They seem to do not quite have a well-determined strategy for dealing with adults, which was predictable due to the rashness and irascibility that characterizes this specific age. What they admitted to use when negotiating with their parents is the argument of evoking the elders' years of youth by reminding them how they felt as teenagers, together with the promise of coming back home at the precise established hour.
Researches done in the area indicate as the main reasons for adolescents' behavior the small stressing events that they must cope with every day: conflicts with close friends, communication problems with peers, the feeling of being left outside. As they tend to be more emotional than their parents and adults, in general, and they experience opposite moods very frequently, one agrees that they feel extremely affected by small and, one could say, meaningless events, because they perceive these events from the angle of their increased emotionality. Another interesting fact is that, even though teenagers seem to experience conflicts most often with mothers than with fathers, they closer to them, due to the fact that, in a subconscious way, they perceive mothers as primary caregivers.
These scientific conclusions one has reached to in years of researches in the area, together with...
First of all, one must pay special attention to the increased emotionality of this age segment and work in accord to this. One should, by no means, use stressful methods or toughness of any type when relating with teenagers. Also, as they generally feel unconfident, one should inspire trust and treat their complaints in the most serious and professional way, in order for them to feel that one gives them the appropriate attention. Finally, their preference for getting closer to mother can also be used when dealing with their problems. One should imply the teenager's mom in the process of solving his/her issues. This will also give him/her the feeling of being protected by the family.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Larson, R. (1984). Being Adolescent: Conflict and Growth in Teenage Years. New York: Basic Books.
Waddock, S.A., Freedman, M. (1999). Reducing the generation gap and strengthening schools. Generations, 22
Larson, R., Richards, H.M. (1994). Divergent Realities: The Emotional Lives of Mothers, Fathers, and Adolescents. New York: Basic Books.
Seiffge-Krenke, I. (1995). Stress, Coping and Relationships in Adolescence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
