Free Time and Teenagers

Ing. Pavla Melecká

Odborný anglický jazyk 1
Zima 2020

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 Free time and teenagers

VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl50I0GV3gE

SOURCE:
www.raisingchildren.net.au

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 Key points
• Teenagers need free time to explore interests, unwind or
be with friends.
• Enjoying activities with teenage children is a great way to
build your relationship.
• Some rules about free time with friends can help to keep
children safe.
• Finding a balance between being interested in your
child’s activities and being ‘in her/his face’ can be tricky.
• Solo free time is important too, so long as it’s balanced
with other activities.

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 How teenagers spend free time
• All teenagers are different, but many enjoy spending
their free time doing things like shopping, going to
parties, being with friends, gaming and using social
media, texting, watching movies, reading and going
to the park.
• Teenagers are also spending an increasing amount of
their free time in structured extracurricular activities

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 Free time activities with parents
• Doing something one-on-one with parents is a great
way to stay connected with their teenage child.
• They could go shopping, go to a movie or concert,
cook a meal together, look through family photos, or
work on a project like redecorating the child’s room.
It just depends on what interests they have.
• Parents might need to try a range of activities before
they find one both like.

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 Free time activities with parents
• These activities might not happen spontaneously –
parents might need to plan to spend some time
together.
• If it is a new thing, the child might take a bit of
encouraging before she/he is keen. If this is an issue,
the parent can consider inviting one or two of the
child’s friends along as well.
• If they spend time together often enough, the child
will probably build up more enthusiasm.

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 Free time activities with the whole
family
Some activities the whole family could do:
• watching a family-friendly movie
• playing a favourite game or activity at a local
park, like soccer or frisbee
• planning a special meal with everyone suggesting
a dish
• planning a holiday
• going for a walk or a bike ride.

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 Free time activities with the whole
family
• If you’ve got teenagers and younger children,
you could have a family meeting to
brainstorm activities to enjoy as a family.
• You could make a couple of lists – activities to
do together, and activities that only some of
you will do.

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 Free time with friends
• Children want to do things with their friends. Agreeing on
some rules can help keep children safe when they are out.

Information:
• How much do the parents need to know about where the child is going,
and who with?
• What details are OK for your child to keep to herself?
• Can she/he call you if her plans change?
• Will the child leave his/her phone on while she/he is out?
• Monitoring the child is OK, as long as we’re just trying to make sure your
child is safe.
• As the child gets older, parents can reduce their supervision and
involvement in his activities.

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 Free time with friends
Open house:
• Getting to know your child’s friends shows your child you
understand how important her/his friendships are.
• One way to do this is to encourage your child to have
friends over and give them a space in your home.
• You could think about how open you want your home to
be:
– Will there be a curfew?
– Will you provide meals, snacks and drinks?
– Does your child need to take responsibility for having friends
over – for example, tidying up the kitchen or family room
afterwards?

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 Free time with friends
Money :
• some of the activities the child is interested in
cost money.
• You might talk with your child about what
activities you’re willing to pay for, how often and
how much.
• You could also talk to your child about pocket
money.
• Consider how much is fair in your family.
• Can extra jobs earn extra money?

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 Free time for teenagers on their own
• Sometimes your child will just want to spend time by
himself, not doing very much – it’s partly about
recharging his mental batteries.
• Solo free time is fine, if it’s not all the time and is
balanced with spending time with friends and family.
• It’s also OK for your child to feel bored sometimes! Being
bored can motivate your child to find something creative
or new to fill her time.

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 Free time for teenagers on their own
Screen time
• Your child might spend some of his solo free
time watching TV, using a computer or tablet,
playing video games, and using his phone.
• Healthy screen time for teenagers is about
choosing quality programs and apps and
developing healthy screen habits. It also
includes limits on screen time (to balance
screen time with other activities)

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 Extracurricular activities
Key points:
• Extracurricular activities let children pursue interests,
meet new people and develop new skills.
• Some teenagers need a bit of help to find
extracurricular activities that suit them.
• It’s important for teenagers to balance
extracurricular activities and other areas of their
lives.

