The buzz word, Euphoria. In a quick look, it seems like an ordinary show about teens. But really, what makes this two-season show one you must watch, especially if you are a parent. The changes, the attitude, the moods, or the pressures of becoming an adult? Your child is only a toddler, and you are already worried about the day they will become a teen. Since the release of season 2, Euphoria has regained all of the buzz it had when the first season came out. While the teen-centered show seems to be about everything surrounding the world of “sex, drugs, and rock & roll”, the lessons it compassionately teaches are not to be ignored. If you take away the dramatics of television it can actually point out some of what is important to teenagers as they navigate this pivotal time in their lives; and what you can do as a parent to help them.
Compassion
The first lesson Euphoria teaches us is about the effect of empathy and support. We see the main character (Rue) become addicted to drugs after trying opioids from her father who struggles with cancer. We compassionately witness how difficult it is to recover from addiction and how easy relapse can be. Addicts are fast to be judged, looked down upon and dismissed. “Fight it!”, we ironically demand from addicts, not realizing this is a true disease, one that someone doesn’t choose. Addiction doesn’t discriminate between age, status, or gender. I’m sure you can recall a time in your own life when compassion was instrumental in helping you overcome an obstacle, and I encourage you to choose compassion more often.
Avoiding Judgment & Acceptance
Addiction does not just affect the person suffering from it, it affects everyone around them, family, friends, and even colleagues. This is part of the disease. It’s hard to watch someone you love go through the struggles, the dependency, and through slowly killing themselves physically and spiritually. It’s important to let your loved ones who are struggling with addiction know that you are there for them no matter what. We see how the compassion from Jules and her friend Ali, helps Rue in trying to overcome her addiction. The idea of support and empathy can be extended to all aspects of teenagers’ lives. Mistakes will be made and failures will happen, and these are the only ways for one to grow. By shaming and condemning the addiction will not be tamed but will roar loudly at the addict and the family.
Identity
The final thing we can learn from the hit show is about identity. High school is often the first place where teenagers begin to experiment with who they are. Each character represents a whole different world of personalities, preferences, and struggles. Sexuality, mental health, and exposure to drugs and alcohol are a few of the things that shape who our kids turn out to be. They may begin to dress and behave differently. You may feel like it’s hard to talk to them, but you have to communicate the importance of these things with them to support who they are becoming. They need to begin the process of learning how to navigate these difficulties. This, of course, does not stop after high school. High school introduces us to different kinds of people, and it’s a perfect time to decide who we want to be. It’s our job as parents to let them and accept them to be who they are. It might take time to discover, “who am I? What role do I have in society?”, with patience and immense listening, the answers will come slowly. Try to give up on the shame, the judgment, and what you think is the ‘perfect’ child. Your child is perfectly imperfect, as each one of us is.
Teenagers are complicated. They are developing physically and mentally, they are facing social and academic pressures, and they do all of this while trying to figure themselves out. The most important thing for us to know is that all of it is normal. It’s normal for them to change as they go through this time, it’s normal for them to pull away from you, it’s normal for you as the parent to feel nervous about them. Take these lessons, try to connect, listen and take a breath. You were a teenager too once, not with the rays of exposure that are today, but with compassion and love, everything is doable.
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If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction please contact https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
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