Teens Who Don't Understand the Consequences of Their Actions
By Craig Rogers
C.A.R.E. is an assortment of licensed residential treatment centers offering programs to teens who don’t understand the consequences of their actions and are desperate for behavioral treatment. Our programs combine the key elements essential in effectively treating teenagers with underlying and unresolved issues, providing traditional and nontraditional therapies to produce long-term results. Comprehensive programs are key in the development of a strong therapeutic connection between the teens and other professional staff members which help enable teens, restore families and guarantee lifelong improvement.
Many parents do not understand why their teens sometimes behave in an impulsive, irrational, or dangerous way. At times, it seems like they don’t think things through or fully understand the consequences of their actions. Teenagers differ from adults in the way they solve problems, make decisions and behave. There is a biological explanation for this difference. Studies have shown that brains continue to mature and develop throughout adolescence and well into early adulthood.
Natural Consequences - A Great Discipline Tool
The interplay between the two brain systems do not advance at the same rate in an adolescent brain and the cognitive-control system which controls the reasoning and helps us think before we act, does not develop until later. These brain differences do not mean that teens can’t make good decisions or tell the difference between right and wrong. It also does not mean that they should not be held responsible for their actions. But an awareness of these differences can help parents understand, and manage the behavior of their teens.
Natural consequences can be a great discipline tool to teach teens how to make safe and healthy choices. A natural consequence occurs when parents don’t intervene and allow the teen to face the consequences that will result directly from the behavior. Of course, watching your child fail makes parents feel helpless but there are times when it can be productive and a chance for change. By allowing teens to experience the consequences of their actions, parents can help them learn what happens because of the choices they make.