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Child’s disobedience and selfishness, poor school performance, strange hobbies and suspicious friends … Almost all parents whose children gradually grow up and start making their own choices face these problems. The teenage period is a difficult time for the whole family. It is important to go through quarrels with the child and mutual reproaches with the least losses, while maintaining respect and love for each other. So, let’s see: why do conflicts arise between teenagers and parents? How to solve them correctly and can they be avoided?
Content:
Psychologists explain the difficulties of the teenage period with the age crisis. It begins when the child is 10-12 years old, and ends upon reaching 17-19. This is a transition period from one stage of children’s development to another. During teenage years changes occur in the structure of the child’s communication, the restructuring of his/her relationship with peers and adults. [1] And, it is parents who feel it effects on themselves first. It seems that yesterday their baby was sweet and sociable, but today he/she is avoiding everyone and nursing a grudge against the whole world.
Russian psychologists and teachers conducted a survey among teenagers and their parents in order to identify the main causes of family conflicts. At the same time, the answers of children and adults almost coincide. Among the most common causes of conflict between parents and teenagers are the following:
Many conflicts between parents and teenagers usually arise literally “out of thin air”. But there are deep issues behind every quarrel, even minor one.
“I cannot take it anymore. My parents drive me crazy. They are too overprotective – checking whether I put on a hat, where I was, what I did. I’m a pretty good student, but my parents manage to make a problem even out of 2 “good” marks in a quarter. Mother constantly asks about my friends and boyfriend and we can start fighting over anything. This is annoying. I started lying, because it’s easier than constantly explaining to parents where and in whose company I was. I began to stay longer at school with friends, with my boyfriend – just to avoid going home! I live in a cage like an animal. Mom asks why I don’t share anything with her. But why would I? After all, every conversation between us ends in a fight. I’m tired of living like that”.
— Anna, 15
On the surface the behavior of a teenager looks like denial and devaluation of the authority of adults. He/she can dye hair in a bright color, wear provoking clothes, return home only late at night, find a hobby that is not approved by relatives and teachers. But in reality teenager does not fight with his/her parents for the sake of fighting as such. All of it represents an attempt to break free from the tight control of the family, to set personal boundaries. Many of the actions of the child have this implication: “I can and want to make important decisions for myself. Please give me such an opportunity!” But these manifestations of the age crisis only antagonize parents, since they grew up at a completely different time.
It may seem to adults that a rapidly growing child is deeply indifferent to what is happening around, because he/she often behaves aloof, to put it mildly. But this is only a defensive reaction – the teenager simply does not know how to resolve the conflict with his/her parents. Therefore, he/she is doing his/her best to evade the clarification of relations in hope that the situation will be resolved on its own. As a result, he/she becomes closed and taciturn, lying all the time.
Adolescent children, as a rule, respond to the accusations and confrontational actions of parents with following reactions:
Whatever the reasons for conflicts between parents and teenagers, they become a huge stress for the child. Tensions in the family can have serious consequences for him/her up to depression. The child, although striving with all heart for independence, has not yet learned to cope with life’s difficulties. He/she needs the help of parents.
“My son is 12. Over the past year, my boy has changed a lot – he became bitter, does not obey anything I say, constantly acting up. He stopped going out with his friends in the evenings, instead spending more time at the computer, and not doing his homework. I tried to scold and punish him for such behavior, but he just gets “revenge” – stops eating, fails the tests at school. His only friends are our cat and his computer. I restricted the time he was allowed in front of the TV, blocked the Internet on the smartphone and started meeting him from school. I hoped that he would stop being so bitter all the time. But it didn’t get better; the child is increasingly moving away from me and from his father. I don’t know what to do”.
— Anastasia, mother of 12-year-old Igor
Parents for a young child are the whole world. But everything changes as a child grows up. Children become more independent, express their opinions more and want to do things on their own. And in the eyes of relatives all of it looks like a mutiny. They consider the changed behavior of the child as an attack against their own authority: “I am in charge now! What I say goes!” As a result, family starts a struggle for power. The teenager fights with parents faced with their lack of understanding.
Adults, accustomed to the authoritarian style of upbringing, are dissatisfied with literally everything – the child’s studies and appearance, their choice of friends and hobbies. They are afraid of the deviant behavior of their beloved child – deceit, aggression, Internet addiction, gaming. And the teenager is afraid not to live up to the exaggerated expectations of his/her relatives. For him/her it is a heavy burden.
