It can be very hard to deal with an unruly teenager, especially when their behavior actually poses a danger to other people. Parents always love their children, but they also need to be able to discipline them and exert a certain amount of control in order to make sure that the children do not end up inflicting too much damage on society. The teen years are very hard, because teenagers are dealing with hormones that are all over the place and are trying to figure themselves out in different ways. Some of these ways can be destructive both to themselves and to the people around them, so it is important to try to keep them in check as much as possible.
There are many things that need to be done if your teen is exhibiting destructive behavior. For example, if he or she has started drinking with friends, it is important to make sure that there is no drunk driving that is taking place afterwards. A car interlock could be a good idea to prevent your teen from drinking and driving and will make it so that your teen is only able to drive the car if he or she is sober. Of course, he or she will know about this, and it will hopefully deter the underage drinking as well if he or she knows that driving will not be possible when intoxicated.
It is also very important to monitor social media if you feel that your teen is spending time with the wrong people. You want to make sure that while you respect the privacy of your teen, you are not allowing him or her to bring danger that could be destructive to both the teen and the entire family. For example, you want to make sure that your teenager is not spending time with kids who are engaging in criminal activity or doing a lot of binge drinking or drugs. If your teen is doing this, this could be harmful not only to him or her, but potentially to the entire family, both physically and emotionally. It might be a good idea then to watch your teenager’s social media accounts to see what kind of activity is going on, so that you can see who his or her friends are. At worst, turning to drug and alcohol addiction treatment might be the best thing you ever do for your teenager. Correcting their path with substances as early on as possible could save their life.
Another thing you can do is put a tracking device into your teenager’s phone. This way, you will know where he or she is at all times. You will know that your teen is in school when he or she is supposed to be rather than skipping school to spend time with friends who are a potential bad influence. You will also know that when your teen says he or she is going somewhere, such as a party or to the movies with friends, this is actually where he or she is going.
Safety is very important and should always be a top priority, no matter what. Essentially, you want to make sure that your teen is not engaging in behaviors that could compromise his or her own safety, in addition to the safety of the entire family. You may have a hard time with this, because it could compromise the quality of your relationship with your teen at the time, but it is always helpful to keep in mind that you are doing it for his or her own good in the end. You should make sure that you are not disrespecting his or her privacy, but at the same time you are looking out for his or her well-being.