As a teacher, you will probably be surprised at how often I get asked for teen relationship advice. You see, teens have no one good to ask for relationship problems advice. They could talk to their parents, of course, but none of them want to do that. Parents are in a position of authority, and anyway, the teens cannot go to them as an impartial listener. I am a younger teacher – only 26 – so teens see me as practically a peer even though I am 10 years older. I try to lend my ear and give the best teen relationship advice that I can, but it can be pretty tricky. After all, as an authority figure and a teacher, I am in a very difficult position.
Fortunately, most of the teens are aware of the position I am in when I am asked for teen relationship advice. You see, as a teacher, I have certain obligations that the quizzes that they take on line, their friends, and the advice columnist that they write to don't. An online quiz about whether you should break up with your boyfriend doesn't have to report potential abuse, for example. It doesn't have to report drug use either. neither do the advice columns. Teachers, however, have to report practically everything. I can give teen relationship advice, but there are many details that I would rather not know. After all, I hate to have to report them.
Fortunately, most of the teen relationship issues that people talk about, I don't have to report. I can give teen relationship advice even when the relationship is getting pretty serious. After all, I am not directly responsible to the parents. I am merely responsible to the state and the school board as well as the teens. When I give teenage relationship advice, I can talk fairly freely. I don't have to always be a teacher. Nonetheless, kids go to me for teen relationships advice because they want to hear from an adult voice. I am not simply an older and wiser one of their peers.
My advice for anyone who is in a position where they have to give advice for teens relationships is to spend a lot of time listening. Often, the teens already know what is the right choice. It is simply that everything is so new to them, and it can be helpful for them to be able to air their concerns. More often than not, the best teen relationship advice is to tell them to do what they already know is right.
