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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

really struggling with DD13

7 replies

hedwigshandbag · 14/06/2022 20:43

After some objective advice about my dd13. She's always been headstrong and impossible to persuade once she's decided something. However until recently she has always loved her sports, and at primary school was the stand out girl in pretty much everything.

Her selective senior school is full of bright energetic very capable girls who seem to excel at everything. My DD fit right in with them in y7 but has completely lost her mojo and drive this year.

School is concerned about her general levels of motivation and engagement, and her recent end of term academic assessment results were very mixed, at best! That doesn't come as a surprise as she seems to do very little work at home (it's all done on school laptops so it's hard for us to supervise or really be on top Of what she is expected to be doing). The overall parents eve take was she is doing the bare minimum, and asking us what's going on. We don't know!!

Pastoral care at school is excellent and they are doing their best to help her navigate what is going on in her head. I suspect their softly softly approach won't last forever though, as she doesn't seem to be engaging with them either.

She gets in trouble frequently for a lot of low level issues such as not handing in homework, wearing jewellery etc. problem is, she doesn't care if she gets in to trouble either at home or at school.

She doesn't seem to have any particular friendship issues at school-she's often laughing on Snapchat with friends. She used to hang out with the confident sporty ones but is now very dismissive over them. I wonder if she has withdrawn from that group because her peers seem to have improved exponentially this year whereas she's stagnated at best. I fully acknowledge this must be a hard pill to swallow. Shes been Overlooked for some incredible opportunities which must hurt even tho she denies it. However, on the flip side she doesn't help herself. She's missed key training sessions and refused to go to club matches, letting down a number of people. I think it's a vicious circle - she's pissed off to be second tier so she's giving everyone the finger by no longer trying. Argh!! She doesn't have any Other hobbies or interests.

If she had her way she Would spend the whole time at home in her room with the curtains closed on her phone! Pretty sure her confidence is at a low ebb for the reasons mentioned above, she's also put on a lot of weight this year as she's not doing nearly as much exercise as she did last year. So that can't help her general well-being. All she's interested in these days is social media Hmm

We've asked her if she's happy at the school and wants to stay there, and she's always been very quick to say yes, and I believe her.

I guess my question comes down to this - how would you get someone like this to care and be motivated?? Bribe/threat/cajole/tears/shout/reason/listen - all fall on deaf ears!! She just doesn't care, and I'm so worried if we don't somehow address it she will continue this attitude into y9 with increasingly bigger risks.

Thanks for reading.

OP posts:
Bessica1970 · 14/06/2022 20:51

Read the book ‘Tangled’ it will really help you get inside the head of your daughter.

a HoY8 - so your daughter’s age. It’s their job to pull away from their adult guides at this age.

Pinkbonbon · 14/06/2022 21:08

Yeah but She's 13. Not 33.

Sounds like a perfectly normal teen. Missed out on amazing opportunities? Jeez...pressure much?

Risks? Like what? Forgetting her math homework as well as her English? Oh the calamity.

Maybe she is going through a bit of a slump. That's part of life. We can't all be joyous balls of energy all the time.

So long as she knows you're there if she needs to talk then it's all good. Agrguably none of that school stuff actually matter at 13 anyway.

She just sounds like a normal teen.

Infact...'crying, shouting, bring, threatening?'
Hell SHE sounds like the mature one.

User0ne · 14/06/2022 21:09

Tbh I work with teenagers and it sounds like a normal hormonal phase. Keep doing all the good things you're doing, keep offering support even if she isn't taking it, make sure you're emotionally available. In 12 months time she'll probably be out the other side of it

Pinkbonbon · 14/06/2022 21:09

*bribing

Why2why · 14/06/2022 21:34

OP, I understand your concern and frustration. I don’t think there is much you can do. Motivation must come from within.

I think that parents all too often push their kids to succeed at primary school. Doing everything for them, including “making” them study, do sports, etc. They seek to please us parents at this stage and do excel.

Their self-worth becomes wrapped up in how well they are doing academically or sports wise.

However, once they get to secondary school and realise there are others who are stronger, faster, taller, smarter, whatever than them, they lose themselves. They can’t muster up the internal motivation. Especially as they increasingly feel they do not have to do as their parents say.

Help her figure out what her passion is. Help her see that her competition is herself not others. That she should not compare herself with others. She clearly wants to succeed so help her find what it is that she can tap into to motivate her to achieve her own defined success.

Dahlly · 15/06/2022 09:20

She was a standout star at primary and now isn’t at senior school. It’s sometimes easier not to try, than to try hard but come up short next to others. I feel for her.

It all sounds so passive, that she’s just moving along doing the bare minimum.

I think she probably needs more autonomy and responsibilities, outside of school. It can be easy for kids identity to be wrapped around who they are in school but they are more than that.

Give her more responsibilities at home but also more say on what goes on at home too. Home is the practice run for life skills, learn to be responsible and motivated etc. It might be enough to give her a bit of confidence back

waterrat · 15/06/2022 09:42

How about you try and meet her in the middle. You apologise for putting pressure on her over the sports and accept she may be losing interest and that is fine. I'm sure it's very common for teens to pull back from sport as it becomes more intensely competitive in the teen years.

In return she agrees to dial back on the social media and have a clearer homework routine and find another hobby?

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