Moulana Muhammed Shoayb writes a post about the importance of understanding the mindset of teenage children growing up here. He explains why he thinks its crucial to be aware of what’s going on in their minds and to tackle the questions arising from their mindset head-on, either by themselves or by finding someone who can. He argues that it is usually neglect on the side of immigrant parents that ends up leading to confusion and unresolved issues.

 Today’s teens have different issues facing them. They have lived their entire lives here, with an occasional (sometimes frequent) trip back to their parent’s birth countries as visitors. They have identified, and been encouraged by us as parents and community elders to identify, rightly so, as American Muslims. What we didn’t realize when we encouraged them to develop this new identity is that new questions come along with this new identity. Some of our kids are going to want know what it feels like to be a punk rocker. Some of our teens are going to want to know what it feels like to go on a date…and how can it be wrong when so many of their friends in the neighborhood/school are doing it. Those same teens may never give you the slightest idea of what is going on behind their innocent eyes and sweet smiles. It is your duty as parents to let them know that bringing those questions out in the open is ok, that nobody will have a heart attack just because an otherwise sweet child asks some not-so-sweet questions.

Read the whole post here.