Post Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Now What?

​This question is one that you may avoid rather than discuss. 
As parents, it’s important to have open communication with our children and confront these hard conversations. 
I would say it’s equally as important as discussing and educating about drugs and sex. 

Everyone lives their life differently from the next. Your level of belief will be very different from the next. However, what we all have in common is relating to Judaism and raising Jewish children. 
As parents, we make many important decisions for our children. Everyone has different styles of raising their children. 

Therefore, there’s no single or simple solution and answer. However, here are a few talking points about the above topic. 

-Belonging to the Jewish people is a special opportunity, something that should be treasured and not taken for granted.
-Growing up Jewish grounds you, helps you set a routine and boundaries. Sometimes people feel having boundaries are too restricting. However, based on many surveys and research, many teens, now adults feel having those boundaries as a young teen helped them stay out of trouble in high school and college. It helped them become incredible human beings today. 
-Growing up in today’s works is really hard. As parents, we need to be there for our children. Having these conversations show our children we are there for them. 
-Prayer is a great vehicle to use. It helps us recognize there’s a greater Being that is always there for us. It helped educate our children that there will always be somewhere or someone to turn to. It also helps teach gratitude. 

These are just some important things to discuss as your children grow up to be the incredible people that they are. 

The most important thing… 
Do it with love and affirmation.