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Temporary Adolescent Insanity

Upset parent

The Situation
Your child has done something that is disturbing and makes no sense to you - your adolescent son just microwaved a cricket.

You naturally respond with the obvious question: "Why did you do that?" Unfortunately, the true answer to the question is, "I did it because I felt like it." In other words, the child wasn't thinking about his actions or the consequence​s. This is because he, like virtually every other person his age (especially boys), suffers from Temporary Adolescent Insanity.
 
The Solution
So how should you respond to this affliction? The answer is simple: Do it in a way that will help your child's development of rational thought - create unpleasant consequences. Simply put, the best way to teach an adolescent to avoid stupid behavior is to make it cost him.

This development process won't happen overnight; learning to resist irrational behavior takes time. But gradually, your child will recognize that his irrational behaviors, however fun they seem to be, are simply too costly to continue. And over time, he will begin to develop common sense and recover from his Temporary Adolescent Insanity.

 

 

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