Raising A Good Teenager

In today's society it is hard to raise a teenager. There are so many barriers that stand in the way. Parents have to find ways to knock down the barriers to get to their teenagers. Some of the barriers are technology, entertainment and other kids. 
Technology can be a barrier because it takes the attention of the teenager. Cell phones and the internet are the most popular ways teenagers communicate with each other. The parent of the teenager can communicate with them through the internet. For example, sending the teenager a nice email from time to time about different topics can help open the lines of communication. Also texting the teenager messages is a good way to communicate. A lot of people will think this is a little crazy and can just talk to their teenager in person, which is fine. However, consider the many other kids that text your teenager often. They are sending notes about who likes them and what they are doing at that moment. The parents should be able to send the teenager texts expressing their love and feelings as well. This is a good way to get the attention of the teenager and giving them the opportunity to express themselves back. Sometimes it is easier for a teenager to write down or text their feelings about things. 
Spend real time with the teenager and not just in front of the television or a movie but doing things to get to know each other. Even time together in the car can be more productive to communication if the radio is left off. It seems like from the time puberty starts a young person is constantly changing. Teenagers change their minds more than adults because they are trying to figure out who they are. That is the reason why some kids play more then one sport and join several activities at school to discover what they like. Parents could try to schedule one-on-one time with each teenager as much as possible. It does not have to be anything expensive or extravagant all though the teenager would like to do that all the time. It could be going for a nice walk in the park or on a picnic. 
Another good way to raise a teenager is to get to know their friends and when possible the parents of their friends. It is important to know who they hang out with because eventually they will influence each other. The influence around the teenager has to be good so that the nice personality traits of one teenager will rub off on the other. Teenagers, whether they admit it or not, try to keep up with each other and impress each other. Therefore they need good friends to keep each other on the right track. 
Raising a good teenager requires the parents to be thoroughly involved in their life. The parents should not be naive to think that everything is always fine in a teenager's world; although that is the answer they always give when they are asked. Going into the world of a teenager and directing them on the right path is a great way to raising a good teenager.