Parenting a teen can be tough, especially when they start bringing new friends home. With all the different friends your child is bound to make, it\u2019s pretty likely you\u2019re going to dislike at least one of them. Here\u2019s what to do to keep this small issue from becoming a big problem.<\/p>\n
The first thing you need to do is think about why you don\u2019t like your child\u2019s friend. If it\u2019s a matter of conflicting personalities, just ignore it. You probably don\u2019t like all your spouse\u2019s friends either, but your spouse is capable of choosing their own friends and so is your teen. You\u2019re not the one who has to be friends with them. As long as your child is behaving and acting responsibly, let them keep the right to choose who they hang out with. Who knows, you may grow to like them once you get to know them better.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t tell your child the things you don\u2019t like about their friends. Teens are stubborn; it\u2019s unlikely they\u2019re going to stop hanging out with someone just because you dislike them. If your child really likes their friend, you risk alienating them by expressing your negative opinions. If you\u2019re really concerned about their friend\u2019s behaviors, try encouraging positive behaviors in your teen before criticizing the negative behaviors of their friends.<\/p>\n
If your child\u2019s friends begin to get in trouble, don\u2019t automatically take it out on your kid. Explain to your teen that you disapprove of their friend\u2019s behaviors and that you expect different things from them. While you may want to keep your teen away from troublesome friends, it may be better just to make special rules for dealing with that friend. Make sure they\u2019re supervised or check in more often. Try not to place too many restrictions on your teen because of their friend\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n
Your teen is getting older and learning to make their own decisions, including who they hang out with. The best way to influence your teen\u2019s choices is to make sure you\u2019re one of their friends too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Parenting a teen can be tough, especially when they start bringing new friends home. With all the different friends your child is bound to make, it\u2019s pretty likely you\u2019re going to dislike at least one of them. Here\u2019s what to do to keep this small issue from becoming a big problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":8130,"menu_order":50,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7115","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n