If your teen is doing poorly in school, you can restrict TV time. You can also put a limit on telephone privileges and weeknights out. If your teen stays out too late or doesn't call you when he's delayed, you can ground him for a day or a weekend. In general, grounding for more than a few days is looked upon as unfair and is hard to enforce. Use family conferences for negotiating house rules.
Some families find it helpful to have a brief meeting after dinner once a week.
At this time your teenager can ask for changes in the house rules or bring up family issues that are causing problems. The family unit often functions better if the decision-making is democratic. The objective of negotiation should be that both parties win. Generally when your teenager is in a bad mood, he won't want to talk about it with you. If teenagers want to discuss a problem with anybody, it is usually with a close friend.