Younger teenagers find it difficult to structure their own time in general and free time in particular. On the other hand, teenagers are happy to participate in the activities of various interest groups. These can be sports sections, clubs, studios. It is important to help them to orientate themselves and find a suitable organization. Older teenagers prefer to organize their own leisure time. However, if they like any activity, they are happy to dedicate all their free time to it, so it often happens if it is connected with creative and "adult" work. For example, they enjoy volunteering in public organizations.
The more teenagers are engaged in purposeful activities, the less problems they have outside of school. But in any case, independent structuring of leisure time is directly connected with how much the interests of a teenager are realized, how active he is and what his creative possibilities are. The less creativity is developed, the more difficult it is for a teenager to come up with interesting leisure time, the more his interests are, the more he is subject to boredom, and thus to the desire to avoid it in any way, even destructive. In this case, the choice of free classes is always given preference to those that are associated with communication.
It turns out that spending free time is directly related to the personal and social development of the teenager. It is through leisure time he gets experience and personally grows. That's why the help in the organization of leisure activities for teenagers is of great importance and, strangely enough, remains a rather difficult task.
The main questions facing adults who want to help teenagers to spend time outside of school and at home are the following:
- What is of most interest to this particular teenager (son, daughter, member of my group)?
- How to make leisure activities not only useful but also interesting, exciting, fun (and not even a hint of boring activities like lessons)?
- How can these interesting and fun activities be used to create the conditions to meet the basic needs of the young person - in communication, acceptance and support, in experiencing new feelings, feelings and experiences, in wanting to take risks (only reasonably!) and compete, in self-assertion and in gaining respect and recognition?
What is the challenge?! Not from simple, but there are many variants of its solution. These are hiking tours, various creative competitions (not necessarily related to school subjects), games, shows, etc. One of such creative, interesting, fun and useful activities can become a variety of social and psychological training, if, of course, they are held by the same creative, funny, interesting people. In general, an adult who does not know how to be interesting, fun and creatively rests, is unlikely to teach this to children. Maybe these issues should first be solved for themselves?
A teenager's self-identification begins with a desire to push back the usual system of values of their parents. This is the beginning of the psychological separation from the family. Despite the frightening trends, this desire - a normal period of growing up. Without such a complex and in general a really dangerous period, it is impossible to become any person. Parents must be prepared for it and must learn to separate the desire for peace from the true help of an adult friend, who allows the teenager to take risks, but always close by, can stop (when the degree of risk is not just a "bump in the bumps", but serious consequences) and help to get out of a difficult situation. This is the true support of parents.
If parents, obeying their fears (which, of course, always have a real basis), try to strengthen their power over the teenager, they risk much more - they risk losing contact with their child forever and completely lose the opportunity to influence him. In another case, they may finally get a fully submissive child, who will remain so for life. Then the parents' peace of mind will be achieved at the cost of the collapse of the full life of the son (daughter).
