Teaching social habits to teenagers

As boys grow up, they go through the tween and teen phases where things tend to get a little awkward. Even if we see our teen sons suffer with basic communication skills, we must realise that it is not too long before these little boys will grow out of those children's shoes, and begin to form their personalities. 

To arm them with the best social skills, here are 5 things to teach our sons in their most pivotal years. 

Looking people in the eye

Address them in a conversation once and you will find teen boys looking at their hands, into their phones, up in the sky and all things under it, except, where they should — at your eyes. Eye contact, however, is the best way to let people know that you are paying attention and that they are important to you, no matter how distracted you are or how many other important things there are to get to. This is quite possibly the most significant conversational skill one can teach their sons. 
Speaking clearly and using full sentences

One-word answers are a one-way communication if it can be called communicating at all. However, it is the lingo tweens and teens love and are most likely to give you. If not, their other favourite language is mumbling. Both make for the worst conversations and it is crucial to let our sons know that while as parents we may be comfortable pushing them to talk more, others may simply conclude that they are rude and do not want to engage. It is important to speak clearly and in full sentences so that others can also see that teen boys are smart and have important things to say too. 

Listening

This one is difficult, even for adults. For the young ones, even more so. Not only do they have to keep their million distractions in check but also have to practice patience and take in what the other person is saying. Listening, however, can make them, and generally everyone, more empathetic, helps them expand their ideas, teach them new things, and become tolerant of a wide range of viewpoints.

Being polite

It does not matter how many years we spend drilling this into them, all politeness goes down the drain once they hit this dreaded age and we feel like we have raised nothing but the rudest and the most inconsiderate beings on the planet. This, however, is not the case. 

Teenage boys are not rude but they can be pretty unmindful. Constantly reminding them of the magic words — 'please', 'thank you' and 'excuse me' — can make them appear more sensitive to the people around them. A general lesson in lending a hand to people in need can also work wonders at this point.

Smiling

There is nothing more welcoming than a smile and nothing more off-putting than a forced smile. Teenagers think that looking bored is a cool look and appearing stoic makes them look tough. It is worthwhile to teach boys to show happiness through genuine smiles. It may be a hard lesson to drill in, but once they try it, they will see that smiling can make everyone feel better, oven the hardy teenage boys!