Many of today’s parents do not know how to teach their teens responsibility. It can be a very tricky situation to handle, especially when your teen asks for more responsibility and/or privileges than you feel he or she is ready to handle. Parents often worry about giving their child too much responsibility and that their teen may abuse it or succumb to peer pressure to abuse their newfound responsibility by taking shortcuts. Below are several ways to dish out duty to your teen that may not be as difficult as you fear. Remember that the ultimate goal is to prepare your child for self-care when he or she comes of age and leaves home.
The first way to assign responsibility is to set up a curfew. This is something that many teenagers abuse if they can. It is also something that parents often blackmail their children with. Neither of these approaches works well for either party. You should set an early curfew to start with, and if your teen is loyal to it and respects it, then you can extend the time for another hour or two. It would be wise to base it on the amount of trust you have in your teenager. Make sure that you set up these rules with your teenager, talking them through first, before the curfew is put into action.
The second action you may perform is to give your child a house key. This does not mean just a key to your car or the house. It can be a key to just about anything. If you want to play safe, you can start with something harmless, like a freezer or shed. If your teen proves to be good at following the guidelines you set up in the first place, move up to something larger, like the house. If your child abuses this duty by losing, forgetting, or handing the key to a friend, take away the key and make him or her earn it back.
The third step to giving your child responsibility is to give him or her charge over an area of the house. This will show how mature your child is by the way that he cares for that area. If he keeps it clean and tidy, then you know that he is responsible enough for larger tasks. If that area is not very clean and you have to keep issuing reminders, you will know that your teen needs to mature a bit before you can grant more responsibilities.
These indicators are a surefire way to see if your child is maturing with enough sense to manage his life. When your child can competently manage these preliminary responsibilities, you can gradually add more. These do not only help your child with accountability issues, they build integrity and character. If your child’s household training is based on a hard work ethic, your teen will succeed in life as well as in responsibility. It is up to you to help pave the way for your child’s success in life.
