Every parent knows that it is not enough for your teenager to get good grades and land a great job. Life is also about coping emotionally and relationally at home, at school, the work place and other social settings. Moreover life is about becoming a person of integrity and character.

It appears that most educational programs, whatever the level, offer the opportunity for individuals to gain the prerequisite knowledge and skills for vocational success. This apparent bias serves as a handicap to the development of the whole person.

What then is integral to your teenager’s holistic development?

The answer is three fold.

Firstly, the bedrock foundation of any education is education of the heart. Heart is the inclination to love.

Developing one’s heart involves the maturation of character. It means becoming a good person.

In the absence of developing heart, a teen may have all the prerequisite skills and knowledge required for life, but use such resources for a self serving purpose. Given any kind of leadership position, such a teenager would invariably fall short of public expectations.

The second dimension of education is about developing the capacity for ethical and loving relationships. My brother-in-law, who had been in pursuit of money all his life, pleasantly surprised me when he said “Paul, life is all about relationships. There is really nothing else”.

Have you ever heard of anyone on their death bed saying something like “gee, I wish I could have spent more time at work?”. Rather the expressed regret of so many on their death bed is more along the lines of, “I wish I had of spent time with my loved ones.” Thus in your parent teenager relationship, developing relationship skills is indispensable.

The third dimension of education is what most people know about very well. It is education to become good at doing something. It involves all kinds of academic and technical education including education in the arts.

While mastery is an important component for life success, without a selfless heart and the capacity to relate well with others, the success you gain will have a hollow ring to it. With this kind of knowledge, may you advance, creating a wonderful parent teenager relationship.

Are you tired, frustrated and at your wits end about how to go forward in your relationship with your teenager? You are not alone. To go beyond your present impasse, may I suggest that before you do anything else, grab a hold of parenting expert, Paul Saver’s seven FREE videos. Each short video is createdto revolutionize your parent teenager relationship so that the barriers can come down and you can really start communicating meaningfully.