The teen years are stressful, and the pressure to appear perfect has only become greater as most teens are heavily involved in social media. This strain has caused many teens to suffer from depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and other mental health disorders.
One way which you can help focus your teen off of the negative is to help them tap into their passions and true potential. By doing this with your teen, you can help them see that there is life beyond the pain of their teenage years and give them hope for the future.
Discover What Your Teen Is Truly Passionate About
Some teens are very open about their passions. Maybe it’s art, sports, or something else which has caught your teen’s interest. Whether your teen is vocal about what they care about or reclusive, parents should provide opportunities for teens to truly express their passion. Some ways you can help your teen become more involved in their passion include:
- Provide outlets for teens – Whatever your teen’s passion, it is likely that you can find a group, club, or class which can help them become more involved. These outlets can also provide excellent opportunities for teens to develop social skills, further developing your teen’s independence. As your teen becomes more confident, it will become easier for them to pursue the things which interest them.
- Praise improvements made – As your teenager develops their talent, remember to praise their improvements and achievement. Research has shown that parental affection strongly affects adolescents’ feelings of self-worth. By expressing pride in your child’s accomplishments, not only are you deepening your bond with your teen but it also reassures them that they should keep working on their passion project.
- Express continued interest – Even when there is no exciting milestone being met, be sure to continue to express interest in your teen’s passion. Teens can become easily discouraged if they feel like no one but themselves care about their passions. Do your best to remember specific details of what they are working on so you can ask in-depth questions which will reassure your teen that you care.
Help Your Teen Map Out Potential Ways To Find Their Passion
Turning passion into a career path is often nearly impossible for you teens to manage on their own. They often lack the understanding of the working world which is needed to reach the full potential of their passion, especially if it falls into the realm of creative passions. As I have worked with troubled teens and my own children, there are several methods which you can try:
- Investigate the career paths of others – Depending on what your teen is interested in, you and your teen should be able to find someone who has achieved success in that field. My oldest daughter has been entertaining the idea of becoming a professional artist, so when a local gallery had an open house meet-and-greet with the lead artist, my daughter was able to meet and receive good advice from the artist.
- Allow your teen to shadow a professional – If possible, you may want to arrange to have your child shadow a professional who works in the field they are interested in. Your teen can also explore what is required for their potential future career by using online career education tools. These tools offer self-assessments to help teens determine their strengths, other potential career paths, and insights into careers your teen may be interested in pursuing.
- Determine if college is necessary – While there is a strong push by schools to attend college, this step may not be necessary for your teen, depending on their interests and strengths. As a college degree is no longer a guarantee for a good job and may result in burdensome debt, college should be carefully considered.
Be Encouraging While Offering Realistic Support
There is a fine line for us parents to walk when it comes to offering our support for our children’s ambitions and realistic insight. I don’t correct my youngest daughter when she talks about growing up to be a princess doctor because she is young and will likely have more future careers than Barbie by the time she is old enough to start thinking about her real career path. However, with my older teens, I have had to learn how to offer encouragement with realism.
My oldest son played with the idea of becoming a game developer because he loved playing on both PC and consoles. He didn’t know exactly how to reach that end but assumed he would learn in college. There were a few flaws in his plan, namely:
- The colleges he was interested in did not have game development-specific courses, but more general computer information system degrees. This lack may have made it harder to reach his real goal.
- Many major gaming development firms are located along the West Coast in cities which are incredibly expensive to live in.
- He assumed his career path would hold to a regular office schedule with a 9-5, weekends off schedule.
In the end, what he was by far more interested in was the development of stories and art which games presented. While I offered encouragement if becoming a game dev was what he wanted, I helped him look at the holes in his plans so we could either close the gaps or determine if he really wanted something else. At this time, he is attending a local state school and working through his general courses as he refines exactly what he wants.
More than anything, I have found through my work with teens that helping them discover what they truly care about is the key to helping them unlock their passion. If you are worried that your teen is floundering without direction, I highly recommend you implement some of the steps I have taken to help your child find their way.