“Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance.”Teenage, Aha! Does this sound very appealing to your ears?Yup, you are right. These days, the children are very excited to refer to themselves as teenagers.For today’s generation, reaching the stage of adolescence or puberty is very attractive. They get to do stuff that they have been waiting to do for a long time. Kids are growing too fast compared to past generations.They are prone to developing certain habits that might be good or bad for their future.Now, this is something that we usually think should not be discussed with the kids, but fortoday’s generation, it is the most important matter we need to discuss. For example, kids, or what I may state as teenagers, think it is very cool to have a boyfriend and girlfriend. They tend to impress people of the opposite gender so that they feel attracted to them.Is this allowed in Islam? Think about it. Where is the generation going?The answer is a big no. Dating is not allowed in Islam, but still, our generation is going towards the things that are considered Haram to us.Teenagers should be handled with a lot of care and love. The teenage years are a time when a kid gets attracted to every new thing and is curious to know about the things that don’t have any importance in their life.Time and again, we need to state Hadees or Ayat related to teenage or puberty in Islam to the kids so that the lessons can be imbibed in their minds.This ultimately leads the kids to think twice before they feel attracted to certain things in their day-to-day lives.Here, parents play a major role. Parents should keep tabs on kids about their school life, friend circle, etc. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean they should always be back for the kids.They need to handle the kids in a very loving manner. The kids should be given freedom, but to a certain extent. The kids should not feel that they are locked up in their own house.At the same time, we, as members of society, are also equally responsible for the upbringing of kids.It is not only parents’ duty but also the duty of teachers or elders to guide and teach teenagers about Islam.The first thing is “Friend Circle." It is the foremost thing we need to know about teenagers.It can either influence them in a good way and make them a good person and human being or destroy their life by adopting bad habits such as smoking, falling in love, etc.Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said “Man follows his Friend’s Religion; you should be careful who you take for friends.”We need to encourage teenagers to be in a circle where friends guide each other and teach them new lessons in Islam. Choose your friends wisely so that you all can gather and be neighbors in Jannah.The second thing is “mobile phones.” The teenagers are very much into social media.They are addicted to WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook in such a way that they become restless and start behaving indifferently if the mobile phone is taken away from them for a shortperiod of time.This is again a major matter in question: how to stop them from getting addicted to social media. First and foremost, they should not be given mobile phones at a young age.Mobiles are good and bad for teenagers. If used and guided correctly, the teenager can increase their knowledge and grow themselves. If they use their mobiles in the wrongway, then the consequences will be very bad, which ultimately leads to affairs, suicides, smoking, and addiction to things that are not good for them.The third thing is “quality time.” We, as parents or elders, should spend quality time together and avoid using the phone when we are with them.This builds a rapport between parents and teenagers, and the teenagers will feel a sense of security and develop trust towards their parents. They will blindly trust you in any matter and reach out to you first before taking any decision or doing anything by themselves.These are a few things on which we need to focus so that we can raise children who will be Khalifas and representatives of Allah and become torchbearers for the coming generations.This is just a start; hopefully we will cover different aspects of teenage life and how to dealwith them in our upcoming blogs.
