subject: The Ill Effects Of Poverty To Relationship Between Teens And Their Parents, According To West Ridge [print this page] West Ridge Academy can help families deal with the adverse effects of poverty on their relationship.
Poverty makes it hard for families to focus on maintaining a close relationship as most family members would be pre-occupied with how to beat the odds and just basically finding out ways to survive on a daily basis.
For families with teenagers in their household, this scenario can even be more complicated. Teenagers often cannot relate to the depth of their family's poverty and how it works from a macro perspective for them and their family.
Teenagers and Poverty in the Family
When children hit their teenage years they go through one of the most exciting yet incredibly difficult periods in their life. It is normal for them to yearn for acceptance from their own family as well as from acquaintances at school and other social circles which they want to be a part of.
Teenagers often do silly things just to be accepted into a group, with added pressure from their peers. A teenager who is part of a poor family will definitely have difficulty relating to some of his peers who are financially better off.
For instance, the typical teenager and their strange relationship with that gadget which every teenager nowadays can't seem to go without: the cellphone. Many teenagers now use cellphones on a daily basis since its become a big part of teenage life. Just observe any group of teenagers around and you will surely find all of them either holding one or keeping it in their purse or bag. For a teenager whose family is poor, it's often difficult for them to acquire this gadget since their parents may prioritize other more urgent concerns where their meager income can be directed to.
A teenager might feel left out in this situation and may lash out at their parents for not providing them with a cellphone which they may perceive as a need in these times. The teenager is simply looking to fit in with others around them and gain acceptance. They dont see the expense of things such as a new cellphone. In a family with sufficient income purchasing a cellphone is not something to be fussed about, but for a family who is barely scraping by it could make the difference between eating three square meals a day and skipping one of the meals. Understandably, issues like this can cause some rift between teenagers and their parents.
Substance Abuse
Teenagers coming from a poor family sometimes are not able to distinguish being poor as the reason why their parents cannot give them the cellphone and not because their parents do not care for them. Actually, the parents could just be busy trying to eke out a living, maybe even working two to three odd jobs at a time just to make ends meet and try to provide for their family's basic needs. Oftentimes, the parents may be absent from their teenager's life most of the time, leaving him and his confused thoughts and emotions alone at home for extended stretches of time. This is a rife situation for teenagers to resort to vices such as drugs, alcohol, or such other forms of self-abuse. A teenager may do this to hurt their parents or to escape from the poverty at home. Teenagers who are suffering from these vices can seek help from institutions such as West Ridge Academy which will help the family get back on its feet as soon as possible.
Finding Support
For families dealing with teens who have succumbed to the ill effects of poverty to their relationships, there are support groups that can provide the support that they need. Often the family isnt capable of coping with this problem on their own, thus a support system is whats needed to bring the family back together again. Its not your fault that things are going wrong in your family, poverty is tough on everyone and we often hurt those we care about even though we really dont want to. By getting support and talking about your issues youll be better able to not only cope with poverty but see it through and become better in the process. Teenagers specifically need that critical support in dealing with their different issues in order for the family to bond together again.
West Ridge Academy can help families deal with sensitive issues such as substance abuse or poverty-related issues which can certainly affect the family dynamics.
