Parenting is certainly a demanding job and caring for a toddler necessitates a great lot of patience because you will have to cope with their temperaments in a variety of scenarios. When it comes to eating habits, your child may try to enforce independence.
You regularly offer your two-year-old a cookie or two after lunch, but they refused to eat lunch on this particular day, and you decided that there would be no cookie eating as well. And your toddler screams and cries so much that you had no choice but to give in.
You would assume that when a child grows older and becomes a teenager, the job becomes less demanding, but you would be wrong because that is when the real work begins.
This is because teenagers are currently in the developmental stage, and their interactions with the outside world contribute to this phase of development. As a result, the ideals they learned at home will not be the only element influencing their views and behaviours. They watch television, communicate with their peers, and make discoveries.
They are informed, therefore they will want to begin thinking for themselves. Puberty also has an emotional, bodily, and psychological impact on them. Your teen begins to suffer emotional imbalance between the ages of 10 and 18, which causes them to throw tantrums.
This can vary according to the personality of the child, for some, it may be yelling, while for others, it may be breaking things. Growth hormones are present at work and they may perplex or irritate you, but it is important to recognize that these tantrums will become commonplace and unavoidable.
Factors That Can Contribute To Teenage Tantrums
Self-Esteem Issues
When a teenager lacks confidence, it can be difficult for them to express themselves and when they do, they may come across as aggressive or harsh as a result of taking the wrong approach.
Unrealized Mental Conditions
A teenager’s temperament could be affected by a variety of mental illnesses. Depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are all possibilities. They could be vibrant and full of life one minute and then be frantically throwing things out of their closet the next.
Family Issues
A teenager whose parents divorce is prone to suffer from a lack of parental guidance, particularly if they wind up with a deadbeat parent. This would have a wide range of consequences for this teenager, including meltdowns.
Grief
Even adults, especially when it comes to the loss of a loved one, find it difficult to cope with grief. A teenager’s grief over the loss of a favourite pet may be so intense that he begins to throw tantrums at regular intervals.
Experience With Bullies
When parents witness tantrums, they may need to determine if their children are being bullied outside the home. If your teen struggles to stand up to bullies, they may find other methods to show their pain and discomfort, such as tantrums.
Steps To Deal With Teenage Tantrums
Communicate With Your Teenager
When having this conversation, make sure you are speaking as a friend, not as a parent who has the right to impose a curfew on them. This is the greatest way to find out what is behind the tantrums. Speak from the perspective of someone who knows what they are going through because you have gone through it yourself.
Help them understand that all you want to do is assist them in managing their emotions when they are angry or upset. If you are able, explain some of the strategies you have used to deal with your emotions. This would demonstrate to them that they are not alone and that they can control their emotions. This is a good start in getting them to confide in you.
Understand Their Struggles
Pressures on teenagers come from a variety of sources, including school, home, and friends. They may experience anxiety as a result of these demands, and it is your obligation as a parent to assist them.
If this is the case, you may need to lower your expectations of them, especially if the pressure is coming from your end. If you discover that putting your teenager in a piano lesson is not what they desire, it is advisable to find out what they desire and place them there.
Help Them Realize the Problem and Find Solutions
As they become more comfortable discussing with you, it will make it easier for them to open up to you. This will gradually become a routine and you could be lucky enough to hear about incidences in which they have pushed someone out of rage or defence, as well as situations in which they struggled to control their outburst. This is when you will finally be able to address the cause of the tantrums and devise ways for dealing with them.
Develop Practical and Encouraging Strategies for Handling their Emotions
The plan could be in the form of a written agreement or deed that they read every morning before starting their day. They will never be able to forget this once it becomes a custom. They will be so accustomed to it that it will become second nature to them. When confronted with a stumbling barrier, the first sentence of the agreement can be an order to take a pause. In this manner, in times of emotional turmoil, they will always know what to do first.
Reward Good Conduct in the Long Run
When they uphold their end of the bargain and you notice it, rewarding them with a present is not a bad idea. It may be the kind of dog they have always wanted or simply something to motivate them to maintain their end of the bargain. This would aid in instilling a positive mindset in them.
When your teenager begins to throw tantrums, It is most likely to be because they do not know how to control their emotions. The best approach is to learn how to handle and negotiate these tantrums so that they do not turn into unsolved problems that pile up and escalate.
