Teens have a natural tendency to oppose their parents and their parent s opinions. This is just one more way of becoming separate. Teens are changeable, trying on new roles and personas like we try on new hats. Keep a sense of humor and remember the old joke about the Minnesota weather, If you don t like it, wait five minutes. The same can be said for your teen s latest phase.
Teens are peer driven.
They crave peer acceptance and approval, but frequently feel like they have missed the boat. Today s teens are under a tremendous amount of pressure and they are bombarded with choices, opportunities and exposure to images and information at such a mind- boggling rate that it is overwhelming. TV, movies, video games, internet, e-mail, instant messaging, cell phones, pagers, laptop computers, palm pilots, MP3 players their world is high tech and fast moving. Most teens are exhausted most of the time. They might not show it, but teens really NEED their parents and want, even crave, attention from their parents.