Most teenagers hope to form the foundation of a long and healthy relationship. They search for a partner with whom they can communicate honestly, someone with whom they can enjoy great intimacy. Discovery of such a partner lays the groundwork for a healthy teenage relationship.
If however, a teenager becomes attached to someone with either addictive behaviors, or to someone with a dependence on drugs or alcohol, then that teen must proceed slowly. Otherwise, he or she will fall into one of the many dangerous teenage relationships.
Parents can help teens to avoid such a disastrous situation by helping them to avoid other teenagers who harbor unrealistic or magical expectations. Parents need to be sure that one of the multiple teen dating relationships has not partnered their son or daughter with someone who is seeking a codependent. Such a person will fantasize that a partner can somehow make their life okay, that such a person will lift their spirits, serving as a replacement for an induced high.
A young partner with such expectations can not encourage the formation of any healthy teenage relationships. Instead, such a person often causes his or her partner to become a codependent.Parents need to watch for signs of codependency. If a teen spends excess time talking and worrying about other people's behavior, then he or she may have become a codependent. If a teen seems to take on more responsibility for the benefit of a partner, even though resenting the need to do so, then that teen also may be a codependent.
Parents should also be concerned when they notice their teen son of daughter ignoring his or her own needs, while setting aside extra time to take on the needs of a partner. This is another sign of codependence. This is another manifestation of struggling with one of the unhealthy teenage relationships.
Signs of any of the above behaviors would signal parents that a child's teen dating relationships need closer supervision. Without such supervision, a parent's son or daughter could spend his or her entire teen years without enjoying the satisfaction derived from healthy teenage relationships.
If two teen partners become codependent, then parents must work to help them overcome their codependency. Parents should work to prevent the couple from becoming isolated. Such isolation encourages deception. Such isolation fosters the dangers of unhealthy teenage relationships.
Allowing a teen to fall into such an isolating situation could subject that young man or woman to unnecessary pain. Such pain is the primary symptom of all unhealthy teenage relationships. The absence of such pain represents the attainment of an ideal teen partnering.
When two parents can provide their teen with a healthy, functional family life, then that teen has the perfect model for development of a healthy teenage relationship. Two parents who understand the value of an honest, intimate relationship have provided their teen with the keys to navigating the ups and downs of teen dating.