17 Lessons On Raising Teenagers
The two most important leadership roles I play are husband and father. One of the many reasons being a parent is important is each day I set precedent and sent my daughter forward into a time I cannot see.Dr. Bob Rowland is the Family Ministries Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church where I attend. In his 20+ years at our church it is estimated he has conducting over 17,000 (that is not a typo) counseling sessions! 17,000! Few, if any, know more about family dynamics such as marriage and parenting than Bob.
Today, he launched a three-week parenting series on raising teenagers. I was stretched as a parent and anxiously look forward to the next two weeks. I wanted to pass his lessons on to you.
The following are 17 Lessons On Raising Teenagers who can one-day be functional adults:
- “You keep getting sucked down into reactive parenting.” – Bob’s point was parents need to be proactive.
- “Write down 5-6 qualities you want in them as adults (and focus on them).”
- “There are self-correcting issues (in a teen’s life).”
- “If you fast and pray for your children, you’re in a small minority. You need God.”
- “Romans 12:1-2 gives you two outcomes. One, children have a commitment to God. Two, children have a God-framed world view.”
- “Our children have billions of dollars invested into developing a secular worldview – school, media, music.”
- “(As adults) We’ve tried to get as close to the (secular) line as possible and still call ourselves Christian. Children go beyond the line.”
- “Our culture has feminized itself.”
- “Don’t make investments (ex. excessive sports) as parents that don’t have a payoff.”
- “Men of character are willing to do hard things.”
- “Critical thinking works in any culture. Critical thinking is deciding what’s true and filtering everything through that.”
- “Nothing is more powerful than how you model your Christian faith.”
- “Teenagers have to be able to make decisions and own outcomes.”
- “All communication rides on the relationship you have with your teen.”
- “How much influence do you have with a child at 30 years old? All they are willing to give you.”
- “Boys are much more at-risk in our culture than girls. The education system (more lecture and less hands-on) is setup better for girls.”
- In a study by Tom Mortensen of the Pell Institute, the following stats were discovered:
- Boys have 3 times the learning disabilities as girls.
- Boys are 3 times more likely to have emotional problems as girls.
- Boys are 1.5 times more likely to have delayed development.
- Boys make up 80-90% of school discipline referrals.
- Two-thirds of all D’s and F’s are made by boys.
- Boys are suspended two times as often as girls.
- Boys have to repeat kindergarten at twice the rate girls do.
- Boys commit suicide at 4 times as much as girls.
- Boys are incarcerated 8 times as much as girls.
