Post-pandemic Teens

I'm here today not to talk about Real Estate but something more important: our teens.

Most of us in this social network have teens who had to deal with the pandemic in front of their cell phones. I can't blame them, how else were they supposed to socialize? But boundaries have to be taught and encouraged.

But what options do we give to teens instead of scrolling their social media the whole day?

A few days ago, my 14-year-old daughter told me about a 17-year-old kid that couldn't deal with anxiety anymore and decided to take his life away. Do you blame the parents? The friends? The environment? who cares... he is unfortunately not here anymore. The most striking thing is that more and more teenagers have not been capable to live with the anxiety that social media provokes every day for at least 6 hours per day (that's what surveys say). Social media is the only way they learned to socialize but they lack personal interactions and real-world relationships.

In the beginning, I had no words for my daughter and for days I tried to find the right speech about life and choices. But if adults don't get it, how was I supposed to make her understand?

And I just did what I've done every time I feel I can't fix something: I work.

You may think I'm a workaholic (sometimes I am), but working and feeling that you are doing something that can benefit other people, really helps.

So I told my daughter to help me with some stuff in the office. Check the company's IG, audience, and all that stuff I pretend I know but I'm clueless about.

In the beginning, she was reluctant, but between going to summer camp with her three siblings or coming with her mom to the office, she had no better choice than work. Then, a couple of days later, she started enjoying the time we spent together talking about business, clients, and marketing. Then she joined me in some meetings with my team and at lunchtime with the partners. I asked her to write down a document for improving our social media channels and she surprised me with how bad we were doing! She knows what she is talking about.

Every time we return home she tells me how much she loves working and brings new ideas for the next day.

The knowledge that we are doing something that matters and that our opinion is going to be taken into consideration is the best feeling.

So, my personal conclusion, and the one I want to share with you today, is to keep your kids busy with meaningful tasks that make them feel they truly belong and they are making people's lives better. Teens have a lot of hidden knowledge that might surprise you, don't underestimate them.