The other night I switched off the mobile and TV, and just sat with my teenage son and for first time simply listened to his day, he spoke about music, interesting sites he had visited, Facebook comments and I just listened I offered no advice nor judgment. Even being a teacher and working with teenagers for 15 years all day and every day I am constantly surprised how complex teenagers lives have become.

If you have a teenager you probably tried and in many cases failed to workout the complexities of your kids who seem to be on trial for their very existence by a jury of their peers through social media, sms’ and emails having to defend themselves from the onslaught of pokes, likes and anonymous tweets of the faceless internet 24/7.

Start listening and less judging, life for us as kids was a lot easier and far less complex, where bullying was left on the playground and you knew when you got home you were safe, our kids need us to be compassionate and caring, don’t force them to switch off their umbilical cord to their social world, but through discussion and by example show them the real meaning of life.

I took my kids to the beach; we bought ice cream and watched the sunset. That night we prayed for a better tomorrow.