Resources for parents of at-risk and troubled teens.



November 2010

Teens Out of Control

by Staff, on at risk youth, out of control behavior, out of control teens, teen behavior issues, teens out of control

We all know that there is a great possibility of out teens getting out of control. We have all heard stories about out of control teens, and most of us always expect the worst. The truth is that teens are developing, they are curious and they want to experiment and find their independence, in some cases it is actually our pressure that leads to their out of control behavior. But an argument here and there and some changes in your teens are normal, but once things start to turn violent that is when you can consider to have an out of control teen on your hands.

Most parents tend to overreact and claim to have out of control teens when they are just witnessing typical teen behavior, to know what qualifies for teens out of control and to be able to recognize that type of behavior we have set out the warning signs of out of control teen behavior.

The things you need to look out for are temper issues with your teen, constant need for arguing, even for small things, constantly defying everything and refusing to follow the rules. These teens will also show signs of deliberate actions meant to annoy or anger others, they tend to put the blame on other people for their wrongful actions and poor choices as well as being vengeful. It is quite easy to say that they are quite sensitive and very eager to argue and fight, they tend to nurture plenty of hostility.

Teens are known for pushing the boundaries and experimenting, but out of control teens will constantly try top push of and break every boundary and rule. In most cases they will not show a sign of remorse for their actions. So the question being asked is what causes teens to become like that? Well there are numerous reasons and risk factors that push a teen to that kind of behavior, in some cases parents hold a significant amount of responsibility for their teen’s behavior.

A part of risk factors is directly connected to genetic predisposition, other are environmental and social factors. Things that lead to teen out of control behavior often include parents not paying attention towards rebellious behavior, constant family conflicts and having witnessed violent behavior in the family as well as friends with substance abuse issues tend to contribute to the situation.

But that is not all, peer rejection, family history of mental illness, addictions or even traumatic experiences in early childhood can all lead to out of control teen behavior. Things like financial stress, divorce, death in the family, or illness, all of these things can lead to unwanted teen behavior.

These are all hard facts, the only thing you can do is start with a positive parenting approach from the early age, once things get out of control it is very difficult to turn things around, but not impossible. That would require that you change your entire approach to disciplining and raising your child, in some cases it may be necessary to seek professional help. Staff