What was the best piece of advice you have given to a teenager?
- Thread starter Rack
- Start date
Wow this is deep….probably don't grow up to be a mechanic
Now we can break that down to two categories best advice you got…. and the best advice you followed
I only raised one child of my own. Seems like through a long time of coaching youth sports I have made an impression on a great many others, plus my friends who seemed to be at a loss with their own. I lost my father when I was pretty young and the influence he had over me was missed in several ways.
What I learned (seemed like it took forever, but 5 years is a long time when you started said learning at 13) was that who you pick as friends and associations was every bit as important as my father tried to make me see. So when my young friends reach high school I start subtly leaning on them to take a good look at who they associate with and start to distance themselves from the users and losers. As warm as a friendly relationship can be with some of them, the mental and financial burdens of "helping" those sorts along is too costly to most. So by 18 and you are on your own, off to college, off to a trade I tell them they need to be free of carrying someone else in any way shape or form. The one sentence suggestion is to pick your associations very carefully. More and more that includes family.
What I learned (seemed like it took forever, but 5 years is a long time when you started said learning at 13) was that who you pick as friends and associations was every bit as important as my father tried to make me see. So when my young friends reach high school I start subtly leaning on them to take a good look at who they associate with and start to distance themselves from the users and losers. As warm as a friendly relationship can be with some of them, the mental and financial burdens of "helping" those sorts along is too costly to most. So by 18 and you are on your own, off to college, off to a trade I tell them they need to be free of carrying someone else in any way shape or form. The one sentence suggestion is to pick your associations very carefully. More and more that includes family.
I've been struggling to figure out HOW to post something not what to post...
The way I see it and have experienced thus far is... it should but not always matter what advice is given because they want to learn things on their own many times being "learning the hard way". All 3 of my kids went that direction... makes the lives as parents more challenging to say the least depending on which direction they've chosen.
As parents you want the best for your child so you provide a loving, caring, supporting and structured environment for them to grow up in however it doesn't keep them from the outside world which many influences (many of those not good) take hold... leaving it up to the child to figure out the end result if he/she chooses to follow it rather than your advice.
With that said, the biggest advise came from my dad telling me "don't be like your brother" who is 7 years older than me... I got to experience many negative situations he was involved in outside as well as within our household. The majority of it being from within the house... it was his treatment towards my parents and what he put them through (mentally and financially) which is how I DID NOT pattern my life around.
So, to tell you what BEST piece of advice I can give a teenager... If life were seen with hind sight I'd say learn from your experiences... but because that isn't possible, the only thing I can say is what you said...
Everything you do today affects what you do in the future... no matter how old you are...
The way I see it and have experienced thus far is... it should but not always matter what advice is given because they want to learn things on their own many times being "learning the hard way". All 3 of my kids went that direction... makes the lives as parents more challenging to say the least depending on which direction they've chosen.
As parents you want the best for your child so you provide a loving, caring, supporting and structured environment for them to grow up in however it doesn't keep them from the outside world which many influences (many of those not good) take hold... leaving it up to the child to figure out the end result if he/she chooses to follow it rather than your advice.
With that said, the biggest advise came from my dad telling me "don't be like your brother" who is 7 years older than me... I got to experience many negative situations he was involved in outside as well as within our household. The majority of it being from within the house... it was his treatment towards my parents and what he put them through (mentally and financially) which is how I DID NOT pattern my life around.
So, to tell you what BEST piece of advice I can give a teenager... If life were seen with hind sight I'd say learn from your experiences... but because that isn't possible, the only thing I can say is what you said...
Everything you do today affects what you do in the future... no matter how old you are...
I don't just give advice to my boys. I let them see and know about all of the mistakes I have made and still make today. . They learn from all of mine. When I leave my home for anything I always bring at least one of my four boys With me. You never know what could be taught and learned on a simple trip to the grocery store and back.
Told My son the other day.
As soon as you can afford to stick $50 a pay check towards your retirement, do so and slap more as soon as you get a raise. The government won't be there for you when you retire and you shouldn't expect them to be
As soon as you can afford to stick $50 a pay check towards your retirement, do so and slap more as soon as you get a raise. The government won't be there for you when you retire and you shouldn't expect them to be
