P.O.W.E.R. Strategy for Parenting Teens
The Acronym Advises an Approach for Overseeing Adolescent Growth
Apr 24, 2009
P.O.W.E.R. Parenting Style, is an acronym standing for:
- Parenting Skills
- Observe Your Teen
- Who, What, Where and When
- Encourage Your Teen
- Revisit Monthly
The list of phrases gives parents an intelligent queue of items to take to task when parenting teenagers.
A Brief Review of the Parenting Skills and Observation of Your Teenager
To begin, parents should invest time in learning parenting skills. The expertise of parenting comes not only from experience, but also from an ongoing review of new social trends, dangers and fads going on in the teenager's world.
Next, in observing your teen, simply means spending time being aware of your teenager both at home and at school. Parents are also advised to keep a careful eye on their teenager's responsibilities such as homework, extracurricular participation and any home chore duties. Parents should also observe their teens for problems including emotional issues and check in on the teens physical development.
Observing the teenager also includes parents interacting with the teen in daily activities and one two-hour session with the focus on doing something entertaining with teenager. This might include an outing, a family game night or pursuing one of the teenager's interest with them.
The Four W's of the POWER Approach
The Who, What, Where, and When portion of the POWER phrase stand for the four questions a parent should ask each time their teenager goes out with a peer, a group of friends or even with other adults. The approach advises that the teen failing to have answers to any of these questions gives parents a red flag. The questions are designed to help parents carefully consider everything from casual outings to planned events.
Who refers to the people involved. Parents should have the names and phone numbers of everyone participating and a way to contact parents.
What and where refer to the purpose and location of the event. If teenagers cannot describe the location and function clearly, parents should be cautious. In addition, parents should also have a phone number of where their teen will be visiting or another contact method. If parents have any concerns, they should feel free to call the event location.
When is an important part of the decision parents must consider before giving consent. If the parent is not available to be contacted during the event or outing, the teenager should have another number to reach a responsible adult. Also, a family calendar should be kept for planning and plotting everyone's events.
Encouraging Teens and Revisiting Skills Monthly
In the encouraging teen component, Horizons focuses on the research showing parental encouragement is crucial for teenagers in developing positive self-esteem, achieving higher grades in school and having more effective and supportive peer group relations. This research is drawn heavily from Steinberg's textbook Adolescence [McGraw-Hill, 2005].
Finally, revisiting the list monthly keeps the strategy fresh on parents' minds. The revisiting of the list helps parents to consider how effective their parenting approach is in the face of the evolving teenage culture. Because of the instant availability of information today via the Internet, YouTube and other outlets, teen concerns quickly change, as do danger zones for the teenager. Parents can only hope to stay abreast of these trends by setting aside a scheduled time to review both their parenting style but the issues facing their teenagers.
The POWER Parenting Style is simple way of remembering some of the more important topics to consider in rearing teenagers. It provides a signpost for dealing with the day to day business of parenting teens.
 |
