Teenagers

     For fifteen years, I have been administering with teenagers from various nationalities and social classes. So far my experiences are always the ones that makes me richer and wiser (so to speak!). Every working encounter with them is a unique. The encounters might bring additional wrinkles or smiles but in the end, they are all worth keeping and remembering. I can always say that all this privelege is  a true opportunity that I have been emjoying in every moment of my life.

     It is a opportunity because not everyone finds joy in the midst of raucous and chaos of these happy go lucky creatures. Not everyone could also stretch their patience to answer the never ending questions about a lot of simple and complicated things that they found amusing. Not everyone has a thorough understanding how complex the possibilities of their weird thinkings. Could I say, I have done and obtained all these  necessary things? My answer is a definite yes! Is there a secret to uncover in order to do such thing? None--- there is no secrets.

     The key element of understanding and dealing with teenagers lies within the technical knowledge of understanding the process of brain development. Knowing that brain continuos to grow from birth up to 20 will bring light on how to deal with the growing children and adolescents in a proper way. The brain development does not only mean the acquisition of experiences to promote maturity but it centers on the fact that during this development, brain grows in size. How does the growth in size affects the dynamics of children and adolecents thinking and adults responding to them?

     Together with progressing size of a brain comes the development of other regions that will be incharge in various functions.  Therefore, it is logical to know that there are things that teenagers and children can not grasp totally because of the possibility that their faculty is not yet ready and equip to process such concept. No matter what, the truth is they just can not get it because they simply can not yet. With these truth comes a notion that children and adolescents "acting as adults" is a big fallacy.

     By knowing this reality, parents and teachers will be able to understand that from age to 20 these young people need adults proper guidance to let them prosper day by day. It is also very helpful to figure out how to deal with the young generation properly and how to address their concerns accordingly. It will also bring some realization that calling youngs as childen and teens and calling parents adults has a very wide technical gap that defines the roles they should perform.

     Lastly, parenting and teaching requires techincal knowledge and education. It is not an instinct that will come naturally. It is something that needs preparation and education. This is a big challenge that everyone must recognize because our world is not only fast changing. It moves faster towards modernization, technology, fashion and even in the process of making decisions. Are teenagers hard to understand? Again, my answer is NO. However, parents and teachers must realize that parenting and teaching is not only a responsibility to provide needs but also an accountability to keep educating oneself in order to deliver the goods.

LOVE: Simple yet Complex

      Love never considers an option. It is always a decision to be made and a commitment to be accomplished. It never sets conditions. It requires acceptance and letting go. It never recognizes any boundaries. It stands the test of time. Most of all, it survives through living with others without expecting perfection.
    At times it is confusing, that's why LOVE requires time. Time to heal the wounds of broken expectations. Time to explore the mysteries and possibilities hidden behind its pillar. Time to nourish the budding seed into maturity. Most of all, time to savour the joys and pains it might bring.
    Whatever it takes, no one losses in Love. It always offers its abundance as gain. In some occasions, it might not work but surely it will open a moment of learning that will lead to maturity. It might not work the way we wanted it to be. Maybe because it has its own way of doing things and finding its way to life. In the end one thing is sure, the dynamics of love remain constant however, the formula is something to be worked on constantly by everyone. It might vary that is why love remains a mystery to be discovered everyday.