Parents are Not Buddies to their Adolescent Children

By Leon Hoffman, MD

 

20% of teens say they used drugs with their mom or dad.

Parents have to be parents, not be "buddies," and have to set limits for their adolescents (who are not adults, after all).

This is something that many parents often forget.

It is important that parents remember that there is a difference between "setting limits" and "punishment."

LIMIT SETTING is for the adolescent's benefit. With limits, the adolescent will:

• learn to better modulate and master his/her unpleasant feelings.

• increase his or her capacity to differentiate between words and actions.

• learn to develop internal controls of his/her actions.

• ultimately will feel safer because he/she will feel protected by the parents.