Do you know where they REALLY are?

As I was drinking my mocha this morning I was thinking about how often I hear teenagers sitting around discussing all the things they have done or things they were supposed to do.

We as parents drop our teenagers at an event and then later we call their cell phones or we text them to see how it is going, we get the standard response, “everything is great”. Later we go to pick them up right where we dropped them off and we do the “normal” thing by asking them how it was, did they enjoy it and we get the “typical” response, “Oh, it was good.” Most of the time we do not even realize that we are getting the limited details – I mean, come on! - We are talking about teenagers here!! We always get limited details!

I would like to hear from the teenagers out there, I would like them to participate in our poll found on this page: Do you often find yourself NOT telling your parents where you have really been or what you have really been doing?

I wonder how many teenagers tell us as parents where they really were or do they just conveniently not tell us because that way they do not feel like they are lying. Sometimes we get a partial truth which is enough to distort the truth.

How many of us adults really know what the word “deceit” means and have we taught it to our kids? Deceit means to lead into error, misleading or causing one to believe that which is false. Do our teenagers know that deceit is just as wrong as lying?

Parents, I am not advocating that all teenagers do this but for their own safety, how much information do we get before and after our teenagers go out. Why are we afraid to get details? Are we afraid that we will discover things that we didn’t know or are we afraid that they might get angry because we want to know so much? One thing I have learned as a parent, asking for the details from my teenagers does not mean that I don’t trust them, it means I care enough that I want to know where they are and what they are doing at all times because it is my responsibility to protect them.

Our part is to pay the bills, provide for them and we are the ones who are supposed to protect them from the outside world and warn them of the dangers of life. I also like to think of it this way, when we get old, they are the ones who will be running this country therefore it is our responsibility to mentor our teenagers and train them to be honest and loyal.

Teenagers please take our poll on the following website: www.womantalk.us

Parents write and let me know how you think together we can raise up responsible, honest and trustworthy teenagers.

Next week: “Hey Mom! I want a Tattoo!”
Signed,
Peppermint Mocha

peppermintmocha@chosen4action.com