Blog

How To Keep Your Teenager Out Of Trouble This Summer

If left to their own devices, a teenager may manage to find trouble in the most unexpected places.  Sometimes teenagers have poor judgment.   Sometimes they just do stuff because they think it will be fun. They rarely think about the possible negative consequences or outcomes before they act.

So, if you want to keep your teen out of trouble during the summer, it’s best to keep them busy. Too much free time can sometimes leads to foolish behavior, especially when a teen is in a group of 5 or more other teenagers.  Much better to keep them busy and give them some free time, but not so much that they find themselves bored or acting on impulse.

1. Require that your teenager find a summer job. Require your teenagers to have some sort of summer job, either something like the local fast food joint, or a store or camp. Babysitting, dog walking or cutting grass are also good summer jobs, if the teenager has enough clients and is kept busy.
2. Expect your teenager to “turn over” some of their summer salary to you for savings. Get a small notebook or create a spreadsheet online.  Keep a record of how much money your teen is saving for items such as:  their future apartment, a car, college costs, travel or some other big event in their future life. Remind them that you are saving the money for them and it will be given back to them later in life (and then be sure that you do so).
3. Schedule family activities. Schedule fun family events. Plan a day each week to get outside and do some nature activities together such as biking, walking or running, visiting national parks, gardening or some other outdoor sports or games.  Get tickets for the theater, a music event or a sporting event several times during the summer. Choose something the entire family will enjoy and book ahead so the family has time to anticipate the event.
4. Do good deeds as a family. Teach your teenager the value of giving back or volunteering their time.
5. Think about summer educational opportunities. Some schools, colleges and community colleges offer summer programs for teenagers and may even offer scholarships.  Your teen may enjoy learning about an unusual topic or more about a future career.
6. Consider encouraging your teen to take a sports lesson or practice an activity such as swimming, dancing, tennis.
7. Encourage your teen to take a ‘social media’ break periodically.  Too much time spent on social media, especially by a bored teen, can lead to trouble.
8. Cook with your teenager. Perhaps an evening spent preparing food and then barbequing outdoors would be an opportunity for your teen to master the grill and for you to relax and enjoy the view.

Whatever you do, being proactive and keeping teenagers’ minds busy will help your teenagers have a great summer.