The Best Advice For Teenagers From Someone Who’s Been There

I was talking with my friends a few weeks ago about some regrets I had from my teenage years and within a matter of minutes, we had a huge list of advice for teenagers we wished we could go back in time and give ourselves! Hindsight is always 20/20, so I’m hoping that this list of regrets and mistakes will be some awesome advice for my future teenagers!

I just turned another year older last Friday, so I’m feeling all sentimental and reflective. You know how it goes! I’ve since passed the age of prefrontal cortex development, so I feel comfortable giving this advice for teenagers with confidence. You just don’t know what you’re doing as a teenager! And sometimes, advice means more coming from someone other than your parents. So if you know a teenager that you want to make better life choices, I hope you’ll share this article with them!

This blog functions as more than just a place for me to post pretty pictures and talk about products I like, it’s also a digital journal I’ll have to show to my kids one day. I’d love to start posting more letters of life advice for kids and teens so that I have a lots of good parenting tips and information saved up for them to read when they’re older!

But that’s enough chit chat. Let’s get to the advice for teenagers! *Disclaimer: since my friends are women, some of this advice for teenagers is just for girls. But the rest of the advice applies to all teens!

Pieces of Advice For Teenagers

1. Don’t Use Tanning Beds
I don’t even know if tanning is still a thing for teenagers now (it was big time when I was in high school!), but I’m assuming it is since adults my age still want to be tan! Having tan skin is awesome, but using a tanning bed is such a dangerous way to get that gorgeous bronzey glow! Using tanning beds up your chances for skin cancer like crazy! Not to mention how it prematurely ages your skin. I know a few girls from high school who went to the tanning salon religiously and they have wrinkles in places I don’t. And we’re the same age!

If you want to get that bronzey glow, I highly suggest getting a spray tan or using some awesome self tanning products like these! They are way safer for you and will still give you the look you want!

2. Don’t Text And Drive
I don’t need to say much on this topic because it’s pretty obvious, but no text is worth getting in a car accident over. Speaking from experience! Put the phone down. Focus on the road. Your friends can wait. Period!

3. Don’t Date Exclusively In High School
Dating for teens is definitely sensitive territory, but such an important topic to touch on. This often causes a lot of the teenage problems with parents. Following this next advice can eliminate a lot of issues!

Having steady boyfriends is by far one of my biggest regrets from my teenage years and one of my biggest pieces of advice for teenagers. I just never got a lot of experience going on dates! I met husband when I was fairly young, and I could count on one hand the amount of dates I had been one. Sure I had done a lot of dating, but only with a few different guys.

I am going to enforce this rule 100% with my kids. It’s just not worth the heartbreak and the trouble you can get yourself into being that young. And trust me, I know how hard it is not to want to have a boyfriend when all of the cool girls do and you really like the guy. But those teenage years should be for making friends and dating lots of different guys so you know the qualities you want in a future spouse.

And the chances of you marrying the guy you date in high school are slim. Sure people from my high school married each other, but not the ones they dated while they were in high school! So then it’s an awkward situation because they each know who the other person dated. They went to school with each other!

Here’s my dating tips for teens: don’t date exclusively in high school. Trust me on this one 😉

4. Don’t Wear White Pants During Your Period
Enough said. It’s NEVER worth the risk 😉

5. Learn How To Put On Makeup
It’s only taken me like 26 years to correctly put on makeup. I wish I would have been taught the proper techniques earlier! I wore racoon eye makeup for so long just because I didn’t realize how terrible it looked!

Save your self from the embarrassment, and learn how to put on makeup correctly. If I were a teenager I would utilize YouTube and the employees who work at makeup counters. They know their stuff! And learn correctly for your age too. Do teenagers really need lash extensions???

*In addition, DO NOT over pluck your eyebrows or you’ll have to get microblading done to fix your sparse, nonexistent brows.

