Questions

16 year old Arguments

Posted on 12/29/2016

My 16 yo daughter will not talk to me when I approach her about an observation I have, a concern re: missed homework or grades. She shuts down immediately, says she doesn't want to talk about...

16 year old Always Gets Her Way

Posted on 12/29/2016

How do I respond to my strong willed 16 yo dtr, who won't take no for an answer. Just today, I told her she could go to a friends for dinner after her drivers ed class today. But it is snowing...

Is it the divorce or parenting?

Posted on 12/29/2016

I believe my 16 yo daughter needs to see a therapist. Recently divorced, we split we she was 13. She never really processed the divorce. She keeps everything inside. Very stoic, says she is...

Angst update

Posted on 12/18/2016

Teenage girl and her angst I spoke to her later that day and let her know that I would be going to her game. The, "I am done listening to you" continues. I agree with the alarm. she has...

Definition of a Gift

Posted on 12/12/2016

We recently came into some money and plan on sharing our good fortune with our children. Our daughter is in financial straits and will welcome the gift. We plan to give each of her children (18,...

Teenage girl and her angst

Posted on 12/9/2016

I have a 16 yr old daughter, who tells me, when I start to give her information about something in general," I don't want to listen to you." She gets up, walks to her room closes the door." This...

Teen who steals.

Posted on 11/21/2016

In cleaning up my daughter's room this morning (after she had food upstairs while a friend was over -- even though it is a rule in our house to have no food upstairs), I found food crumbs and the...

Teenager Hitting Mom

Posted on 11/17/2016

what would be your advised on teenager's behavior who is hitting her mother...Not always, just once but as a mother I found it very harmful and all I could do is just stopped talking to her.

Communicating with my teen.

Posted on 11/16/2016

Do you have suggestions on ways to keep communication open with 16 year old daughters? She is generally a good student, loves church and volunteer work, dance and sports. I am very proud of...

Graduation Trip?

Posted on 10/21/2016

We have offered to take our daughter on a senior trip of her choosing after she graduates from high school. The problem for me is, she doesn't want my husband or her 7-year old sister to go. She...

Require 16-Year-Old to Get Job?

Posted on 10/21/2016

We told our 16, nearly 17, year old daughter she must get a job. She currently only attends high school and participates in no extracurricular activities, besides hanging out with friends. Her...

Discipline for Missing Assignments in Classes?

Posted on 10/21/2016

Currently, our 16-year old daughter has a total of 6 zeros in four classes for missing assignments, four in advanced Spanish and two in Digital Technology. This has been a recurring problem...

Disagreeable Teenage Girl

Posted on 10/21/2016

Are teenage girls just horribly disagreeable? Right now, I have a really hard time liking mine. I know my husband is having the same problem. We love her, and we try to support her in healthy...

Stay the Course to Best Help Testing Teen

Posted on 10/10/2016

Our 16 year old daughter recently lied to my husband and where she was during a football game. She works for him in an audiovisual capacity on Friday nights. He had already warned her once to stay...

Bright High School Student Losing All Drive to Succeed

Posted on 10/10/2016

Mr. Rosemond says, "Ask a child no questions, the child will tell you no lies." Sometimes, we ask no questions (no one does) and she still lies. She just comes up with these big whoppers out of...

16 yo Liar

Posted on 10/4/2016

What do you do about a 16 year old girl that lies and deceives all the time?

The cell phone has to go.

Posted on 10/2/2016

How much monitoring do you recommend on a 16 year old's phone? Sometimes, she seems to go to great lengths to hide things from us. At one point, she was having contact with a drug dealer (high...

Delayed Driver's License?

Posted on 9/17/2016

Hi John - I am curious on your thoughts of delayed driver's licenses for teens. I am noticing a trend of teens getting their driver's licenses later and later. My husband and I have encouraged...

Teenage independence.

Posted on 9/15/2016

I wrote earlier this year about our sixteen year old son. [He will be 17 by the end of the year.] You suspected depression. We found a Christian counselor who was highly recommended, and that our...

16 Year Old Smoking Pot and Drinking

Posted on 8/26/2016

Dear Mr. Rosemond, I have a 16 yr old daughter and just recently found out that she is drinking and smoking pot. When confronted about it, she lied to me and told me that she wasn't doing...

Passive-Aggressive Teen

Posted on 8/17/2016

How do we deal with passive aggressive behavior in an older teen? She will verbally comply with a request but then not follow through like "bring the trash down when you head downstairs," or "come...

Step-Parenting Teenagers

Posted on 8/12/2016

I read your response titled "Stepfathers Must Have Complete Disciplinary Discretion." Do you feel that stepparents must have disciplinary authority where the stepparent joins the family when the...

16 yr-old selling homework

Posted on 8/1/2016

My 16 year old son is a bright kid and a straight A student. We were talking and he related to me that he will sometimes sell his homework to other kids. I told him that this was unethical and...

Teen Sneaking Out

Posted on 7/13/2016

Our 16-year-old daughter (my stepdaughter) keeps sneaking around to see her 17-year-old boyfriend. We approved of this relationship until we learned that she was skipping school, forging tardy...

Teens and their brains

Posted on 7/3/2016

Hi: As a teacher, parent, and social scientist I am always trying to review the most recent information on adolescent behavior/management so I can be better at these roles. I recently stumbled...

