Thinking about Values During adolescence, teens will come to understand that there exist points of view other than their own and their family’s. Teens need parents to provide ongoing information and support around decision making, values, skills, goals, and interpreting and navigating the larger world teaching by example and ongoing dialogue. It is important for parents to engage in discussions around moral and social issues, taking clear positions, while allowing teens to develop and express positions of their own.

Thinking about Values Parents should affirm and maintain family activities, rituals, and traditions. Discuss and offer frameworks for understanding and challenging negative experiences based on race, ethnicity, gender, family structure, sexual orientation, class, immigrant status, emotional and physical illness, and disability. You are part of your teen’s most important support system. Be there to help discuss confusing or upsetting experiences your teen may have at school, work or in other community settings, as well as what your teen sees or hears on the media. By helping to establish supportive family rituals (such as family dinner time, a regular check-in time each day with your teen, or regular weekend time together), you are offering your teen a safe and predictable place to share his or her experiences in the world.

Thinking about Values Strategies for parents: Set a good example around risk taking, health habits, and emotional control. Express personal positions about moral and spiritual issues, including issues of ethnicity and gender Model the kind of adult relationships that you would like your teen to have. You are the person your teen gets to see up close on a regular basis. It is more than what you say that influences your teen, it is what you do. By living your life in a way that is consistent with your values and beliefs, you are offering your teen a powerful picture of what it means to be true to yourself and honest about the things that are most important to you.

Thinking about Values Strategies for parents Maintain or establish traditions including family, cultural, and/or religious rituals. Support teens’ education. teens get information that will address questions they have about employment, religion, politics, relationships, and other areas of interest or concern to them. Give teens opportunities for self-exploration. Support teens’ education and vocational training, including through participation in household tasks, outside activities, and employment that develop their skills, interests, and sense of value to the family and community. Help teens get information about future options and strategies for education, employment and lifestyle choices Give teens opportunities to practice reasoning and decision making by asking questions that encourage them to think logically and consider the consequences, while providing safe opportunities to try out their own ideas and learn from their mistakes.