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Teens in Eleventh Grade E-mail

Your teenager is now entering the upper-classmen in high school as a junior. Your child is quite comfortable with his physical growth and development. He may also be more familiar with conceptual thinking, which can be distinctly observed in the household as your teen may begin to confront certain set values or ideals.

College is near the corner
Another new issue which your teen has to deal with is college. If your child is seriously thinking about pursuing further studies, he may begin to feel the pressure of the nearing admission requirements for colleges and keeping up his grade point average to get into better schools. Admissions from colleges actually consider junior year and the earlier part of a teen’s senior year as an important gauge for the student’s academic prowess.

An Expanding Social Circle
Socially, juniors have reached a comfortable stage with one’s peers and may be making the most of whatever benefits they may receive from peer relations. Now, as most teens in eleventh grade will be equipped with their own driver’s licenses they may experience even more growth socially as they may also get to different places.

In terms of friendships, your teen may be in search of deeper and varied kinds of relationships with his peers. Many times your teenage may feel compelled to trust and open up more to his friends but at the same time feel apprehension towards who exactly he may open up to. This may also be the time wherein your child is searching for a “romantic partner.” Girls may be full of gossip about boyfriends while boys may be talking about who’s dating who.

Try not to feel bad if your teen comes home talking about clever words they may have heard from a teacher or other elder which match exactly what you have been telling them since the beginning. It’s normal for adolescents at this level to be inquisitive about the beliefs of those outside of their own families.

This is also a time when your child may hold on to romantic ideals in spite of the reality they may be dealing with. This can be difficult to witness for a parent. It’s beautiful to listen to someone who can believe in the wonder of existence despite the rough edges of daily life, but it can be hard to watch them struggle and learn lessons of life on their own. The identity of your teenager may be becoming more fully pronounced while at the same time he remains delicate. He is becoming aware of his passions and in recognizing them, searching for the means to fulfill their calls.

Significantly, this is also a time when your teen becomes aware of the “humanness” of specific members of his family. He may realize further how parents have their own issues as well. But it is important to make your teen feel that he has meaningful authority to look up to. This will keep him away from the kind of immature authority from peer pressure that can lead him to self-destructive activities.

 
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