It’s always good to have a back-up plan. When your defiant teen surprises you with out of the box behavior, you should be ready with a proper response or plan of action. After setting your house rules or guidelines and their corresponding penalties, you should go over each one and think of all the ways things may mess up. It’s always good to be prepared.
The following are examples of questions you can consider when trying to think ahead of your troubled teenager:
Lack of respect
• If my teenager screams back at me even after I threaten to ground him or take away certain privileges, what then?
• If my teenager just won’t let go of the argument even when I attempt to back off in order to keep myself calm and the situation in control, what then?
• If my teenager won’t do his household chores, what then?
• If my teenager actually gets to a point where he uses physical abuse to express his anger, what then?
School Troubles
• If my teenager makes a scene when I try to go to school to check up on him, what then?
• If my teenager’s teachers or guidance counselor do not support me in my goal to directly deal with my child’s academic problems, what then?
• If my teenager won’t do his homework no matter what penalty I give him, what then?
• If my teenager gets kicked out of school or suspended, what then?
• If my teenager doesn’t want me to go to school with him, what then?
• If I can’t get time off from work to go to school to be there for my teenager, what then?
Leaving Home
• If my teenager just disappears on me when I ground him, what then?
• If my teenager runs off to a friend of his instead when I ground him, what then?
• If my teenager calls the police and lies about abuse at home, what then?
• If my teenager does not want to return home, what then?
Teenage Sexuality
• If I sense that my teenager is sexually active but my religion hinders me from promoting birth control, what then?
• If I know my teenager is engaging in unprotected sexual activities, what then?
• If my teenager acquires a sexually transmitted disease, what then?
• If my teenager gets pregnant, what then?
• If my teenage son impregnates a girl but runs away from his responsibilities, what then?
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