Adolescence is a confusing maze with a roller-coaster of emotions. Nobody is ever prepared for what is coming as the experiences are personal and unique. It’s also an exciting phase that allows teens to discover new features that define their gender.

During this phase, parents can build or break a child's personality, thus creating a permanent effect. We need to support teens' mental health and well-being now more than ever, as many struggle to adjust to the changes.

Guardians/ parents should understand adolescent emotional intelligence as it’s a crucial development stage in life. It's where an individual discovers their femininity, masculinity and feelings. Adolescence comes with numerous emotions which require proper taming and understanding.

It is a period to enhance positivity, create a strong ego, and allow new ventures. Long gone are the days when parents canned to discipline or expected children to act responsibly. Modernity comes with curiosity and discovery. Parents should brace their teenagers by providing relatable guidance.      

What is Adolescent emotional intelligence?

EQ, or EI, is a unique intelligence that helps an individual or other people to understand and manage their emotions. It's the ability to handle your feelings socially and in emotional conditions. Emotional intelligence allows one to make informed decisions, deal with different situations, and build relationships without much difficulty.

Ways to support and encourage adolescent emotional intelligence in teens

There are some simple ways parents can keep teens in their journey toward personal and emotional development:

• Celebrate and recognize growth

It’s important to recognize and praise emotional growth. This is letting teens know how proud you are that they have learned to walk away rather than fight with other kids. Appreciate their efforts in learning to express their feelings, even in simple tasks like knowing how to ask others to play or share a table. Acknowledging and recognizing our children's positive changes and behaviors helps to encourage them and can help support their holistic growth.

• Practice positive listening

Most of us think we are good listeners, yet we only retain about half of what others say. This is because we tend to think about what we will say –or start making theory when we should listen. Our teens need a good listener to help them as they thrive, grow, and be happy.

So far, it's a great job you have done in parenting. However, to continue helping, you must change how you approach matters by giving them the space they need rather than your opinion.

• Perfect the life skills you want your child to develop.

The aim is to continuously strengthen your adolescent child to help them access inner resources and be empowered to grow and advance. It is about giving the space they want from an early age to find their solution be creative and curious about their way of living. However, this needs an adult around to show an interest in their personalities and views.

• Encourage their willingness to try.

Congratulating your child for doing exceptionally well in their test in a subject they particularly struggle with or for successes, in big or small things. These shouldn’t be the only activities to acknowledge and celebrate our children's efforts. We should celebrate even when they try new food and activities or push themselves to make new friends. We should acknowledge and praise their willingness to try something new, which will help foster a sense of confidence and help develop and grow.

• Allow teens to develop emotional literacy and intelligence.

Emotional literacy and intelligence can lead to stronger relationships, better health, and academic achievements. Help your teen recognize how they feel, find a healthy way to control their emotions, and take charge of how they think and manage to control their emotions. Give them the courage to talk about their feeling, but don't push them to talk when they are not ready to speak. Give them a chance that you are willing to listen and help them when they feel ready.

• Please encourage teens and youths to create support groups.

Design group that helps them learn and think about their support network, which is simple. Try making one yourself and incorporate their buddies. Parents can invite influential youngsters to join the groups to help inspire the teens.

• Deliberate working with a youth coach

Encourage personal development while providing support and guidance. This helps to build confidence, encourage goal setting, teach stress management tools, and help teens learn how to talk about complex issues. Youth coaching can be a positive way to provide extra support for children and teens by giving an impartial, trustworthy person who can get guidance without any fear of judgment.

Creating a positive mindset can be a game changer for anyone working on personal growth, but this is most important to teens. With the best coaching, teens learn to focus on the positives and less negative thoughts and are likely to be stressed or compare themselves to others. The coach teaches how to build practical skills and assertiveness. This is a vital resource in the teen years and adulthood. They also learn to accept and be proud of themselves, become their cheerleaders, and stop comparing their children with others.

Adolescent Emotional Intelligence: Conclusion

Teenage life can be challenging for many young people. The journey to adulthood is multifaceted and hard to navigate without an adult to help. Anxiety might inundate them, leading to low self-esteem or struggling to understand who they are or what they want to become. Parents should be the number one support regardless of their child's path. The support goes a long way in enhancing adolescent emotional intelligence in teens.