Although teenagers are no longer children, they should be guided on their decision making because if they are left to do so, they have no that ability of making sound decisions at times. In our case we can see some boundaries which are put in order to govern different teenagers by their families. According to the family of Sally, he has no set boundaries set by her parents. This is not appropriate because the child knows that he or she has freedom to do whatever they want at any time. It is only when the child asks for the permission that the parents provides them with some rules. This is not a good way of doing things. As for Mary, it is the best way to handle the situations. If the rules are set, there is no room set for violating them and that helps the parent and the children to have a common understanding thus enabling a smooth relationship, (Mullarkey, 2005).
When we come to Sam’s family, there are set rules which they govern the child decision making. Although rules are there, the parent gives the child a freedom of making decision so long as the family activities are not affected. This is not a good way to handle issues. This kind of setup is similar to that of Sally because it reaches a point where some rules are put in place because of circumstances and the issue at hand. The best thing a family should do is to provide clear boundaries so that when their children decide of doing things, they should know at what extent should they go or not. According to the boundaries set by these three different families, that of Mary’s is the best because whatever comes, there is no room for making changes, (Bottke, 2008).
Those three boundaries manifest them in different ways. When we look at the first boundary, there are no set rules and thus Sally had no worry of going out. Realizing that the movie was during the night, the family puts some rules which are not the best way to do things. With Mary’s family it is clear what should be done at any time. Although she is influenced by her friend, she does not force herself after being told that it was not possible. This is the best way and with this the child is able to know what boundaries she is supposed to go. Although Sam’s parent seems to be flexible, it is not the right way to deal with teenagers because they are still not mature enough to conduct themselves at some time of the day, (Mullarkey, 2005).
Children are not the same and that is the duty of the parent to know where they should put their children. Some children tend to misuse their freedom and thus parents have the duty of making boundaries where their children are not supposed to go. Mary being a girl child has to be given some protection and that is the reason as to why her boundaries got to room for violation. When we look at Sally’s family, they are people who go to bar and therefore setting rules to them is not important. It is better to provide some guidelines as to what should be done in order to protect teens from misbehaving or misusing their freedom, (Bottke, 2008).
Reference:
Bottke, A. (2008). Setting Boundaries with Your Adult Children: Harvest House Publishers
Mullarkey, P. (2005). All Teens Destined for Greatness: Xulon Press
