What causes teens to rebel?

648 Words2 Pages

Which parent isn’t annoyed when their children disobey? Taking out the trash might lead to a parent to frustration or suddenly he/she doesn’t want to go to church with the rest of the family. The most common ages for this type of rebellion start between the ages of 13 and 17, sometimes even earlier depending on the teenager. This time can be frustrating for both teen and parent but what is most difficult is finding a cause. To pin point a single cause is almost impossible, but change in control, positive approval from peers and a developing brain are some culprits for many teens to rebel thus impacting society in many ways.
Finding causation for their teenager to rebel seem obvious to some parents but parents aren’t aware of the different types of rebellion out there. According to Dr. Pickhardt, a psychologist who focuses on adolescent rebellion discusses that not all teenage rebellion is the same. He explains, “two common types of rebellion are against socially fitting in … and against adult authority. In both types, rebellion attracts adult attention by offending it.” (Pickhardt) As he/she crosses that bridge into adulthood, the new emerging teen might find themselves lost in the world with an array of expectations of how they should act & do eventually becoming an area of concern and resistance. Although teens are against fitting in to the norms and will never admit to it, they still do seek a sort of approval from their peers. As much as teens claim that they don’t care about others opinions, they actually mean the opposite; they want to belong to something so desperately, resulting in low self-esteem. Ed Sztukowski, writer of AllPsychologyCareers.com, provides information about peer-to-peer teen approval. “In the case of some...

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...guments, it will lead to more teens with low self-esteem and a higher number of teens in prison.

Works Cited

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Pickhardt, Carl E., Ph.D. "Rebel with a Cause: Rebellion in Adolescence." Psychology
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"Teenagers & Peers." Understanding Teenagers Blog RSS. Ed. Chris Hudson. N.p., n.d.
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