Since the Coronavirus outbreak, we have witnessed a 360-degree change in our lives. Nothing is the same anymore. Our lifestyle has been completely changed. How most companies carry out their business activities have also been changed.
The COVID-19 virus has caused us to practice social-distancing and not meet people unless it’s necessary. Most people have been asked to work from homes because offices were temporarily closed down. This caused many working parents to work from home and manage home chores at the same time.
Parenting itself is one of the most challenging tasks for every parent and with the addition of the Coronavirus outbreak, the job has become much more complicated. Kids and teens have been missing out on their school, friends, and social life as online learning has found its way into their lives. The use of parental control apps has also increased because teens have more exposure to the internet world.
In these already trying times, parenting has become a rather daunting task for most parents as their teens are spending most of their time in front of their digital devices. This means parents have to monitor and keep a check on their online activities more than ever. In this post, we will discuss a few important tips on parenting teens in the age of Coronavirus.
Tips on Parenting Teens During COVID-19
As you are already aware that your teens are spending all of their time at home, away from their school, friends, and social life. Taking online classes means they will get to spend more time before their screens. Hence, their exposure to the online world becomes much more than ever. The more they spend time online, the more you need to keep a watch on them.
In such times, you must remain calm and try to handle every situation normally. You must offer your teens extra support and provide them space so they can express themselves freely and independently.
Spend Time with Them
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, every human being has been advised to stay at home and practice social-distancing. This means people have more time to spend with their families at home. Parents can benefit from this particular period and spend more time with their kids.
You can watch movies with your teens, play online games or indoor games with them such as Ludo, Life, Monopoly, etc. You can also plan creative ways to communicate with your other family members and friends such as writing them messages, etc. What’s more, you can ask them to help you out in the kitchen and cook your favorite meals together. Exercising and working out together can also be a fun thing.
Have a Discussion on COVID-19
It is true that most kids were not able to grasp what was happening around them when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. This happened because parents couldn’t help them understand what it was all about. They could not explain to their kids about the virus.
During such times, it is important to make your kids fully understand the virus as well as its causes. You should tell them how they can protect themselves from this deadly virus. You can involve your teens in finding more information about the virus on the internet and then see if they have any questions for you.
Share Responsibilities Together
Until the vaccine comes out, the world is going to practice social-distancing. If you’re still working from home and spending most of your time with your families, then you need to teach your kids to share responsibilities with you and lower your burden.
If you believe your teen should help you out with house chores, then you should assign some job to them and let them share your responsibility. At the end of the day, you can sit with your kids and ask them if they enjoyed doing that particular task. You can share the house chores or other responsibilities equally amongst girls/boys and women/men.
Set a Routine
You can set a proper routine at home and let everyone follow it strictly. You can also involve your teens in helping you out with creating daily schedules. It would be fun if you set goals and rewards together with your teens so they know you are giving them importance.
You can set a proper schedule for their online classes, meals, games, and fun. However, make sure that you are giving your teen enough time to relax along with making them follow their schedules for schoolwork and house chores.
Deal with Difficult Behavior
Not all teens would be able to cope with the changing lifestyle due to the pandemic. They might feel agitated when they have to stay at home all the time and not have any sort of socializing. You may feel a noticeable difference in their attitude.
In such times, it is better that you deal properly with their changing behavior. You should talk to your teens about how they are feeling about the changed lifestyle and what makes them feel more agitated about it. You can also discuss different alternatives with them and allow them to give you some suggestions.
You can set some house rules and boundaries for them and ensure they are following it diligently. Moreover, you can also praise and reward your teen with something if they behave well and follow all the rules.
Encourage Compassion
This could be the best time for you to promote kindness and compassion among your teens. You can share stories with your kids about how the frontline heroes are helping out the sick in the hospitals and how they are taking care of them.
You should also teach them to offer the same kind of kindness and compassion towards the sick ones. You can tell your teens how they can make a small difference by standing up for someone who is facing trouble in these difficult times. Also, you can ask them to help out a neighbor by providing them food deliveries in case they are old or living alone.
Help Them Manage Stress
Ever since the Coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc in our lives, every human being has experienced feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and depression. The virus has stressed out every single person, including teens. In these trying times, you can help your teens manage stress.
It is true that just like you, your teens are also likely to get stressed. They might be stressed about anything they face or experience online related to COVID-19. They can also be stressed by different things than you. You should listen to their problems and help solve them.
Keep Them Safe Online
One of the biggest challenges for parents during the pandemic is to keep their teens off of the internet and social media. Since your teens have to spend more time on their devices, attending online classes and communicating with their friends, you should teach them to use devices responsibly.
You should teach them the healthy and proper use of their digital devices. You should also tell them how to use the internet and social media safely and responsibly. You can help them learn how to keep their personal information private from people on social media, especially from strangers.
You should also make them identify different online threats lurking on social media such as cyberbullying, sexting, online predators, etc. One of the best ways to protect them from harmful online dangers is by installing an effective parental control app on their device so you can monitor their online activities.
Last but not least, you should assure your teens that you are with them all the time and that they come to you every time they face or experience anything disturbing on the internet. Make your teens feel comfortable around you and learn to trust their abilities.
