Title: Growing Up with Teens

Author: Ruchi Verma

Publisher: Authors Tree Publishing

Genre: Non-fiction, Parenting

Pages: 92

‘Growing up with Teens’ by Ruchi Verma, is a psychological approach that revolves around the lives of Teens. I loved to explore this genre. It intrigues me a lot, how parents establish connections with their offspring, how they involve in the process of long-term behavioural management. So, to explore the reality I read this book.

This book was all about the vision of teen parenting. It is not an easy task to raise a teenager, but with the right approach, every parent puts forward to make this journey easier. As communication should not be a barrier in your relationships with your offspring, and these methods will definitely help you to begin better conversations with your teenage kids.

Ruchi Verma states ‘Each day as a parent we too are growing up and understanding the other side of the story.’ This book comprises of 12 chapters. Every section deals with new challenges that emerge in the road of family life. There are so many questions that arise with this set of age, in regards to emotional, physical and social changes. And the perspective, author shared here, is really a nice construct if you can agree to put it into practice this book is really helpful to parents.

Ruchi Verma offers a whole section on communication that I liked the most about this novel. The author acknowledges many important points, for example─ why communication is important? How your teens want to communicate? Do and don’ts of communications.

‘Don’t assume or read their mind. If you don’t understand certain behaviour change or less communication or even, they are not doing things according to the rules made by you’.

‘Listening means letting them finish their story and their thoughts. Just make sure when they talk, look in their eyes, and show interest in their versions. Your opinion on that same topic might differ but remember to give them equal opportunity to put forward their opinions so that they don’t feel neglected.

As a reader, I have mixed feelings about this novel. On the positive side, Ruchi Verma shared some absolute gems of tips and advice based on her personal and professional experiences. She comes up with the idea of talk about adolescence, depression, anxiety. Adding to this, she explored myths and taboos of sex education in India. ‘We carry a hush-hush talking attitude for years. It’s high time to change and break this taboo. Teaching your child this aspect is as important as giving them any other education’.

Not only had she incorporated discussion on daughter’s puberty but also added her son’s too. I have found it to be immensely practical and loved reading it. 

The author has rightly convinced me to go on reading the book because every page gave me a new idea about the way she handles the teen’s mind swings. On the other side, I found the information bit repetitive. I so wish it were organized a bit differently.

Reading this book has enhanced the way we look at the behaviour of teens, and the way we feel their life is easy, but they also go through various emotional traumas. ‘It is important to teach both boys and girls that they are equal in the society, and one should respect the other gender’s emotions and consent always.