Home
>
Parenting
>
Parenting Your Adolescent: 3 Powerful Steps to Being an In-Charge Parent

Parenting Your Adolescent: 3 Powerful Steps to Being an In-Charge Parent

Q. How do I overcome the 16-year-old who does things only on his time frame. For instance, when I ask him to do something, he intentionally takes his time just to upset me. I'm not sure what to do.

A. This is a great question for at least two reasons: It provides an opportunity to share some basic principles for parenting adolescents and lets me deliver some solutions.

Basic Principles

The average 16-year-old is 16 going on 26 and 16 going on 6 all at the same time.

Take the verbal ability and "wisdom" of 16 going on 26, mix well with the "I want what I want when I want it, which is now!" of the 16 going on 6, and you have a powerful, demanding and highly manipulative creature.

You cannot "make" a teen-ager do much of anything. At least not without lots of nasty consequences to you, the teen and the relationship.

As I've said many times before, trying to control a teen-ager is like trying to put pants on a gorilla. It's just going to frustrate you and make the gorilla really mad.

With the right strategies, however, you can have a great deal of influence on your teens, their choices and their environments. More on this a little later.

Teen-agers, just like all children, are by nature very obedient.

No, I haven't lost my mind or left the real world. Teens are very obedient to the ways in which we teach them to behave. We teach them how to behave either directly, by our example, or indirectly, by what we allow them to get away with and by what we allow them to do.

Solutions

Somehow, and it really does not matter so much how, your son has gotten the idea that he can get away with what he is doing.

Here are three solutions to turn this thing around:

1. Our kids are bright and know what bugs us. As they become older, it gets to be a sport to see what they can make us do in our frustration. It makes them feel a little powerful.

So, the first solution is to unhook from the behavior and responses that are so upsetting to you. Since the behaviors have probably been occurring for some time, you simply should stop acting surprised by them. Expect the behavior. When it comes, unhook from the invitation to get upset.

As your son opens his mouth and/or behaves in the way that has upset you up until now, picture a big hook coming out of his mouth straight at you to hook you in. Then picture yourself ducking it, swatting it away or just smiling with your mouth closed.

If nothing else, this will amuse you and cause you to smile in a stressful situation. That will make your child wonder what is going on, which is good in this situation.

2. Next, provide an "illusion of choice and control." Part of the struggle for adolescents is to be more and more in charge of themselves, which involves having more control and choices in their own lives. We want them to be more and more in charge of themselves, or they will be living at your home when they're 30.

So, when you want your teen to complete a task, let's say taking his shoes to his room, here's what you say: "I want you to get your shoes in the bedroom. You can do it now or by the end of the next commercial, (when this show ends, before you go to bed, etc.)" You, as the parent, picks the "by when" part.

3. Follow this up with: "You've got some decisions, choices and results to make. If you decide to choose not to do what I have asked, then the bad result will be ..." _ something you as the parent can control and that will be sufficiently unpleasant to your teen. Since, in this case, he is 16, if he has a driver's license you have some very nice leverage.

You continue: "If you decide to do what I've asked, then the good results will be you get to do more of what you would like to do. I'll be watching to see what you decide."

Then walk away. Don't engage in any debate.

And one more suggestion: As you enter into this plan, you have to be willing to stick with it for the long haul. I can predict that, as you apply these solutions, you will receive some "change back" behavior from your son.

Change back behavior is basically your son saying, "But Mom, I liked it the way it was before when I was in charge. Please tell me you don't really mean this! And, since I think you really don't mean it, I'm going to try my best to get you to back off and change back."

What you will not get is, "Thanks, Mom. What a great solution to this problem we have been having. I think I want to grow up to be a counselor now."

Nope, just won't happen.

Stick with these solutions, and I think you will like the results.

Visit parentingyourteenager.com for tips and tools for thriving during the teen years. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e 5 day e-program on parentingyourteenager.com.

licensed cleaning services Park Ridge ..

In The News:

Chrome extension spyware disguised as a free VPN service highlights security risks after it captured private browsing data from trusted sites.

New research shows how fatty acids in cooking oil can safely dissolve and recover silver from circuit boards without harmful chemicals or environmental damage.

The Fox News AI newsletter gives you information on the latest AI technology advancements, and about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Anthropic investigates alarming AI abuse case where hacker automated entire cybercrime campaign using Claude, stealing sensitive data from defense and healthcare firms.

TikTok, Meta and YouTube restrict Charlie Kirk shooting videos with age gates and warnings while X faces criticism for allowing continued circulation.

Cybercriminals use fake troubleshooting websites to trick Mac users into running terminal commands that install Shamos malware through ClickFix tactics.

San Francisco startup Fable launches Showrunner, an AI platform dubbed the 'Netflix of AI' that generates animated episodes from text descriptions with Amazon support.

Apple raised iPhone prices for some models despite receiving tariff relief from President Donald Trump, with the new lineup starting at $799 for the base model.

A two-story 3D concrete printed home in Western Australia demonstrates faster construction methods that could reshape American housing amid rising costs.

Credit scores remain important during retirement for insurance rates and housing applications, while seniors become prime targets for identity theft and financial scams.

Scammers now send unexpected packages with QR codes that redirect victims to fraudulent websites or download malicious software to steal sensitive information.

Meeting AI tools record private conversations alongside work discussions, creating privacy risks that can be managed with proper settings and awareness.

Hotel privacy concerns are valid but rare, with methods to detect hidden tech using smartphone flashlights, mirror tests and scanning apps.

Improve your Wi-Fi speed and reliability with 10 simple router optimization tips that don't require special apps or expensive subscriptions.

A Columbia University breach exposed names, Social Security numbers and academic records of nearly 869,000 people, with notifications beginning in August.

Rental car drivers use AI-powered apps like Proofr to protect themselves from unfair damage fees as major companies deploy automated inspection tools.

Fox News' AI newsletter brings you the latest on technology advancements around artificial intelligence.

OnTrac data breach between April 13-15, 2025, exposed personal information of over 40,000 people including Social Security numbers and medical records.

A woman named Wika announces her engagement to an AI chatbot sparking worldwide debate about virtual relationships and technology.

The notorious people search site National Public Data relaunches despite a previous breach affecting 3 billion individuals, raising fresh privacy concerns.

Revolutionary TRAUMAGEL gel controls life-threatening bleeding from gunshot wounds and traumatic injuries, helping first responders prevent prehospital deaths.

Protect your home network by enabling proper encryption, creating strong passwords, checking connected devices and using VPN and antivirus software.

The Navy's solar-powered Skydweller drone flew nonstop for 73 hours in Mississippi, proving renewable energy can power long-endurance military missions.

Moving and downsizing expose seniors to identity theft and scams as data brokers collect real estate records and personal information to sell to criminals.

ShengShu's Vidar technology revolutionizes humanoid robot training by using AI-generated synthetic video, reducing required training data from hours to just 20 minutes.