6. Don’t Try And Hide Stuff From Your Parents
Especially your mom. I remember my mom told me I couldn’t wear eye makeup when I was in 8th grade. I thought I was so sneaky and would just put it on at school and then take it off before she picked me up. My friend wore “short shorts” to school even though her mom told her no.

Guess what?

We both got caught.

Moms aren’t dumb. They’ve been there before. Instead I wish I would have just talked to my mom about WHY she didn’t want me to wear eye makeup in 8th grade. Parents always have a reason and sorry, but they know more than you do 😉

Raising teenagers is a tough job. Parents really just want the best for their kids. It’s worth listening to their wisdom and understanding that everything is coming from a place of love!

7. Save More Than You Spend
If there’s ever a time to save your money, it’s while you’re a teenager! You basically have zero expenses! You’re living at home for free, eating free food, going to a free school! SAVE YOUR MONEY! This is great advice for teenagers, but it is definitely also something to take with you into the future!

I got a part-time job when I was 14. I should have had a TON more money saved by the time I went to college than I did (Having to pay $500 to fix my car after I wrecked it texting and driving didn’t help!). But I spent my money on clothes. Clothes don’t pay for college. Makeup doesn’t pay for college. If I would have saved more money I could have possibly done a study abroad at college. Experiences are better than things in my wise, aged opinion 😉

Thank goodness for my husband who got up at the crack of dawn from the time he was 13 to deliver papers and saved almost every penny he made. We didn’t start off our marriage in the poor house because of him! I’ve since learned the importance of saving and the value of experience over things!

8. There Is Life After High School
I didn’t believe it at the time, but life does go on after high school! When you’re in those critical three years it feels like everything bad that happens is the end of the world. It feels like the popular kids will always be popular and you’ll never fit in.

But then you graduate, and you go to college, and you get a good job, and start your family, and none of the stuff in high school seems to matter anymore. It’s all about your family.

And sometimes life is fair and the thin, pretty girls in high school get fat and the popular guys never go to college or get good jobs. YOU NEVER KNOW!

9. Love Yourself
This is one of the most crucial pieces of advice for teenagers, I wish I would have loved myself more. I wish I would have had more confidence in my body and loved it more. High school kids can be so mean! I wish I would have taken care of it more and not let mean comments affect me so much. It’s hard when you’re young to not let the comments sink in, but don’t let them!

Not every one in the world can be thin! God didn’t create us all that way. Look around at the people in your neighborhood or at the store. We all come in different shapes and sizes. Short, tall, thin, round. Love yourself for who you are and treat your body well so it will treat you well in return.

10. Your Parents Will Be Your Friends One Day
At least I hope they will. Mine sure are! But they aren’t my friends because we got along while I was a teenager.

No way!

They’re my friends because they didn’t let me get away with stuff while I was a teenager. They parented me instead of appeasing me. Sadly, we did not get along all of the time and I couldn’t wait to move out for college. Let’s face is, living with teenagers isn’t the easiest on parents either. Marriage and kids can change things and now I love talking with my parents and my husband’s parents. I love their advice and learning from their experience!

So don’t give your parents such a hard time, alright! They are doing the best they can!

What is the Best Thing About Being a Teenager?

The best thing about being a teenager, is having a whole world of opportunity ahead of you! It’s a fun, crazy time, and one that helps set you up for the rest of your life. Make sure you choose those things that keep your future open and pointed towards your best goals and dreams! This is the essence of all my advice for teenagers!

Final Thoughts on Advice for Teenagers

If you’re a teen and are reading this, I hope you’ll take it to heart. The teenage years are such a crucial time of growth and development. I hope you will make the absolute best of it! And if you’re a parent hoping for parenting tips,  wondering how to live with a teenage son or what advice your teenage girl could use, I hope you liked this list as well.

What do you think about my list? Any other advice for teenagers or regrets you’d add?

If you liked this post, I hope you’ll share it with your favorite teenager and Pin it below!

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