Encourage your child to confide in you without fear of judgment or punishment. Understand that your child’s friends are very important. You serve as a role model in terms of behavior, attitudes and morality. Establish fair, understandable rules around chores, screen time, homework, and bedtime, and follow through with a stated consequence when rules are broken. Maintain active communication with your child. An interest in your child’s daily activities promotes a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem.

Navigating the role of technology in your kids’ lives can be challenging. Parents can engage with their kids about technology by playing games with them and talking about responsible internet and video game use. From the start, tell your children that you will be monitoring them. You may use tracking software on the internet to keep track of sites they have visited. This approach lets them know that you trust them, but you will be watching. You can also install a filter to block offensive websites. Be aware, however, that many children are smart enough to find ways around the filters.

Helping your kids make good decisions is more important than trying to protect them from everything. Not all stress is harmful, and learning to cope with some degree of stress is important for kids to develop resiliency. Overcoming smaller challenges (like getting a question wrong on their homework, disagreeing with a friend, or not making a team) can help kids build their resilience for bigger setbacks in the future. You can help by modeling problem-solving, learning from mistakes, breaking big goals into smaller ones, and showing self-compassion.

Puberty: Girls typically begin puberty between 10-12 years of age. Boys typically begin between 12-14 years of age. It is not unheard of to start earlier, so it is important to start talking with your child about their changing body now. If your child is showing signs, let us know.