If you’re the parent of a teenager, you likely find yourself routinely embroiled in disputes with your child. It’s a vital part of their growing up.
Now researchers suggest that those spats can be tamed and, in the process, provide a lifelong benefit to children.
Researchers from the University of Virginia want parents to think of those arguments not as a nuisance but as a critical training ground for learning how to resist negative peer pressure.
(READ – or listen to – the story from Patti Neighmond at NPR)
I think this is true. Gary Chapman has also suggested that arguing teaches teens how to think by haggling things out. He argues it is better to know WHAT your teens are thinking, even if they argue, then it is for them to stifle their thoughts and be secretive with them.