Building Resilience & Relationship with your Teenager

“It takes a village to raise a child,” so says the old African proverb and an age-old wisdom.

As a result of the globalization trend and together with that, a rapid urbanization of the world’s population, “the village” has literally disappeared. In the urban society of the 21st century - despite living in an age of digital super-connectivity - with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, gaming, e-sport, etc - more of us are experiencing a growing sense of loneliness, isolation and disconnect.

This is the world where parents find ourselves in. Along with global competition, geopolitical uncertainties, global warming and climate disruptions, digital transformation of societies, and most recently, the global pandemic, it has become an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world for just about all of us.

This is why at AIM we found it critical and timely to initiate this Parenting in a VUCA World Fireside Chat series - to bring the village back together - for parents and children alike.

Join us in this very important initiative - and series of conversations - as we rebuild this village.

The world our children are born into is constantly changing. They will encounter many opportunities but also many challenges. Frustration, failure, and difficulty are part of life. Resilience learned through explicit lessons and examples, will benefit them for their whole life. It will help them to handle stress, cope with rejection, and compartmentalize setbacks as mere bumps in the road.

In this session, we will discuss:
● How our parenting style can have an impact on the resilience of our children and how can we model it for them?

● How can we see our children as more than an extension of us and as individuals - with their own path, to experience adversity, learn from it, and build resilience?

● What do our children need and want from us in their journey?

● How can we help them discover their own “Why” (sense of self and purpose) to choose better, be accountable and learn from the “How”?

● How can parents practice self-care and make it a family value?