April, 2008
by Shannon K. Spellman, M.S.W.
How often do you take time to notice the absence of adolescent acting out behaviors? If you spend energy pointing out the negative behaviors and delivering consequences, consider spending twice that amount of energy pointing out things you appreciate and times they aren't acting out.
A simple, "Thanks for being home on time," is worth a lot to an adolescent. Their concept of time is very different from an adult's and when they have tried to do well for a day they believe it should count for something. They quickly become frustrated when their efforts are not noticed.
And remember, that attention to any behavior is attention to that behavior. Do you really want to attend more to the negative than the positive? Think about that.
©2008. Hiding Star Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
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