Free Parent Group at Smithtown Library

Parenting comes with many challenges and rewards, but can be downright scary when dealing with a challenging adolescent. Power struggles, revenge cycles, and inability to effectively consequence teenage behaviors are common complaints of parents. Many of us made some questionable choices (at best) in our own teenage years. How does that impact our ability to effectively handle similar behaviors from our teenage children? Some parents feel that they have to excuse their child’s behavior to avoid feeling like a hypocrite, while others come down harder on their children in an effort to prevent them from repeating their own mistakes. These differing approaches can often put parents at odds with each other, taking the focus completely off of the teens.

Many of the scenarios that today’s teens are facing are age - old problems, faced by every generation of teens: bullying, fitting in, self expression, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol. While the nature of the problems are similar, the degree of the problem has changed significantly. Subjects that used to be considered taboo are regularly thrown in the faces of our children, leaving parents feeling ill equipped. Today’s technology allows for youth to be reached at any time of day or night, work or school, home or vacation. Our children no longer have a safe haven to escape these pressures and just be kids.

This group provides parents with an opportunity to talk to each other about the world our teenagers are living in today, and how we can best help them and ourselves to navigate this difficult stage.

The group will be facilitated by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Parent Educator. It will be held at the Main Branch of the Smithtown Library at 7pm on Thursdays, October 16, 23, & 30th. Call or visit the Library website (www.smithlib.org) to register. Hope to see you there!