Health Tip: Managing the Teen Years

Suggestions for anxious parents

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(HealthDay News) -- The teen years can be difficult for parents and their children, who are undergoing countless physical and emotional changes.

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The Nemours Foundation offers these suggestions to help you and your child navigate the teen years a bit more smoothly:

• Do your homework on the challenges that your child is likely to face as a teen, and how they may change your relationship. Don't forget what that period of life was like for you.
• Talk with your teen early on about puberty and the changes that will occur. Be prepared to answer your child's questions about issues such as sex, drugs and alcohol.
• Put yourself in your child's shoes. Keep in mind the emotional and physical changes that about to occur in your teen. Be patient and sympathetic.
• Let your child develop his or her own personality, and don't fight over every little thing. But always be firm on serious topics such as sex, alcohol and drugs.
• Understand that your child may be resistant to the rules you impose. It's natural, but this doesn't necessarily mean that your child won't strive to meet your expectations.

-- Diana Kohnle