Happy Life Studios Podcast

“You have no clue what is going on with me, you just don’t understand what I’m going through!” If you have been on the receiving end of a statement like that from an emotional teenager, then you know how much raw emotion and frustration can come with those words. That sounds like an over-exaggerated statement spoken out of severe frustration, but if your adolescent child is saying that to you, it is probably one of the most truthful things that has come out of their mouths since they turned thirteen.  Here is a common statement you may hear from the general public about teenagers; “it’s so difficult to be a teenager today.” While that is an accurate statement, most people stop there in their analysis because if we are honest, we really don’t know WHY it’s so hard. We all agree that things are getting tougher for teens seemingly every day, but very few of us have spent enough time in that world to really unpack what makes it so tough. We tend to project our own adolescent experience on to a generation that has