Some kids have a hard time with getting their priorities in line or with planning ahead to make sure that the important things are taken care of. Sometimes putting ourselves in their shoes or even going back to the day when we were young, and just remembering how hard things were, can help us be more understanding and more patient. Issues in life seemed much bigger than we see them now. The reality is that youth don’t have the wisdom that adults have so, some things may seem hopeless to them, but as adults we can see how simple it is. How sad for an adult to forget what it was like to be a youth and fail to remember their own faults and struggles, so they have no problem with condemning and ridiculing youngsters who desperately need more from them. If there is a youth placed in your path, go back in time and treat this child as you would have desired to be treated at their age. The most effective way to encourage a youth to try harder in that area that they struggle in, is to believe in them. Don’t humiliate them; don’t announce to the world their failures. Encourage them, be there for them, try to help in any way that you can. What if they keep repeating the same mistake? Keep believing in them anyway! There should be no limit to your encouraging words. It may take one mistake for a youth to learn his lesson, for others it may take repeating this same mistake dozens of times, at any rate, to you; it shouldn’t change your view of them. If you are consistent in believing in them, eventually they too will begin to believe in themselves. If you truly want to help them, then be patient and let them grow in their timing.
Parenting 