Teens and Caregiving
For hundreds of young people, Caregiving is a daily fact of life. In the middle of going to school, holding down part-time jobs, juggling pieces of social life with sports and school activities, many teens find themselves the primary or at least a major part-time caregiver to an elderly relative or parent.
Teens have so many pressures on them in normal family settings and when Caregiving becomes a part of real life it can often result in behavioral conflicts
aggressive behavior
depression
isolation from friends
poor scholastic outcomes
There are many teens who take on caregiving and become responsible providers and all teens involved in Caregiving need as much support and aid as any adult and in some very real ways they need some extra
time off to allow healthy social interaction with peers
enough time alone to focus on school work
support to feel that they are not completely responsible for the care needed
recognition and validation that what they are doing is beyond the ordinary and is noble.