Avoiding raising rebellious children

When parents try to control their children’s behavior, the result is often a child who rebels. In her book Wonderful Ways to Love a Child, Judy Ford states “A child who trusts you to respect his independence has little need to rebel. The most rebellious and depressed adults are those who, as children, were the most strictly controlled. They were not allowed to find their own identity or make their own choices. Right or wrong, they were forced to dutifully follow their parent’s authority.”

Since everyone has a basic need for control, parents who try to control their children may unintentionally encourage their children to rebel in order to get their share of control. Children who are allowed to make their own age-appropriate decisions will have little need to rebel. You can learn how to provide guidance to your children without trying to control them in Lesson 3 of the Priceless Parenting online parenting class.