Is the teen in your life starved for attention. affection and a sense of parents’ interest?
Middle-class and Upper-class families often suffer from “locomotive lifestyle” in which parents resemble a speeding locomotive, racing the clock while frantically striving to meet the demands of their career, social and personal life- while their kids end up feeling like the scenery that gets passed by blurred and barely noticed at all.
In today’s fast-paced world, both parents sometimes feel pressure to work full-time jobs, and some youths are left to fend for themselves after school, sometimes well into evening. Such times can leave a young person feeling lonely, afraid, and can also give opportunity for unwise and unhealthy pursuits.
A young person whose parents seem unconcerned or inattentive is likely to experience hurt, frustration, anger (sometimes resulting in bitterness and rage), as well as feelings of insecurity and loneliness. Reactions such as these may prompt many and various effects like low self-esteem, poor scholastic achievement, poor peer selection, poor social skills, inability to bond with others, rebellious behavior, drug and alcohol problems.
A teen who is hurting because of parental indifference or inattentiveness is likely to be in desperate need of an adult who will show interest and offer support; such care and concern will never replace the attention the youth desires from Mom and Dad, but it can certainly help, particularly if the adult responds to the youth in the following ways enumerated in this article.