PUBLIC TALK: "Mum and Dad, it's your turn to grow up" � kids becoming teenagers

A public lecture by Elina Hermanson, Head of Adolescent Health Services, City of Helsinki, Finland.

As an adolescent medicine physician, Elina Hermanson meets teens with worries and sorrows that need the attention of a professional. Some have obvious troubles that could have been predicted much earlier.

As parents, we have a lot of growing up to do. We need to endure the endless, sudden changes of moods. We need to learn to trust the immature person that suddenly seems to have lost his or her skills to behave and answer politely. We need to keep calm, no matter how harshly we are tested. We are role models. All teenagers deserve a parent (or two) who is a little bit concerned about them. We all want to be seen and heard, and if you are a teenager, that need is even greater.

The question is: where do we, adults, get the strength?

Elina's lecture is co-sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Studies and the General Practice unit in the UWA School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care (SPARHC).