Do curfews keep teens out of trouble?

Stephen Gray Wallace, MS Ed School Psychologist & Author shares advice for parents with teenage children and when to know if a curfew will work for your child or if they will rebel against it
Advice For Parenting Teens | Do Curfews Work Or Will Teens Rebel | Kids in the House
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Do curfews keep teens out of trouble?

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Stephen Wallace: I think many parents struggle with setting curfews for their children. And not quite sure what to believe about what their friends are allowed to do, how late they’re allowed to stay out, and receiving a lot of misinformation. In my book, I talk about decision making. And I have a chart which divides decision making into 3 categories. Mine, decision I’m going to make as a parent. Ours, decisions that I will make with my child. And Theirs, decisions that they’re old enough to make for themselves. And I suggest that over time as kids mature and develop an internal locus of control, we should see decisions migrate from Mine to Ours to Theirs. And I think curfews fall into that category. Certainly for younger teens, I think we want to set the parameters for curfews in dialogue and conversation with them. But at the end of the day, it needs to be our decision. Now, we might want to get more informed about what those curfews should be by consulting with our friends who have younger children of the same age. Or consulting with a pediatrician. And then over time, again, as the young person grows, I think it could be more of a mutual agreement of what those curfews should be. And certainly by the time that kids are getting ready to leave home for college or for the work force, they should be able to start setting their own curfew. Knowing what responsibilities they have the next day and how much rest they need.
TEEN, Parenting Teens, Curfews

Stephen Gray Wallace, MS Ed School Psychologist & Author shares advice for parents with teenage children and when to know if a curfew will work for your child or if they will rebel against it

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Stephen Gray Wallace, MS Ed

School Psychologist & Author

Stephen Gray Wallace, M.S. Ed., is president and director of the Center for Adolescent Research and Education (CARE), a national collaborative of institutions and organizations committed to increasing favorable youth outcomes and reducing risk. He is a consultant to summer camps on staff training and teen leadership programming and has broad experience as a school psychologist and adolescent/family counselor. Stephen is a member of the professional development faculty at the American Academy of Family Physicians and American Camp Association and a parenting expert at kidsinthehouse.com, NBC News Learn and WebMD. He is also an expert partner at RANE (Risk Assistance Network & Exchange) and was national chairman and chief executive officer at SADD for more than 15 years. Additional information about Stephen’s work can be found at StephenGrayWallace.com.

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