk, they still run the risk of infecting others – like their parents, grandparents or loved ones with compromised immune systems.

Understand their Frustrations

For teenagers and young adults, socialising is hugely important, and that’s normal; bonding with peers is one of the essential developmental tasks of adolescents.

If your teen is sulking about being stuck at home with their parents and siblings, a direct conversation can help them to vent and feel understood.

  • Acknowledge that you know it’s frustrating for them to be cut off from friends.
  • Listen to what they’re feeling, validate those feelings and then be direct about how you can work together to make this situation bearable.
  • Loosening rules about time spent on social media, for instance, will help compensate for the socialising time lost with school closings.
  • Encourage them to be creative about new ways to interact with their friends socially.

Support Remote Schooling

Many parents are also feeling a bit overwhelmed and confused about how to help kids with remote learning. With younger children, it’s more a matter of finding fun activities that can be educational. But with older students, keeping up with expectations from school can be challenging, especially for those with ADHD, learning disorders or organisation issues.

You can help high school and college students to create a realistic schedule for getting work done in defined periods. Build in breaks and times for socialising, exercising and entertainment. The idea here is: Do a session of work first, then reward yourself with something relaxing.

Encourage Healthy Habits

Teens and young adults will do better during this stressful time if they get enough sleep, eat healthy meals and exercise regularly. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule, with predictable times to wake up and go to bed, is especially important to maintaining a positive mood and helping them to focus on their tasks for the day.

These healthy habits are especially important for young people struggling with anxiety or depression. Losing the routines you’ve come to rely on can be a big source of stress.

It’s important to be aware that adults should avoid sleeping too much when they’re housebound, and find ways to stay active every day. Establish a family routine that includes eating properly, sleeping at regular hours, being social with each other, and engaging in fun recreational activities (like a game of soccer in the back yard).

Validate their Disappointment

For many teens, the most painful part of the Coronavirus crisis will be losing out on important experiences: high school sports seasons, matric dances, theatre productions, graduation ceremonies.

Some will also be worried about missing activities expected to help them with college applications and scholarships. Kids are understandably wondering how this will affect their futures.

The best thing you can do is give them room to share how they are feeling, and acknowledge the real stress they may be under. Then express confidence in your child’s ability to rebound.

Help them Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness techniques can be very helpful in this kind of situation, where our routines are disrupted and we may be feeling a lot of frustration and disappointment. Mindfulness teaches us to tune into our emotions in any given moment, and experience them without judging them.

This advice can help parents of teens to better support their children during this uncertain time.

 

Sources:

Child Mind Institute https://childmind.org/