1. (Peer Pressure)At the first stage of adolescence, your child treats his friends as the ultimate authority on everything from hair styles, clothes, to global politics. He feels the need to dissociate from his or her family. You will, usually, notice posters of his favorite rapper, athlete, or movie star on his wall. Music becomes a great influence on what is considers “cool.” Beware of negative influences such as guns, gangs, and drugs.
2. Independence.
He or she may demand the right to control their own lives, express their own opinions. He may feel like he doesn’t need his parents anymore. He makes comments like “I am not a baby anymore.” He begins to express his need to be independent through criticism and quarreling or through silence or secrecy. Confrontation, usually, peak around the 8th or 9th grade. He will also begin to challenge authority figures such as the basketball coach, the principal, teachers and even police officers.
3. Imaginary Audience (All Eyes on Me)
At this stage of adolescene, your teen may imagine that everyone is always thinking about him or her. In effect, he constructs an “imaginary audience” that observes and evaluates his every move. Not only will they notice him, they’ll laugh, and snigger behind is back. I refer to this as the "Tupac syndrome." “All Eyes on Me”…Everybody is out to get me. A self-created “paranoid”
4. Ego-centric
The feeling that one is the center of attention can lead to a feeling of exaggerated self-importance. At this stage, you son thinks he is invulnerable, invincible, or immortal. I am BAD. I am too HARD too DIE. I am a THUG. I am a GANGSTA. He’s a SOLDIER. He thinks he has total control over himself and his environment and over all people in the world. . He makes statements like “No one can mess with me!! As far as he is concern he can guzzle two six-packs without getting drunk, he can drive a car without a lesson or license, he can fly without wings, he or she can have sex without getting pregnant or becoming pregnant. He probably feels that he could smoke, snort, sniff, sale, inhale, swallow, or inject, any substance at all without overdosing, becoming an addict or losing his grip.
5. Apparent Hypocrisy (Theory over Practice)
Young Adolescents can appear extraordinarily hypocritical. They expound lofty principles one minute, violate those same principles the next, and become “upset” if an adult points out their mistakes or errors. (Theory over Practice)
6. Over thinking
Teens at this stage have a problem making decisions. Deciding what to wear, what to order at the restaurant even what to say causes agony because they are too many choices. Normal during this phase of life, they overlook the obvious simple solution to their problems. Teens tend to make a mountain out of a mole hills at this stage. As a high school senior, the decision on what college to go can causes many headaches.
