How to help your daughter deal with the pressures of being a tween:
- It’s tough being a boy but when it comes to the pressures of being a tween, girls definitely have it worse. Girls today feel they have to be good at:
- All the traditional girl stuff (look pretty, be nice, be popular with boys)
- Most of the traditional guy stuff (be athletic, win awards)
- Conform to an unrealistic set of standards (doing it all, effortlessly, while still looking great).
This pressure to be ‘perfect’ can be particularly confusing for tween girls. Kids under twelve don’t have the same perspective as teens so they can be puzzled by the expectations.
It’s important for mums to remember that family matters. It may seem as though your tween only really has time for her friends, but it’s not true.
Eat dinner as a family whenever you can or just hang out together. Why not go for a family bike ride, take a trip to the cinema or have a family games night? This will result in her feeling more connected, and that's key for strengthening her resilience and self-esteem.
Give your tween or teen daughter a sense of the wider world. Make sure she knows there is more to life than her friends and school. Why not get her involved in community service? Helping others will increase her sense of empathy and let her know that the outside world is as important as the one at school.
