Don't Forget! Covid's Tough on your Teens too!

Covid, it's hard on your children too. Especially, your preteens and teenagers. And, yes, Covid's added a lot of wear-and-tear on you and your business. But it's still probably tougher on your kids and they don't want to burden you.

Not having access to their natural mixed-up belonging (school and other social venues), is really messing with teenage hardwiring.

Lately, I'm hearing from teachers, principals, and clients with teenage children. We've all seen the uptick in #teensuicide. They might be having a harder time than you think.

• Often they're in distance mode in their own efforts for autonomy.

• Neural biologically their peer group is shifting from family to friends.

• In their newly moving into formal operational thinking, there's far less comfort for them, in what we as adults think is normal and can deal with.

In their struggle to belong and be autonomous, they've lost the social network that their brains crave for being healthy with their new peers. (Well, as healthy as a teenager can be 🤔😉.)

In their struggle to reach out and connect with new peers, they're constrained significantly to being with the family of origin. Think of it as never being able to get a large enough social breath.

In their newfound brain capacity, they have the ability to form counterarguments on the fly in their own mind at 4000 words a minute. If you're wondering, it's why they have 19 arguments in an instant. But, they don't get to engage in normal middle school behavior that helps them learn how to navigate disagreement in the more healthy resolved ways.

To be successful in these three areas, requires them actually to be with their peers. Weaving in and out of belonging. And we know they're not getting to, because it also happened to our businesses. But we're adults, with practiced formal operational brains. And they're trying to figure it out.

Remember, they're not quite adults yet, and, their world where they would painfully test and find their own belonging, it's unfamiliar and a bigger mess.

Just some thoughts from a former child-development counselor and high school teacher.

Thanks for reading.

Jenny K. thanks for your thoughtful comment on Melissa Hughes, LinkedIn post. Reminded me I wanted to voice this here on LinkedIn a few weeks ago.