They are learning to negotiate, and that is what adults do every day. Some parents try to win over their adolescents by letting the teenagers set the limits. However, that is not helpful. If parents are scared to set limits, they should only imagine what it's like for their child who does not have as much experience, and lacks problem solving skills. Consistency is essential.
Adolescence is a good time for parents to sit down and talk with their children.
It is helpful for parents to tell adolescents they are getting older, and they are going to face more complicated situations. They should let them know life is going to get harder and reassure them that they are there for them to fall back on when they run into difficult situations. It is helpful for parents to understand adolescence as a learning process in which each incident is a step forward or backward rather than an end in itself. There are many headaches involved in parenting teenagers, but hopefully there is also the excitement of watching the child emerge into a mature young adult. It is fun to watch the incredible spontaneity of teenagers, to actually see their thinking develop and expand.