Adolescence (12-18)

How important have your teen’s relationships with peers been to his/her social development, emotional well-being and school achievement from 14-18 years of age?

Olivia has great relationships with her peers. She has been developing an abstract understanding of people and personalities. She was involved in student leadership, and was an active leader in many of her school clubs. This has been a really important part of her social development, emotional well-being, and school achievement. It has taught her responsibilty and gave her a sense of independence. She worked very hard in school during this time, earning many A's and only a few B's. When she experiences situations with her friends and peers that cause her to be upset, she is able to use appropriate coping mechanisms and gets through the situation healthily and safely.

• Describe one change in your child’s thinking (e.g., changes in humor, abstract thinking, or theory of mind) and discuss how this might be affecting his or her interactions with you & your responses and his or her interactions with peers.

She is starting to see other people's points of view. One time after talking to some classmates on the bus about topics such as religion and politics, she came home and wanted to talk some more with me about it. She is beginning to see that there are points of view that differ from her own. She also is starting to express her own morals and ideas as well. This could potentially change the peers that she hangs out. She may decide that she does not want to be around people who have significantly different views than her if it goes against her morals. It is my hope that she embraces many differences and uses the experiences she has to learn from them. As a parent, I would hope that these changes would encourage her to talk to me and we could begin to have engaging conversations about such topics.