The Care of Your Parents
You are entering a new time in your life filled with physical, social and emotional changes. This is a time when you will want to be treated as an adult and to be given more freedom. Your parents have a real challenge-it is their job to keep you safe and to determine when you are responsible enough to make good decisions about the freedom you are given.
Your parents have been adolescents themselves, but learning to be your parent as you go through adolescence is a new experience for them. It is something that both of you are dealing with and your relationship with them will change, but it doesn't have to be bad (at least not all the time!).
Adults have bad days, they have times when they want to be alone, and they have times when they need to think about things before they can talk about them. You are developing in just this way, but for your parents it may seem like a huge change from the way you behaved as a child. It may be helpful to remember that your parents nurtured and guided you through childhood but now the problems are more complicated and there are bound to be some conflicts.
Some teenagers feel comfortable talking to their parents about anything. If you don't, that doesn't mean you have a bad relationship with your parents. Many times, both teenagers and their parents are uncomfortable talking about things like sex, drug use, or problems at school. What is important is that you get accurate information about these serious topics. Talk to your parents if you can or at least be willing to listen if your parents bring up topics that make you feel uncomfortable. If you can't talk to your parents talk to your doctor or another adult.
As you are learning about growing up, you need to know that teenagers, as part of your normal development, do not always think about the negative long term consequences of behavior such as pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, drug use, or physical harm caused by things like smoking. It is the job of your parents or other adults to help to think beyond what you want to do right now. This is just part of learning responsibility.
