What Parents Often Misunderstand About Rebellion

David M. Tyler, PhD

When a teenager begins to rebel, parents naturally focus on what they can see. The disrespect. The arguing. The secrecy. The refusal to obey. The change in friends. The resistance to church. The angry words. The sudden insistence on independence.

Parents look at these behaviors and understandably ask, What happened to my child? But that question can lead parents in the wrong direction if they begin looking only for something outside the child to explain the rebellion.

Was it the wrong friends?
Was it social media?
Was it something happening at school?
Is it simply […]