How can we help support young people in our community

AUSTRALIAN Psychology Society president, Dr Sara Quinn MAPS GAICD, spoke to us about some of the challenges facing youths today, and the challenges parents may face in dealing with wayward youths. It’s a complex situation, but the ability to ask questions and to listen goes a long way.

How can parents best support their children when they are showing behavioural issues?

If you as a parent are concerned that your child might be engaging in those behaviours, it’s important to approach the situation yourself with a calm, curious, supportive approach. That attitude of curiosity goes a long way in order to approach that conversation in a way that’s going to be helpful for the child. We know that when a child is acting out or distracted, experiencing conflict at school or with their peers, falling behind in their education, having trouble relating to their peers, there could be a range of health, learning or psychosocial factors at play. There is not just one thing and it’s important that parents and caregivers have open and honest conversations with their child and help them really get both to the bottom of why that might be happening, but also to understand what sorts of support you might need to deal with the underlying causes of their behaviour. What we want to do is avoid threats and other reactions.

Where a consequence is actually required for behaviour, ensure that it’s appropriate for the context and for the person’s level of development, and we want it to ideally incorporate a positive learning experience or a restorative approach, so help them learn how to do things differently.

We’ve got a lot of psychologists in our schools, who are best placed to help some young people navigate those complexities in relationships and investigate the underlying causes. It also sometimes is helpful for the young person to have someone that might be independent from their parents or caregiver to have that conversation with, if it’s too difficult for them and their parents at the time.

Do you suggest that following the conversation they may be get in touch with the school or local psychological services?

I would say it’s when we see the behaviour of some young people, it’s a community that needs to respond. We often know that young people are in this time in their lives, especially in adolescence, where they start to rely more on their peers and their friendships more than they do on their parents. And that’s a really important part of their development. Parents and caregivers might not be the ones that actually are able to provide them with all of the support that they need. So enlisting the support of the school, the school psychologist, maybe even ensuring that you perhaps are having conversations with your children’s friends parents, maybe doing something like that. It’s a community approach as well.

How can parental control versus encroaching adulthood be balanced?

This is a tough one for many parents. Ultimately, the key is to balance being supportive and…