2-2 Journal: Raising a Teen Kristy Taylor PSY 322 November 5th, 2023
The development of my "virtual teen" Rachel has been severely impacted by a variety of factors throughout her transition from childhood into adolescence. I am a product of my own environment and unfortunately, I was raised in a constant state of "fight or flight" and endured quite a bit of trauma in my childhood. I know that I want to raise Rachel in a healthy, loving and supportive environment, one that will only harbor and manifest positivity for her. From the time that Rachel was born to the age of 10, she has always been much more of an introvert and tends to like playing alone in social situations. Although I love how attached she is to her parent's, it has created a concern of how it may affect her late in life in different environments and social situations. Throughout reading our chapters this week, this excerpt stood out to me," ... proper socialization can lead to self-regulation and a proper preparation in adolescents" (Arnett, 2013). When Rachel entered Pre-Kindergarten, her teacher observed her hesitance in socializing and interacting with her peers. Her teacher noticed that Rachel would observe her classmates during activities and would take an extended amount of time to interact with the other children. Although she would eventually warm up to the idea and would reluctantly join in. As her parent, this concerned me and made me do further research to try and figure out how we could best support her. As a parent it is our job to expose our children to different social situations and settings, not only to teach them how to interact with peers, but to promote self-growth and self- love. "Exercises that promote self-expression, identity, and self-worth, as well as providing a safe space for children to express themselves, diet and nutrition, physical activity, health and safety, sleep, communication about stress or other issues, and respect for personal space is all crucial during this formative period" (Morin, 2020). I started to introduce Rachel to different
activities such as different playgrounds, team sports, girl scouts and theater, by doing so it encouraged her to build connections with peers and help her develop social skills. My only hope in providing her with different opportunities was to help her find a sense of belonging and more so, a sense of community filled with support. Throughout my own childhood I was constantly around my mother that was not only an addict but also was an undiagnosed bipolar woman with so much unresolved trauma of her own that had never been faced. Due to the toxic and unhealthy environment that I was raised to take on the extra role of a second parent in my single parent household. I was responsible from the age of 10 to care for my two younger brothers and it caused me to fully disconnect from spending time with friends outside of school. When Rachel was born, I knew right