You are a parent planning to move with your teenage children to Denmark? Then I can surely imagine how much worries cloud your mind. On the one hand, you just have to move to secure a bright future for your children and can’t leave them back home but on the other, a new environment may just ruin their lives to unexpected levels. While knowing what teenage life in Denmark may make someone who believes in strict parenting a little uneasy, it’s better than being entirely ignorant.
Common feelings among teenagers
Surely, being a teenager is a very delicate thing, at least anybody who has gone through this phase of life can attest as much. Ordinarily, there are just so many things fleeting through the mind of a teenager while the body also adjusts to the looming adulthood. This is a phase in life that any parent must be very careful not to completely lose the child because a mistake in approaching a teenager may completely ruin their life. parent-child relationship or both.
Any parent moving to Denmark from abroad will always pose to think and rethink whether their decision is likely to backfire especially on child upbringing. When a tenager enters Denmark,biological changes in the body intertwine with a high level of liberal child upbringing in the country. For a parent who is used to being the unquestionable boss who wholly controls their children, Denmark with its pro-child freedom laws is just yet to hand you a shock of your life.
Danish ways and laws that protect teenagers
To start with, children in Denmark are introduced to living independent lives so early. While adulthood in Denmark follows the conventional age of 18 years of age, you will find a teenager in Denmark so much in control of their lives. Guess what? They have a clearly set out daily schedule, know when to take a break, work and save some money. This child is not one to be chaperoned around at every turn.
By the time a child in Denmark gets to teenage, so much has already influenced their personal and behavioural development. You can imagine that they have already explored a lot of information on the readily accessible internet, know what they want in their lives, have been socialized differently and many more.
Parents who come from countries that permit express parental disciplining of children will normally find it impossible to live with a teenager in Denmark. It may be difficult to get over the reality that in Denmark, you have the permission to correct and bring up your child but not through terror or inflicting pain whatsoever.
The phrase “spare the rod and spoil a child” has no place in Denmark. A little fall into the temptations of punishing a child and the municipality will be quick to take them away from you. There is no recourse for you to get your child back from the municipality if it’s proven that you treat them violently.
So many parents, especially those whose parenting back home allows high handedness have found themselves in trouble with the authorities by being overbearing and brutal. So many parents lose their teenage children the moment it is noticed that they don’t allow the children to live the “Danish teenage way.”
Things that Teenagers can do in Denmark at various ages
Teenagers in Denmark are not your ordinary docile type that depends on parents to call the shots every other time. You will be surprised how your son or daughter whom you carried along from abroad learn to be independent so soon. They see this independence in movies, get stories from their friends at school and read about it.
The sense of personal identity and self discovery among average children in Denmark is on another level. They are the real snapchat ,tweeter and Tiktok generation who will probably mesmerize you with the I know it all attitude.
The teenagers in Denmark are curious yet very expressive which is a great feat. While those who have a sense of self direction at their teenage grow to be great achievers, a number of them still fall by the wayside and settle for mean achievements.
As an expat parent in Denmark, maybe your aspiration is to see to it that your child becomes an impeccable doctor, nurse, engineer, statistician, process designer or computer scientist. But because in Denmark there is this culture that nobody is a loser but everybody wins, there is a likelihood that your child will not feel as motivated to be the best.
Even though you may feel the parental urge to offer direction to your teenage child early in life, the Danish system will not give such a chance. You are required to let the children identify their strengths and pursue their dreams. They may also just lose it all and still the government will somehow provide them with a livelihood. That’s the good, bad and ugly about being a parent to a teenager in Denmark.
Life of 13 year olds in Denmark
In Denmark, children can begin working as early as 13 years of age. However, at this age, it’s the parent’s consent for the child to take up simple and light duty jobs such as distributing letters, mails and newspapers around the estate. It is important that the job that the child does at this age does not have any negative effect on personal health or schooling.
On a normal school day, it is forbidden for your child to work for a time exceeding 2 hours. On days off school. The child cannot work more than 7 hours a day. There are also a set number of hours to work in a week. These rules must be strictly followed but also point to the fact that your teenage child will be having money. You, just like myself, know what having your own money can do to an exuberant teenager. They are likely to feel so much in charge of their lives that your parenting influence likely fades away.
14 years old in Denmark
14 years of age is a tricky part in the life of teenagers as they slowly start a transition from puberty to young adulthood. By this time, so much has happened to them in the past 3 or so years since getting into puberty and they are here again trying to put their lives together, face new goals and be in charge. In Denmark, the 14 year olds are allowed to take a license for smaller mopeds. They also continue working and earning an income.
In case you are walking around in Denmark and a moped with those screechy sounds pass you by the sidewalks, that must be a 14 year old trying to register their presence. Be ready to entertain a few crazy things that they will be doing around. They are quasi adults but still with much childishness engulfing their thinking.
15 year olds in Denmark
A 15 year old teenager is very actively entering into a state of great independence. Yes, your presence as a parent in the life of a 15 year old is valuable but not necessarily to chaperon them around. In Denmark, they work upto 2 hours on school days and 8 hours on other days.
At the age of 15 years old, teenager in Denmark are permitted by law to start engaging in sexual activity. They will openly have boyfriends at this age and possibly spend a night over, a date out and many such things. They will be respectful enough to tell you taht tey are seeing their boyfriends or girlfriends but you should not appear as forcing them to do it in your way. You are hoever in order to share ideas with them just so that their sexual activity does not turn out to ruin their lives.
A 15 year old in Denmark can also now decide how to spend their money, get issued with a NemID. With the NemID, the children can also start receiving mails on E-boks. Simply put, these children are getting closer to the adult age of 18 years and so they are let free to start making critical life choices without parents meddling around all the time.
Life of 16 year olds in Denmark
As you can also guess with the trend, a 16 years old in Denmark can now do more than what a 15 year old is permitted to do. On top of what the 15 year olds do, they can now start buying alcoholic drinks. They also can now begin taking driver’s licenses for a car.
You should not be surprised when your daughter or son convenes a party at home and includes liquor on the table. They are not getting spoiled but that is what the law allows them. Maybe as a parent, you can find a smart way of letting them know the bad effects of over drinking and training on social drinking.
Living as a 17 year old in Denmark
A 17 years old in Denmark is only a year shy of becoming recognized as an adult. Here, they can now take the practical examination for a driver’s license. When they pass this test, they get issued with a driver’s permit to drive. However, they have to tag along with someone who has a valid driver’s license and is 30 years old and above.
Because of their high energy and urge to assert themselves, these teenagers can turn out to be so reckless or self destructive. They may drink themselves crazy and engage in careless driving which is the reason you may not simply give out your car keys to them hoping that the car will always be back in good shape. Be very careful when dealing with these 17 years olds in Denmark.
You teenage child turns 18 years old in Denmark
Welcome your teenage child to adulthood proper. He or she is a child no more and in Denmark, this will be very clear. Maybe by age 17, they will have already moved out and are living with a boyfriend somewhere. Your control over this child is fast becoming a forgotten thing. Take it or leave it, your child has outgrown your laps and has to now set off for greater challenges in life. They will probably be the ones telling you of the new trends around.
These are what your child will be permitted to do as soon as they celebrate their 18th birthday:
- Vote for council elections, parliament elections and EU-elections
- Decide where to live
- Decide which religion to practise· Buy painkillers over the counter
- Buy alcohol and tobacco in shop and restaurants
- Decide in personal and most financial cases
- Drive a car on its own (if license is granted)
- Have a pregnancy terminated without parental consent
- Get married
