When thinking about the overall health of a teen we came up with a checklist with an acronym of SNIPERS, to help you consider if all areas of a teen’s life are being fulfilled:
- Social – do they trust their real live circle of friends or do they spend most of their time on the computer with people they have not met. Do these ‘computer’ friends feel just like them?
- Nurturing – who is their support system? Who is giving them their nurturing…..parents, grandparents or no one is or has been available for them. . Is there a history of abuse and/or trauma?
- Intellectual – Are the kids learning what they need to be learning? Are they learning the things that interest them, not what they are being told to learn? Let them express their talents.
- Physical – Kids need to be physically active in order to get their endorphins moving. Get them involved in programs they would like. Get them involved helping out at pet shelters or horse stables. Kids relate to animals better.
- Emotional – Who do they trust to share their inner thoughts with? What inner spirit or creative spirit needs to be expressed. Do they have talents which the parents will not allow to be shown?
- Recreational – What do they do for fun? Too many kids are tied to the computers, computers are not a source of fun they are a drain on creativity.
- Spiritual – Who and what do they believe in? Who and what do they pray to? They may identify with another form of spirituality. Spirituality gives you hope
