Weary Parent: Parenting Tweens & Teens

Troubled Teens

by char on March 8th, 2007

We all hope for our children to grow up to be happy, healthy young adults, but despite our best intentions, there are no guarantees. As your child goes from the tween years to the teen years,  can you detect signs of a troubled child early on?

At SuperNannyRules, Gayla posted a very helpful list of signs your teen is troubled.  Here is her list:

Signs of a troubled teen:

• Your child becomes more secretive, and it seems like more than a desire for greater privacy
• Your teen has regular, sudden outbursts of anger that are clearly unreasonable and out of proportion to whatever has caused the anger
• Your teen regularly misses curfew, does not show up when expected, and lies about his or her whereabouts (is not where you expected them to be if you check up on them)
• Your teenager has suddenly changed his or her peer group and hasn’t made an effort to let you meet these new friends. The new group has led to a distinct change in appearance (clothing, jewelry) and change in attitude (more sullen, defiant, hostile).
• Your adolescent has stolen money from your purse on regular occasions.
• Your adolescent has extreme mood swings, from depression to elation, and seems to sleep a lot more than usual at times.
• Your child’s grades have suddenly dropped and the child has lost interest in the usual activities.

She also recommends the site 4troubledteens.com for more information on troubled teens or to learn exactly what IS a troubled teen.

Share This

Related Stories

Virginia Tech - You are in our thoughts and prayers
Public Suicides on the Web
Sunday Reading
Smoking and Obesity are Trouble for Teens
Thankful for Teens

POSTED IN: Behavior