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 Extracurricular activities
• Extracurricular activities can be just about
anything your child enjoys outside school e. g.
sport, drama, Scouts and Guides, hobbies like
craft or photography
• They can also be things you’ve encouraged
your child to do, like language classes, music,
debating, religious instruction, swimming, or
paid and unpaid jobs.

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 What teenagers get from
extracurricular activities
Taking part in extracurricular activities can:
• give your child a chance to try a range of activities and
find out what he’s good at
• give your child a sense of achievement and boost his
self-esteem and confidence
• promote good mental health and a sense of belonging
• keep your child busy with healthy and positive
challenges like sport or community activity
• help your child learn to handle responsibility, take
initiative and solve problems
• help your child learn to overcome tough times.

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 Encouraging children to try
extracurricular activities
• Some teenagers are keen but just need a bit of help to get started
with extracurricular activities. Parents can talk with them to work
out what they are interested in, talk to other families about what
other teenagers do, search online. They can also ask the child’s
school about its clubs and societies.
• Some children might need help to ease into a new group of people
(if they don´t know anyone there). Perhaps your child has a friend
who’d like to do the activity with him. Or you could arrange for him
to meet someone who already does the activity.
• Your child could also start an activity gradually. For example, if your
child’s ultimate goal is to be on the stage with a local theatre group,
she/he could start by working as a stage hand.

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 Encouraging children to try
extracurricular activities
• Not all teenagers are into extracurricular activities.
• It’s OK if your child doesn’t do many, or any, extracurricular
activities. He might feel that he gets to try and enjoy plenty of
things at school.
• Extracurricular activities are voluntary. If your child doesn’t
want to do an activity, he won’t enjoy it and won’t benefit
from it. Making him do it will only lead to tension.

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 Finding the right balance with
extracurricular activities
• Balancing work and fun is a challenge for everyone.
• If you’re worried that your child has taken on too many
extracurricular activities, there are some signs that things are
out of balance for him/her, e. g. being tired, grumpy or
stressed and having trouble sleeping.

Let the child work out priorities (questions to ask):

– What would I like to do more or less of?
– What stuff is the most important to me?
– What’s important to us as a family?
– What do I have to do, like schoolwork?

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 Finding the right balance with
extracurricular activities
Thinks to consider:
• Time away from home: how many nights does your child come
home after 8.30 or 9 pm? How long is she/he out for on weekends?
Can she/he contribute to life at home, like doing his chores?
• Balance of activities: how much sleep is your child getting? Does
she/he have any down time? Can she/he get her homework done
on time? Does she/he have time for friends? Is she/he spending
lots of time in singing lessons and tennis practice, for example, at
the expense of school or socialising?
• Behaviour: does your child seem happy? Is he irritable? Does he
seem stressed a lot of the time?
• Impact on the family: how many family meals are missed/disrupted
by your child’s activities? Is this a problem for your family? How
often does she/he miss family activities? Do your child’s activities
mean other family members miss out on doing things?

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 Community work
Key points:
• Getting involved in local community activities or
volunteering can boost teenagers’ confidence and self-
esteem and help them build skills.
• You can get your child started by taking part as a family
or by helping your child find activities that interest her.
• It doesn’t matter what teenagers do for their
communities. Any involvement is good!

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 Community work
• Your child can learn about civic responsibility and be
active in your community by:
• Joining a scouting group or a local environmental or
clean-up group
• helping with a primary school play, or coordinating or
coaching junior sport
• setting up an arts space for the community or getting
involved in youth radio
• being part of a youth advisory group through the local
council
• promoting causes – for example, environmental issues,
refugee rights, bushfire recovery and charities.
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 Community work
• Your child might be interested in online civic
or community activities – for example, an
online campaign to save a local area of
parkland.
• Online community involvement can motivate
teenagers to get involved in face-to-face
community activities.

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