There are four types of friendships in the world we live in: ones that never happen, ones that never last, ones that last for a short time, and those that last forever. The route a friendship takes solemnly depends on its basis. Social life is crucial to teens since it’s at this stage lasting relationships are built. As a parent, you will be doing your child a favor if you let them spend time with their friends. While doing this, keep in mind friendships can either build or break a person especially cause of peer pressure. Hence it’s more important to know what kind of friends you teen hangs out with. How often should a teenage hang out with friends should with friends is a common question that many parents find themselves asking.

Honestly, there is no specific answer to the question: how often should a teenage hang out with friends. Life happens in stages and all these changes do impact the time teens can spend together. Apart from that, hanging out with friends also depends on how socially active a teen is. The more socially active they are, the more they will hang out with friends; vice versa.

 Some teens step away from peer pressure. With these kinds of teens, they might be socially active but when it comes to things associated with peer pressure, they take a step backward and don’t hang out with their friends. As a parent, don’t be alarmed, be proud of yourself that you brought up your kid the right way. That is, a kid who is able to know what they want for themselves. On average, teens should hang out with friends at least once per week.

How Often Teenagers Should be Allowed to Go Out

Teenagehood is a stage that parents should be careful about how they treat their children. At this point, a child can easily be broken or molded perfectly into a desirable person. When it comes to allowing teens to go out, it’s important to be aware of the kind of people that will be with and exactly where they are going. It would not be okay to let your teens go out when you know very well they are dong to do hard drugs.

Allowing a teen to go out depends on where they are going and what they are planning on doing. The answer to these questions might not be available since they might even lie. To enjoy, teens should be allowed to go out at least twice a month which depends on their behavior. If they show signs of abusing drugs and alcohol or doing something wrong, grounding this is the best feasible action to take.

Teenagers are hard to control and being ever behind their back is tiresome. It’s essential to develop a healthy relationship with your teen from a young age. Through this, you will be able to interact with them and they will be open to you and in a position to trust you not because you are their parent, but because they see you as a friend also. While deciding to let a teen go out, keep in mind they are not yet responsible adults. Even if you believe they cannot make an immature decision due to peer pressure, have an open mind.

Related Post: how to motivate a teenager who doesn’t care

How Much Time Should Parents Spend with Their Teenagers

A parent-teen relationship starts from the early stages of the child and the different ways of improving it needs to be adopted. Children need to be nurtured in the right way. This calls for a parent’s dedication in the process as much as they try to make ends meet each day. Spending time with teens is very important as it helps in bonding, which is perhaps the best thing you can have with a child.

Teens should spend quality time with their parents and both should create time for one another. There are things that teens go through that they can only be open enough to discuss with their parents if they are used to having chit-chats with them. Parents should spend as much time as possible with their teens. Teens have a lot of things happening in their lives since they are still discovering themselves.

The journey of self-discovery is not smooth at all and teens might feel like they don’t fit in anywhere. Parents have been through it and they made it. Because of this, they should guide their teens and help them get on their feet if they fall. Even if it means eating dinner together, going to the mall, park, or doing shopping together, the benefits that come from spending time with teens are unexplainable. The benefit I not only short-term but long-term as well.

Things to Keep in Mind Regarding Teens and Friendships

One thing that should be at the back of our minds is that maturity doesn’t come with age, it comes with life experiences. Indeed, teens are not yet responsible adults but what a teen might have been through, might have made them adults. Without putting this possibility into the picture, there are things to keep in mind regarding teens and friendships.

1. Parental Guidance and Relationship Should be a Priority 

As a parent, don’t forget to make parental guidance and relationship a priority. If this doesn’t happen, Your relationship with your child slowly begins to deteriorate and the two of you might end up being far apart and not even being able to bond or communicate as you used to. Teens need to be guided, importantly by their parents, not anyone else.

2. Solid Direction is Required 

Teens might easily be influenced by their friends and end up doing things they might regret. They are not the only ones who will regret it, as a parent, you will also regret seeing what’s happening to your child and the fact that you could do something about it but you didn’t. Solid direction should be provided to teens by their parents or mentors. Once they are shown the right direction, they will be good to go.

3. Don’t Forget About School and Skills Development

Skills development is more effective in teenagers as they are open-minded and able to conceptualize multiple things at a go. As much as they love hanging out with their friends, they should also keep their school and skills development in check. These two will be of more help to them in the long term hence parents should encourage them to take them seriously.

Final Thoughts

Hanging out with friends does matter whether a person is an introvert or an extrovert. Even introverts have friends with whom they would even decide to be hanging out together each day. Being socially active is good and setting ground rules is even better as parents. This is because you will have confidence that your teen is not going out to misbehave or do something they will end up regretting. Let honesty drive your parent-teen relationship and you will be off to a great start.  

A teen might decide not to hang out with friends because they are self-aware. In such cases, listen to their perspective and support them as they will be able to make better decisions if they are aware they have your support as a parent.