By Ogova Ondego
Published January 27, 2021
Though the young people of today, regardless of where they live, not only face pressure unknown to past generations and are also being forced to do so earlier, there is almost no one to come to their rescue as almost everyone seems too busy chasing their own dreams.
Preparing for Adolescence, a book by James Dobson, may be used as a compass for navigating through the confusing and unknown wilderness of teenage years by any one between the ages of nine and 15 years.
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Written in an non-formal, conversational and interactive style, this book tackles topics like masturbation, menstruation, sex, drugs, abuse, self-esteem, and child-parent conflict. Dr Dobson, in this book, neither patronises nor is he paternalistic to children and youth. Consequently, nothing is considered too sensitive or too delicate for discussion in this book that parents, if they wish, can use as an instructional manual or as a starting point for conversation between them and their children.
Some of the problems that people face as they grow up include self-doubt, ridicule, feelings of inferiority, vulnerability to failure and embarrassment and rejection by members of the opposite sex.
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Dobson, a psychologist who specialises in family issues, takes issues with adults who, he says, suffered from these very problems but do not want to share with the youth how they dealt with them. He argues that adolescents could benefit from how the adults coped as they have been where the younger people are going.
Preparing for Adolescence is likely to help teenagers on how to not just survive but thrive in the turbulent stage of adolescence.
