My teenager is driving me crazy!
Martial Arts classes COULD be your secret weapon! When your teen is driving you crazy with his or her decisions, remember this is a phase and they are good people. It is not uncommon for a teen to start to show a side to their parents that they have never seen before. Your normally perfect child, all of a sudden starts making decisions that are questionable, at least, and maybe even a little dangerous.
This is a time when they are struggling in their peer groups. Teens make decisions to do things because someone else is doing it, because it makes them look more important, because they think someone will cease being their friend unless they do it, or maybe they just are not thinking at all. Don’t worry, most all parents have a similar story. They may not be talking about the mistakes their teens are making, but very few get through these years without some scary incident.
In this tumultuous time, we like to remind parents that these are good kids. They are bridging the gap between childhood and adulthood. This is an extremely important time to keep them in Martial Arts. If you don’t like their peer groups, then choose to give them new peers through Martial Arts classes. We are going to be the ones that tell your teens that they have value. They may be lucky enough to get some great teachers in school, but they may also be the student who doesn’t stand out for the right reasons and doesn’t get positive reinforcement in school.
In every Martial Arts class, they will achieve because they did something for themselves. In every class we will help them keep at it, until they do achieve. We want them to become better and we will help them realize that their effort will be what determines their success. These are great concepts for a teen to have while they are in the process of making decisions.
There is nothing that you can do as a parent to keep them from making decisions during this time. All you can do is to continue to give them discipline, guidance and love. You can also let us be part of their lives so that you have a secret weapon in their journey from childhood to adulthood.
Kathy Olevsky is an 8th Degree Black Belt who has been teaching martial arts classes in Raleigh, NC since 1980. She is an international speaker on Women’s Empowerment and the Business of running Martial Arts schools. Kathy writes a bi-monthly column for MA Success Magazine and has authored a book on self-defense, Take Control.