18-Year-Old Being Inconsiderate

Posted on 6/22/2016

Should we expect any structure in the home when our 18-year-old returns weekends from a summer job? She usually heads straight to her boyfriend's family home and rolls in around 3 a.m. both...

Almost 16 y/o girl and her questionable beau

Posted on 6/21/2016

My 15 year old (soon to be 16) has been going with a boy who is one year older and has been held back once- almost twice from school. He monopolizes all her time. Other than cheerleading, which...

Monitoring Cell Phone Texts with Apps

Posted on 6/4/2016

Along with the majority, if not all of his friends, our middle school aged son has a cellular phone. It seems that most parents monitor their child's text message activity. Applications are...

Good Kids Make Mistakes, Too

Posted on 6/1/2016

Hi! We have a 17 1/2 year old daughter who is finishing her junior year of high school. She is a good kid, makes excellent grades, hold a job, has never had an incident with drugs/alcohol or...

Irresponsibility in teen's job

Posted on 5/30/2016

Our older teen was released from the family business when she continually did not show up on time. After running through her personal bank account and getting no additional funds from us, the...

Interracial relationships

Posted on 4/29/2016

Help! My 17-year old daughter recently broke up with her boyfriend and has a crush on another boy. He just asked her to the prom:). My daughter is amazing, growing up to be a responsible,loving...

16-Year-Old Losing Interest in Friends/Activities

Posted on 4/27/2016

I’m writing about my sixteen year old son. He never publicly accepted the Lord and joined the church. When asked to say grace at meals he always said something brief. Because of losing my job and...

16-Year-Old Caught Smoking Pot

Posted on 4/18/2016

My 16 year old has gotten caught by me smoking pot. I took everything from him and said the next time he is out! What else can I or should not do?

Monitoring 17-Year-Old's Cell Phone Texts

Posted on 4/16/2016

My son will be 17 in July. Do you think it is inappropriate for me to read his text messages without his knowledge? He has been experimenting sexually with girls, touching and heavy kissing...

teen boys leave out wet towels

Posted on 3/14/2016

Hang up your towel....for crying out loud! Seriously--I can't be the only parent at my wits end about kids not hanging up a towel after bathing/drying off. I know this isn't HUGE as far as...

15 1/2 year doesn't respect parents

Posted on 2/9/2016

our son 15 1/2 is very defiant. he seems to have no respect for authority.. especially to us, mom & dad. what can we do as parents to help him with this?

17 yo Smoking Pot

Posted on 1/28/2016

17 year old son was caught smoking pot for the third time. Set down a set of consequences that frankly were not that tough but he doesn't want to live by. Went into a rage and left home. Now says...

Reasonable Bedtime for 16yo?

Posted on 1/25/2016

Our 16 year old son is a night owl and unrestricted would stay up until all hours of the night. We implemented a 10:30 p.m. during school nights which he has not complied with Weekends he and...

Limiting 16yo's Video Game/Cell Phone Time

Posted on 1/25/2016

We would like to limit our 16 year old sons video/ cell phone time. We think homework should come first and then free time. He wants to relax after school which frequently results in homework...

17 and won't take responsibility

Posted on 1/21/2016

My almost 17 year old son is a Junior in high school. We need help parenting him. And I feel the hourglass is quickly running out--he's supposedly 18 months from graduation/launching into...

Monitoring 18 yo daughter - Follow-up

Posted on 1/19/2016

Thank you for your response to my previous question. To clarify, my husband has said that in order for our daughter to remain in our home while she finishes college, two things are required: 1....

Monitoring 18 yo daughter

Posted on 1/15/2016

When our daughter was 18 she "ran away" from home to live with a 31yo man. Seven months later, after getting pregnant and being abused by him, she asked to come home. She is now 20, and her...

Mom wants teens to reach out to grandparents

Posted on 1/6/2016

Once in awhile I will ask my teen daughters to write a short note or give a call to their grandparents or aunt. Usually the letters are when they are thanking them for gifts and otherwise, they...

18 yo betrayal

Posted on 1/4/2016

We recently found out our 18 year old daughter has been lying to us about a guy she likes from school. She planned to lose her virginity to him in the bathroom of a party he was at with another...

Teen Garden Kick, No Scouts/Job

Posted on 12/29/2015

In the "Kicking Out of the Garden of Eden" method, you mention no extracurricular activities. If a teen is in scouts, should we pull him from the organization? If they have a part-time job, is it...

19 Year Old Home for the Holidays, addendum

Posted on 12/22/2015

This is an add-on to the previous question: I am taking the younger daughter to a college visit tomorrow. Would it be wise to ask her opinion concerning the need for apology, ways to bridge the...

How do I help my college kid manage spending money?

Posted on 12/21/2015

As we prepare to have our first child enter college, do you have any advice on how to handle her discretionary spending money? Assuming room and board are paid for, we were thinking about putting...

older teen girl sometimes loses it

Posted on 12/7/2015

I am continually perplexed by the verbal altercations with my older teen. It is like she is purposefully trying to pick a fight. Yesterday, for example, we were both sitting in the office doing...

Teen Work at the Family Business?

Posted on 12/1/2015

Our 17-year-old works in the family home business to earn money for gas and her own spending. She has chosen this option over a retail job because of her need for flexible hours with her several...

How do I respond to teen's bad attitude?

Posted on 11/26/2015

Regarding snide remarks, backtalk and surliness from teens, I am having a difficult time distinguishing what to address and what to let drop. Looking back at your responses, I see where we should...

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