quote:

Originally posted by VoiceofReason:
First, I should let you know that I am a parent. I also talk to thousands of kids each year about drug prevention. One of my major focuses is on this very question. Most kids I talk to tell me that their parents do not listen to them and that their parents do not understand what they (the kids) are going through.

I think adults should still give kids some privacy and stop buting into their kids lives all the time. They have to learn from their mistakes and move on. It is trial and error, they are still learning. Give them a break once and a while.

There are a couple of very important issues here. First, most parents do know what their kids are going through. Contrary to popular belief, most of us parents did not come into this world as adults. Most of us did go through school, did have issues with puberty, did have issues with boyfriends/girlfriends, did have issues with possible drug use, did have issues with peer pressure, did have problems with our parents, and so-on. The problem with us parents is that we have forgotten what it's like to be your age.

Example: When I talk with middle school and high school kids, I always ask them what their biggest fears about going from 5th grade to 6th grade (grade school to middle school) was. Most kids talk about fitting in, drugs, violence, and dating. I tell them that the two biggest fears of most 5th graders are getting stuffed in a wall locker by a bully, and forgetting the locker combination. When I tell them that, a lot of the kids start laughing and tell me that I am correct; they forgot about that. Interesting how just a few years can cause kids to forget what it was like being in grade school. Imagine how much an adult has forgotten about being in school!! If that is the case, then maybe kids need to try to understand what adults are going through.

There are very few good excuses for not listening to our kids, but parents do have a lot of things to deal with. When I tell my kids to do something and they don't, everyone chalks it up to being a kid. I understand this, but I also tell kids that they have a responsibility to help parents learn how to listen to them. When you get home from school and your parents ask you how school was and what you did, don't answer with "nothing". When they ask you about your friends, don't lie or try to be deceitful if your friends are into bad things (such as drugs). Most parents do care about their kids. Many times kids want their parents to be their friends, and allow them to do what they want, and that is not how it should be. You can be friends with your parents when you are a grown up, but now it's your parents responsibility to help you grow up with a minimal amount of stress and problems.

In general, kids are more concerned with social issues, i.e., fitting in or worrying about what other think of them. Most kids are not worried about what their grades will do for them when college comes around. Most kids are not worried about what career they will have? Parents are the ones who are worried about this.

I know that many of you will see a lot of faults in this, but again, if you think your parents are not listening to you, ask yourself if you are really listening to them. If you are not, then how can you expect them to listen to you? You need to talk with them and help them to learn how to listen to you. It may not always work, but it's a good start.

quote:

Originally posted by clpo13:
Every time I see this thread, I just want to say no in answer to the title question.

Also, no activity for three weeks doesn't make a thread dead. A thread needs to be inactive for at least a couple months before being good and dead.

quote:

Originally posted by sweetiepie20:
Please stop reviving old threads.

And i think that it's just as much the kids fauldt as the parents. but that's just my opinion.