De tradus. Urgent!!! Teenagers and how to survive them. The two-hour class is well under way.Most of the students are eagerly listening , some are actively participating,a few shift uneasily in their seats.They are taking a class on skills for adolescence. Their average age is thirtyeight.
Thirty-eight?Surely you don't need skills for adolescence at that age?The teacher,Jene Ashby,disagreea.She's running a course for parents of teenage children.She believes that caring for teenagers demands special tactics."For some it is an innate skill,she says,'but others find it difficult.'She strongly suggests that those parents should go on the course. Angry quarrels often arise in families when differencces in lifestyle come between parents and their teenage children.'I'd like my son to wear proper clothes when we go out. But hid idea of nice clothes is a pair of jeans,on oversize T-shirt and scruffy trainers!' Mrs Ashby recommends talking to teenagers properly ,not lije little children.Conflicts should be discussed in an ordered, unemotional way.Giving children clear reasons for your demands could defuse a potentially explosive situation:'Because I say so' ,for example ,is unlikely to be accepted as a valid argument. Teaching parents has its difficulties.Parents often have little time and energy,and teaching them requires lots of tact.The first course failed after Mrs Ashby wrote to parents suggesting that they should go on the course to"help with problems in the family".Not wating to admit to problems,nobody came."That's why she now calls the course 'Skills for adolescence".