Teening Your Parent
Although all teenagers are different, the life challenges and experiences that teenagers go through are often similar. Adolescence is the time when people start to consolidate all of the different parts of their identity and experiment with independence; two things that can cause a lot of conflict with their families (more on that later). Consequently, for a long time, we thought that it was natural and typical for the teenage years to be filled with conflict, struggle, and angst – which we know now isn’t true. Many of today’s teens pass through adolescence experiencing only mild conflict with their families. Of course, there are still teens who struggle – but struggle and conflict is not the necessary rite of passage we once thought. Most teens are positive, caring, enthusiastic, and committed. They’re not alienated from society, getting in trouble, or causing problems. They understand and value their friends and family, want to succeed in school, have good jobs, and live rewarding lives.
