Journaling Tips for Teens
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Last week, we looked at journaling for kids. This week — we look at teenagers.
Our teens are dealing with a lot of different emotions and could use a way to release those emotions and thoughts in a safe way. Journaling can do that for them, and it’s so flexible and easy to do, that it really is great for all adolescents. Here are some tips to help your teens start journaling.
Buy Your Teen a Hip Journal
If you want your teen to love writing, they need to love what they are writing in. This includes a journal or notebook that is just their style, along with some fun pens they pick themselves. Everyone tends to be picky about the type of pen they use, so definitely let them pick out some favorites. This might require that you might have to learn about the cool characters in the teen world so your child won’t call you “ridiculous” (as my son does).
Use Different Writing Tools, Stickers, and Embellishments
In addition to the journal and writing tools, you can get them some other tools as well. Teens who are on the creative side might want to add more color, doodles, or designs to their journal pages. This is super easy to do with colored pencils, watercolors, embellishments, stickers, and other similar items. These can be really inexpensive, and make a huge difference in how motivated your teens are to use their journal.
Enable Your Teen to Keep Their Journal Private
It is really important that you make a promise to your teens that their journals will remain private and confidential. If they have any fears of someone (like a younger sibling) reading their journals, they won’t be as open and honest as they could be. This diminishes some of the potential benefits of this writing practice. Give them somewhere they can lock up their journals, or even get a diary with a key if they would feel more comfortable with that.
Writing Ideas
There are a lot of journal prompts out there, but many of them are geared towards adults. For teens and pre-teens, look for journal prompts about school, friends, getting ready for college, and this sort of thing. Here are some examples of great writing topics for teens:
- What does your ideal life look like?
- What do you want to major in?
- Where you would move to if you could move anywhere after high school?
- What college are you interested in?
- What are your future career plans?
- Talk about your BFFs
- What subjects do you love in school?
- Which subjects do you always dread?
- How do you like spending your free time?
Loving Life — The Reboot!
Dominique
12 Comments
Stefanie Kasal
Great tips… I will keep these in mind when my kid hits this age
Shilpa Bindlish
Oh nice! This is gonna be interesting for my teen. It will help him be more expressive.
littlemisadvencha
amaaaazing tips to keep our teens purposely busy and productive! love the ideas…. <3
Shahrom Martijn
We don’t have a teen. But these tips are great for future reference/ Thank you.
the joyous living
i remember getting into journal writing when i was in junior high. these are great tips for parents who want to encourage their kids.
Melanie Frost
What a nice hobby for young adults! I just wish I could get my kid to enjoy hand writing. LOL!
Emily Zielinski
I used to love keeping a journal and only up until recently kept one every time I travelled. Its so much fun re-reading what you did 10 years ago and all the mischief i got up to
Knycx Journeying
While we don’t actually “write”, aren’t we all still writing a blog to keep track with our past? It’s important and we learn a lot in the process. Thanks for your affirmations and sharing – Knycx journeying
Stephen
I imagine that many people will find journalling a great escape while stuck inside for the next few months
Dominique
That’s a great point!
katrina Kroeplin
this is awesome! i have to share this with my daughter as she loves journaling.
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