This article is for parents who love and understand their teenagers! Who know what it feels like to have your kid slam the door and 10 minutes later embrace you in euphoria. Who see the potential of their angry teenager and are constantly torn between the desire to end them with their own hands and the desire to protect them with love until they’re 50 years old. No seriously, this article is for people who know how important it is for children to grow up as free-thinking individuals with established values ​​and understand that this is not an easy process. For those who know that in bringing up a teenager, factors such as family, education, and social factors are in a strong symbiosis, and only the good management of this symbiosis will guide their child to becoming a complete, free, creative and self-sufficient Person.

So, dear parents, until the age of 3, Dr. Spock confidently led you along the path of parenting. Then you drove by intuition and pure love, because for the little human you were still the center of his/her world. But then came the teen age, and your little cheeky heir, became rebellious, pimpled teenager whose actions and thoughts are the reason for 50% of your grey hairs. Lack of orientation and understanding, disobedience, stubbornness and anger – you already know these emotions in your children. But you also know that these are just normal states in the process of character-building of a young person. You are now at the stage where you need to understand and support your children the most.

Being a parent of a teenager is not easy – the balance between the control you have to exercise overyour child and the freedom they need to be able to find themselves is extremely fragile. We all want our kids to grow as healthy, happy people and provide them with the best. But how do we give them the exactly right amount of freedom? It is normal for a parent to be afraid of the word “freedom” – that means chaos and riots, but under the freedom of choice, let us understand that as “controlled freedom of choice”, to give various opportunities to your child, to show patience and understanding of their interests, to change and develop their environment, according to the changes and development of the child’s interests.

Let me present to you some of the ideas and aims of  Trotoara Room for Angry People

One of the principles in Т.Р.А.П. One of TRAP’s principles is through creativity, as a pedagogical tool, to encourage young people to develop their skills and talents and to actively find new ones. Through emotion, passion, inspiration and desire to create, to build values ​​and life goals. To have faith in themselves and increase their self-esteem. Trotoara Room for Angry People is the physical place where communication and creativity happen in different areas, where rehearsals, meetings, workshops and other activities take place. No limitation of sex, belonging, and social status. Here, students receive new skills and knowledge, different from those taught at school. The amazing L3 метод is used to reduce the risk of depression, time spent in front of the TV and the computer, alcohol and drugs abuse, and create people with unique personalities.

Here’s what Denka Spirova, former head of Child Protection at the Social Assistance Agency, and a mother of three says:

“At this age, children want their identity to be respected, they want to be accepted and valued for what they are. Not based on school grades, progress in extracurricular activities (such as piano lessons, drawing, etc.) or material possessions. That is the moment the child starts building his/her own self- esteem and it’s extremely important for them to be accepted and supported by their peers and parents.

A very good model for achieving personal self-esteem growth is teamwork, where through uniting activities each child stands out with their individuality. In school, this is rarely achieved, as there is a pattern of progress – the lessons and the material studied, and there is also control – the teacher, an as we know, pupils persistently avoid control. Competition is also manifested through the battle for better assessment grades. It is important for children of this age to be able to express themselves without competing. This can be achieved with a common, unifying goal. An activity in which all can manifest themselves with their individualities and through it grow up and even overachieve themselves. It is good for children to have a place to come together, share and express themselves. A place where the control is not authoritarian. It’s important for them to take part in building the rules and in the process develop self-control.”

One of the aims of Trotoara Foundation is to involve parents in the activities because the family is an important factor in the students’ achievements. Parents should not only consent to their children’s participation in the project but must also validate their participation by being an active unit of the different events, support their kids and at the same time develop their own abilities as parents. Many parents are already familiar with the TRAP activities and participate directly or indirectly. We asked some of them what they thought about the idea and the mission of Trotoara and Adi’s mother, Luba, said:

“The place is interesting and if I was 14 years old I would have loved it. The idea is magnificent and I can only thank Deyan Yankov for his efforts and dedication. It is certainly useful for young people to have a place to express themselves, to work and to comply with rules in a community different than the family and school ones. It’s my child’s second home and I am delighted that she gets involved in the challenges of TRAP. It would be a great pleasure for me to take part in the initiatives and help in any way I can! But I think parental access must be approved by the kids first :)”

If you’re reading this, your teenager is probably a TRAP member or is making an effort to earn that right. You know us (or not quite), and we know your child very well. But we do not know You. That is why we urge you to become part of the idea so we can grow together and give our children a brighter future because they deserve it. Join Trotoara Room for Angry People  parental community “I’m in, too!”. Come meet us (at 26, Brothers Miladinov Steet), join our projects, share your ideas for moving forward, because Together we can do more!

We are waiting for you at Sofia Tech Park, “John Atanasov” hall at the young people festival –  TRAP fest 2018 – Приключението 2, where you can actively take part in the parental community.

And where, by the way, more than 150 inspired teenagers have already signed up to be volunteers, performers, organizers and participants in the biggest event of Trotoara so far.