Athletes, Teachers, Coaches and Parents – Teens Who “Get It”
(Share and read this to your teen if you think the message is good. And a conversation after this between parent and teen? How great would that be?)
There are some teens who fall into the same “teen patterns” that have been around for 20, 30, 40 years. Those patterns include:
Fighting more with their parents.
Challenging the adults in their lives.
Believing that their parents suddenly don’t know what they are talking about.
Believing that everyone wants to control them.
And many more.
But then there are some teenagers who “get it.” That is they understand what is happening and they are working to make sure they get prepared for what is happening soon, getting out on their own. This is a tough period. Your adult life is just around the corner. The security umbrella your parents have held over your head all of these years is going to be folded up and you are going to be on your own. No one will be there to protect you from what happens when you are on your own, making your own decisions and then being responsible for what you do. The adult life where you can do great, do okay or get yourself in some bad situations. Some teens “get it” that a serious deadline is coming.
Some teens understand that having all of their food paid for is pretty cool. Some teens understand that having a house, cable, a flat screen television and a car to drive around in costs lots of money. Parents money. Soon you will have to pay for all of those things on your own. Some teens “get it” that mommy won’t be there to make sure you get up in the morning. That at college no one cares if you show up for class or turn in your work. Some teens “get it” that college costs a lot of money and that flunking out means you just wasted thousands of dollars in tuition.
Some teens “get it” that your high school grades are important in getting into a good college. Some teens “get it” that they need to start thinking about their future and what their career is going to be. Some teens “get it” that the person they are dating is fun but doesn’t really have a bright future.
As a pre teen you got to have fun with less responsibility and with people protecting you. That is about to change. Your decisions now are more serious. Get in a car with a 16 year old new driver who wants to show off. (could be a life changing decision.) Blow off your junior and senior high school grades and have lots of doors closed to where you can go to college. Lots of life changing decisions.
Some teens “get it” about the kind of money it takes to run a household. An $8.00 and hour job doesn’t pay the bills. Neither does a $14 an hour job. That is unless you want to live in a shack. Some teens understand that.
Your adult life is almost here. Look around and get prepared. Use the adults in your life to show you how to make it out there as much as they can. Then you have to got out on your own and make it. I guarantee you that all of us adults now look back and say we would do our teen years differently. We would listen more. We would challenge less. We would appreciate what our parents are doing for us rather than making them the enemy. We want you to be different. We want you to be more prepared than we were.
Some teens are seeing that that their adult future is near. They “get it.” Tom Burgdorf and Gymnet Sports on Facebook
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