Who do teens trust and talk to?
Teens often trust only their peers, believing that no one else can understand how they feel and how they react to life’s problems. Relationships with friends can be deep and meaningful, sharing conflicts occurring at home and details of their love lives. How can adults gain the trust of teens? To gain the trust of teens, adults must become good, nonjudgmental listeners. Let teenagers know that you are interested in them, in their views, in their ideas and thoughts. Let them know that you like and care for them. Support their ideas or gently introduce new ways to approach their ideas. Acknowledge their grief and offer your thoughts of how to ease their pain. Does peer counseling work? Because teens are most open to fellow teens, one approach to providing help is through peers. And it works. Peer counseling is now an elective course in many schools for teens. Peer counselors are trained to look at all kinds of life problems on a personal level and then at ways to help their peers. They a
