When teens sass their parents, they feel powerful and in control, even if it's only for a few minutes, Kendrick says. They have disarmed their parents, he says. The best way for parents to react to a sassy statement is not to get angry but to remind their teens who they are, Kendrick says. I don't understand it. You are a better person than that.
Adolescents often communicate in action rather than word.
Their backpack is a metaphor for their lives, Lamia says. Let's put it in your room. If parents showed their teens more kindness, respect and thoughtfulness, their teens would be a lot less surly, Lamia says. The teens wouldn't feel they had to put up their fence so often. Gannett Co. Inc. Shop.