Four Traits That Teens Need to Be Successful

When it comes to raising teenagers, parents have a lot of worries-especially about risky behaviors like drinking and drugs, sexual activity or texting while driving. As a result, many parents focus on 【小题1】(discourage) undesirable behaviors.

But when a researcher at Brigham Young University looked at families with kids 【小题2】 flourish, she found a big difference between avoiding bad behaviors and actually cultivating positive ones. Laura Padilla Walker, associate professor and associate director of the BYU School of Family Life, said that “not being bad isn’t good enough”.

“I hope that parents will realize that fostering positive behaviors not only leads to those desirable behaviors, 【小题3】 also protects against negative behaviors,” she said. In an upcoming Family Studies Center research brief that 【小题4】(use) data from the decade-long Flourishing Families Study of 500 families in the Northwest, Padilla Walker identified four strengths that form a foundation for future success for teens: self-control, self-esteem, values and empathy.

In the brief, Padilla Walker defines five characteristics parents and others can help kids develop 【小题5】 lead them to thrive: competence, confidence, connection, character and caring. Kids with those flourish, 【小题6】 those who lack them may flounder (困难重重).

The research brief notes that teen and young-adult years are at a time “when many decisions that have lifelong consequences 【小题7】(make), it is especially important to consider self-control during these years.” Self-control is a trait 【小题8】(develop) mainly in the brain’s frontal lobe, a part of the brain that is still under construction until roughly age 25, so very likely there are lapses(疏忽) in self-control for that reason as teens and young adults mature.

“【小题9】 self-control,” Padilla Walker said, “it’s hard to build self-esteem and strong values or to develop empathy. I think all of the other traits are important, without 【小题10】 being more important than the other. It depends on the goals of the parents.”

Diet and way of life are often a problem for teenagers. 【小题1】， the good news is that you can feel better, look better and have more energy if you eat the right food and exercise regularly.

Healthy eating along with regular exercise 【小题2】(be) probably the only way to become fit. Diets are 【小题3】(use) in the long term, yet approximately 20% of teenagers say they have tried going on a diet and been fooled into 【小题4】(skip) meals to control their weight.

As a teenager, it is important to give your body the energy it needs. Exercise is something 【小题5】 can help to make you look good, feel good and be healthy. Many teenagers are surprised to learn that when you exercise, your body produces some chemicals that make you feel 【小题6】(peace) and relaxed and increase your ability 【小题7】(concentrate) when you study.

A good amount of sleep every night is also important for your health. When you sleep, your body prepares you 【小题8】 the day to come. As a matter of fact, 【小题9】(lose) of sleep can make you look tired.

If you follow the suggestions above, you 【小题10】(look) and feel much better in no time at all!