Final answer:
The parent statements indicating a need for further education on adolescent risk-taking behaviors suggest a lack of structure, high peer influence environments, and unsupervised time with peers. Parents remain crucial influencers in their children's lives and should strive for a balance of supervision and autonomy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the statements made by parents, the ones that may prompt a nurse to discuss factors involved in adolescent risk-taking behaviors are:
- "It is important to me that my child sees me as a friend." This may indicate a lack of authoritative structure and can lead to diminished parental influence on adolescent decision-making.
- "My child is always spending time at the skate park with friends." This suggests a high peer influence environment where adolescents may feel pressured to take risks to fit in.
- "When I work in the evenings, my child spends time with friends." Unsupervised time with peers may increase the likelihood of risk-taking as there are fewer barriers to such behavior.
Despite adolescents seeming to be more influenced by their peers, it's important to recognize that parents continue to be a significant influence on their behavior. In fact, teens report that parental guidance and relationships are impactful, particularly in areas such as sexual behavior.
Parents taking an interest in their child’s life, such as knowing their child’s friends and monitoring their social media, tend to create favorable outcomes, such as better grades and lower instances of bad behavior. To support healthy risk assessment in adolescents, a balance of supervision and trust is needed, empowering them to make informed decisions while still providing a safety net.