By Alex Urbina, Santa Clarita Life Coach

In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting that killed 17 people last week, a passionate grass-roots gun control movement is taking hold among high school students all across the country, who are calling out the government to take action on preventing future mass shootings.

As a Santa Clarita life coach who has been empowering youth for over 20 years, there is nothing more inspiring to me than to see young people that are passionate about causing positive change in the world, deciding that their voice matters and finding the courage to use it for just that purpose.

As conscious parents, we get to use world events like these as teachable moments.

Related: High School Students Stage Rally, Exercise First Amendment Rights In Santa Clarita

We get to open up powerful discussions with our teenagers to help them reflect on world events to find out how they might be interpreting them and how it might affect them in both a positive and/or negative way.

Opening up deep, meaningful conversations with our children to discuss our points of views on life and the world is important in the development of both roles as the parent and the child.

These teachable moments are a rite of passage and very important to the mental, emotional and spiritual growth of the little ones that we gave birth to.

Related: Santa Clarita Life Coach, Author Alex Urbina Hosts Book Signing For ‘The Inspirational Parent’

One of the most powerful ways to have these kinds of discussions that foster growth for both parents and teens is to create a safe, non-judgmental space to share without hidden agendas or fears.

Here is the magical formula:

•         Invite your child to have an open discussion with you about how they feel, or sharing their thoughts on the subject.
•         Be loving, open minded, and curiously interested in learning from each other’s points of views through your intimate sharing.
•         Ask a lot of open-ended questions and listen compassionately and curiously without your “fear filters” on.
•         Don’t listen from a standpoint of agreeing or disagreeing, seek to understand.
•         Avoid trying to directly course-correct their own points of view, instead share your own point of view in a compelling way, as though you are planting a seed.
•         When the conversation is over, be grateful for the conversation and affirm the gratitude by sharing it with your child and end it with letting them know what you learned about yourself and them.

It is the wise parent that learns how to be and create the space for their children to discover and develop their own powerful selves, not try to force or muscle them to think and act accordingly.

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