The main mistake of parents when trying to communicate with a teenager is their tight control. Many adults, despite the fact that they already have sufficient experience in resolving conflicts, try to subordinate the child to their will. And this only pushes away and incenses the teenager, and what’s even worse, can “break” the growing child, making him/her into an indecisive adult unable to properly support himself.
Fighting between teenagers and parents strain family relations to the limit, and this can be emotionally draining for everyone.
It is impossible to completely avoid conflicts, because there will always be an age difference between the child and his/her parents. Adults were brought up in a completely different environment and already have well-established outlook on life. A child is from another generation whose values can radically differ. Clash of interests is common and normal manifestation of relations between people from different generations. The main thing is what kind of outcome it will lead to.
It is pointless to deal with the manifestations of independence of a teenager without finding out the true reasons for this behavior. Only that will help to understand how to resolve arising conflicts. The crucial thing is to explain to the child how important it is to maintain close, trusting relationships in the family.
If conflicts have become a habit, you can jointly go through a behavior modification program using 7Spsy technique. Having mastered a healthy behavior scenario, it will be easier for you to find a compromise.
Continuous conflicts between teenagers and parents risk the destruction of relations and protracted crisis. But according to psychologists, a powerful constructive origin can potentially be found in the emerging disagreements. It turns out that a conflict can be useful if it leads to a “right” outcome.
Depending on the outcome, conflicts can be divided into 2 groups – constructive and non-constructive.
When a quarrel flows into a calm dialogue and ends with a compromise, this is a constructive conflict. In this case, both the child and parents are ready to cooperate, do not hold back their claims and do not hold resentment against each other.
The positive effects of constructive conflict include:
It is this outcome that children and parents should strive towards – not to aggravate the problem, but to constructively solve it. But it is important that each party aimed for a positive result.
Non-constructive conflicts between parents and teenagers are devastating. When neither party has an acceptable way to solve problems that arise, mutual accusations, rather than a compromise, come to the fore. This is a conflict for the sake of conflict – emotional, sometimes aggressive. It is precisely because of such fervent quarrels that a teenager becomes withdrawn, often lies, “learns” bad habits, and finds dangerous hobbies.
The negative effects of non-constructive conflict include:
When the conflict takes on a protracted nature, it is not easy to shift it from a destructive base to a constructive one.
According to the questionnaire, 38% of teenagers aged 12-13 surveyed in conflict situations with parents solve problems in non-constructive ways (aggression, isolation, avoidance behavior). This indicator rises to 44% in teenagers aged 14-15. [2]
Conflicts that arise between adults and children are exacerbated when both parties believe that they are behaving completely normally. Parents are sure that they care about the health and well-being of their child. And the teenager is in conflict with parents, because he/she is convinced that he/she was not going to do anything wrong and reprehensible, but he/she is not heard and understood. It is a vicious circle.
The relationship between parents and children should not turn into a war. According to psychologists, the optimal family model at the time of the age crisis is partnership. Hypercare, dictatorship and coexistence are inappropriate models of family relationships.
How do parents and teenagers avoid conflict? It is important for adults to follow these principles:
Psychologists advise parents to gradually reduce care– to give the child control over the increasingly large areas of his/her life. The child needs to learn from his/her own experience and mistakes. This difficult period will pass relatively painlessly, if there is mutual respect and love in the family.
Conflicts between parents and teenagers are subject to the same laws as adult conflicts. The only difference is that growing up children are more emotional, which means that even a petty quarrel can end in a real fight. A loud showdown is not an option. Both parents and the child should start by changing their behavior model, getting rid of the habit of responding to provocative situations with shouts and reproaches. It is important to react in time so as not to miss the moment when it is still possible to establish relations with each other. If parents and teenagers themselves cannot find ways to resolve conflicts, psychology will help.
7Spsy behavior modification technique is focused on the formation of new positive attitudes that will help transfer the conflicts into a peaceful direction. This is a patented, scientifically proven method based on the theories of I.P. Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, A.A. Ukhtomsky. The program is designed for 2-6 weeks, the teenager is engaged independently at a convenient time. Having mastered the skills of self-control at the end of the course, a teenager will understand how to stop quarreling with parents. This will help him/her to resolve conflicts with parents without aggression, while maintaining an emotional connection with his/her family.
The advantage of the 7Spsy program is the ability to work remotely with a psychologist. The child is guaranteed complete confidentiality. This is important because often teenagers are not willing to share the details of their problems with teachers and close adult relatives, fearing their negative reaction. In addition, the child can receive comprehensive psychological assistance – by phone and e-mail, in online chat.
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