MY EXPERIENCES WITH ADOLESCENTS

May 23, 2014 at 3:23am

PublicFriendsFriends except AcquaintancesOnly MeCustomClose FriendsJamia Millia IslamiaSee all lists...ramakrishna missiondehradunrelativesuniv of delhilifewww.yourdost.comSelf-EmployedPsychologistKendriya VidyalayaDehra Dun, India AreaKendriya Vidyalaya, RishikeshRishikesh, Uttarakhand AreapsychologistCJM DehradunSalaam Baalak TrustConvent of Jesus & Mary, DehradunUniversity of DelhiConvent of Jesus and Mary, DehradunNew Delhi, India AreaFamilyAcquaintancesGo Back

My experience in counselling adolescents has been so real where I have come across students facing a lot of issues like child abuse, relationship problems, self esteem issues and academic issues.

• SELF ESTEEM: Self esteem is the most important thing for an adolescent. Once it is damaged, they can never get it back. Hence instead of labelling them as "good" or "bad" and judging them according to their academic qualifications alone is not right. An adolescent needs to be praised and taken care of. Certain schools divide the students according to their academic performances which really hampers their self concept. Therefore parents and teachers should choose the words well when conversing with adolescents. 
• RELATIONSHIP : Getting attracted to the opposite sex is quite common and natural among adolescents and instead of reprimanding them, they need to be told about the right and wrong choices. Reprimanding them will only make them feel worse.
• SEXUALITY: Adolescence is the time when boys and girls explore their sexuality and a lot many of them try to experiment. Hence it is very important to give them the right knowledge for which instead of taking it as a taboo, parents and teachers need to discuss openly about it.
• PARENTAL EXPECTATION : It becomes very hard for adolescents to deal with parental expectations. Parents should be highly sensitive to the need of their kids and not burden them with high expectations which most of the time leads to adverse results.
• SUICIDE : Suicide is another issue faced by an adolescent and can be triggered by various stuff such as low academic performance, rejection by peers, rejection by a lover and a negative body image. It is very important to make an adolescent accept rejection in a graceful manner.
• BODY IMAGE: In the age where outward appearance is given a lot of preferance, less attractive adolescents feel intimidated. Hence every adolescent should have a healthy body image irrespective of the looks which can only be done when the personality is enhanced.
• PEER PRESSURE : An adolescent needs to develop a strong will power in order to avoid peer pressure which leads to drug abuse, pre marital sex and a lot more.

Adolescence is a time when things are seen through "rose tinted glasses" and hence an adolescent needs all the love and care from people around in order to develop a healthy personality.