Tag: Teenage Life

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Parenting During Pandemic: How to Address Adolescent’s Fears and Keep Their Healthy Routines

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Parenting During Pandemic: How to Address Adolescent’s Fears and Keep Their Healthy Routines

In South Asian countries like India and Pakistan, it has been three months since our lives and activities have become limited to our home only. Like everybody else, teenagers have also become the victim of this pandemic, and it brings them a set of newfound fears at an age when young people tend to feel invincible. Schools and colleges have been shut down with no favourable chances of reopening them soon. Many of my students are connected to me as well as parents; they usually share their concerns and hopes just to make sure things will going to be normal soon – which I also hope and pray. However, talking with them makes me think that students, especially teens, are at a significant transition period in their lives, and parents should consider this transition seriously. During this crucial period in their development, teens often are suddenly faced with processing a range of intense emotions, from fear and anger to sadness and grief. Continue reading “Parenting During Pandemic: How to Address Adolescent’s Fears and Keep Their Healthy Routines” →

Dealing with Parent-Child Trust and Control Issues

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Dealing with Parent-Child Trust and Control Issues
By Ahmad Amirali

These days I am attending a residential ten-day adolescent and youth training program where selected educators around the country meet and gathered in one platform. Yesterday, while discussing youth-related issues with one of the educators over dinner, a topic arose that why youth no longer trust their parents nowadays? After a while, we went for dinner but this brought a series of questions in my mind. Being a secondary educator, parents usually come and share their concerns about their child’s behaviour and ask for suggestions. And I remember that sometimes, parents simply said ‘My child doesn’t trust me’ or ‘I think my boy is having trust issues with me’. Although I discuss in my previous article Why Do Teens Shut Themselves Away from Their Family and Friends? that such short-term behaviour in adolescents is common, and it usually happened when adults unable to keep their promises with their child. However, what if their short-term behaviour would become their life-long habit? What if the reason behind this untrusted behaviour is far more different than simply broken promises? Continue reading “Dealing with Parent-Child Trust and Control Issues” →

Why Suicidal Thoughts Are Appeared to Be Common Among Teens?

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Why Suicidal Thoughts Are Appeared to Be Common Among Teens?
By Ahmad Amirali

Almost every year, I observe adolescents who struggled with trauma and anxiety due to social and academic pressures. The most common among all is the suicidal thoughts that are now becoming more common nowadays among teens. Last year alone, two of my previous students attempted suicide; luckily, they both survived. The underlying reasons behind these disturbing behaviours are more or less same, i.e. anxiety, peer or academic pressure etc. Family involvement and social support might help affected teens to recover from their depression, but the road to recovery can be rocky, and therefore, most of the time, adolescents find it hard to recover from their traumatic past. The question is Why the teen’s suicidal rate astonishingly increased since the past decade? Continue reading “Why Suicidal Thoughts Are Appeared to Be Common Among Teens?” →

Is the Late-Night Smartphone Use turning Teenagers into Daytime Zombies?

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Is the Late-Night Smartphone Use turning Teenagers into Daytime Zombies?
By Ahmad Amirali

I usually work late at night and my friends, school colleagues and even my students mostly aware of my schedule. As a result of which my ex-students mostly approach me at night even after midnight. Yesterday, a similar kind of thing happened and one of my previous year students texted me, asking my suggestions about his career choice. It was quite late at night, and unintentionally I asked him, ‘don’t you want to sleep it’s quite late?’ He replied with a usual excuse, ‘Sir, I normally sleep that late’. This reminds me of the whole term experience which I had with this kid. His class performance was above average; however, he always looks like a Somnambulist (walking in one’s sleep or under hypnosis) even during the day time in school. As children grow and move to teenage level, they become at the significant stage of their growth and development that they need more sleep than adults. (Previous Article: Sleep and Teenagers: Why Teens Need More Sleep Than Adults). The result of not having enough sleep can be devastating to teen’s mental and physical health – making them a walking ‘Daytime Zombie’. There are many factors that keep teens from getting enough sleep – one of the factors is the use of late-night smartphones. Continue reading “Is the Late-Night Smartphone Use turning Teenagers into Daytime Zombies?” →

How Risky the Teenage Obsession of Social Media Is

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

How Risky the Teenage Obsession of Social Media Is
By Ahmad Amirali

Yesterday, one of my students texted me that he sent me a friendship request and it’s still pending, kindly accept it. He is now in high school, and so I texted him back that I will look into it will confirm it. I usually don’t accept friendship requests from my students as long as they are studying with me. After which, I accept their requests. This was an exception but almost all of my students already have my contact number. Therefore, he can contact me via call or text at any time then why accepting the social media request becomes a matter of concern for him? We can socialise face to face or via call, we humans don’t require an app or a medium to socialise with other humans. Does my students’ reaction on not accepting his friend request is the result of the recent technological boom or is it a social media obsession of today’s teen? Continue reading “How Risky the Teenage Obsession of Social Media Is” →