Teenage years are a crucial part of growing up. At this stage, they love to explore things and when they are not permitted to do what they wanted, they will rebel. If parents don’t know how to deal with their teens it will be a problem. They will become rebellious at home or even in school if teachers don’t know how to handle teen agers, they might be the contributing factors of their rebellious attitude. I had been in close contact with teen agers when I was teaching and I was once, an adviser of a teen club. I know how it feels when dealing with teen agers. They want to prove to adults that they can do things their own way. They don’t want to be controlled and be under the demands of anybody. They want a mentor who can understand them and give them chance to prove themselves.
Here are some points I got which I considered reasons for their rebellious attitude.
Too Strict Rules
Some parents or teachers are too strict in implementing rules. As if they don’t give these young people any chance to reason out, complain or make any suggestions. Since they are in higher authority, the young should follow and obey. When teen agers are under the stern control of older folks, they will resent and rebel. It would be best if teens be given chance to take part in making the rules and agree to the consequences that go with it. This would make them be responsible of their own actions and there would be less violations committed. When teen agers are treated this way, Sure enough, no reason for them to rebel.
Unreasonable punishment.
People who are in authority to give punishment for the mistake or sin committed should do it in a reasonable manner. It is always proper to conduct investigation and weigh things over, before implementing due punishment. There are times when teen agers are not given chance to speak out and explain their side. They considered this as unfair treatment and the next to happen is rebellion. Young people need consideration and understanding. When we are too hard with our teen agers, things get worst.
They want attention.
Some teen agers lack attention. They feel as if nobody cares about them. No one cares to compliment with their accomplishments and success. Parents are too busy and friends don’t really care to appreciate their efforts. This is very disappointing to them. They want to be recognized and appreciated. In this desperate situation, they would do something to catch the attention of these important persons in their lives. Some would run away from home. Others will engage in questionable activities just to gain, attention and care from their loved ones.
Parents have high expectations.
There are parents who set high goals tor their teen agers to reach. They have great ambitions of what their teens would become even if they knew, it is far beyond the capacity of their teens to achieve. Expecting too high is oftentimes frustrating. It would sometimes made us inhuman in the sense that we are putting too much pressure on them to make our dream come true. When they failed, they would be scolded or maybe deprived of something they will suppose to have. Teen agers take this as inconsiderate treatment which may cause them to display rebellious attitude. We are driving them away from us .
Peer pressure.
When teen agers are going with friends who are bad influence, they are pressured also to do the same. They felt out of place when they wouldn’t do what others were doing. Most often they would give more time and priority to be with their friends than anyone else and when reprimanded, they would rebel. They want to belong to a society of friends whom they will enjoy their company. Wit this, it is very important that teen agers would be guided of whom they are getting along with and what kind of friends they have. They should be given proper guidance by parents and other adults.
Oftentimes, we are at fault why there are rebellious teen agers. It is of our own doing why they rebel. Here are things we should remember. It is always rewarding to have close relationship with our teen agers. We must be there to give them support and advice instead of being too hard on them. We must give considerations for some mistakes and give them chance to do the right thing with proper guidance. No put downs and blaming for these would make the communication closed. They would be scared to open up things because of nagging or scolding. If we are kind and understanding in dealing with our teen agers there would be no rebellious problems.
