Strategies for Immature Teens

Verbalize Emotions

• The teen years include pressures and emotions that are quite new and even uncomfortable for your teen. Teaching your child to verbalize her thoughts and feelings may help her develop skills to understand life events and responsibilities. If your teen is unwilling to express her feelings, an article on family and parenting advice company PatientPoint's website, reviewed by pediatricians Susan Kim and Thomas Emmett Francoeur, recommends prompting her with phrases such as, ̶0;You look like you̵7;ve had a rough day. Tell me about it.̶1; Active listening can help your teen feel comfortable expressing her thoughts but it also models appropriate and mature communication methods expected of adolescents.

Encourage Healthy Habits

• Even though performing daily tasks may seem second nature to you as an adult, your teen has to learn how to uphold responsibilities, especially if he has not been held accountable. It is common for a teen to act unhappy when parents set expectations, but according to the experts on the Kids Health website, sponsored by Nemours, a nonprofit children̵7;s health organization, he usually knows that when parents set expectations, it's because they care about his well-being. Create a chart of expected chores and tasks, such as putting dirty dishes in the sink, making beds before school, wearing seat belts and washing hands before each meal. Although these may seem elementary to some teens, an immature teen may overlook the obvious. A chart or checklist will help to keep him on track, especially if the chart outlines consequences for not completing what is expected.

Show Interest

• Teens can see right through routine praise, according to the aforementioned piece from PatientPoint. Take an active role in your teen̵7;s extracurricular activities and interests to show that maturity involves caring about others and providing support. You may find that your teen will be less likely to seek attention from you if she feels supported and observes you cheering her on in her endeavors.

Establish Rules Together

• Although it may seem like a risk to give an immature teenager more responsibility and freedom, the trust you put in him will actually help him mature. When mapping out chores, weekend plans and household rules, seek your teen̵7;s input. Let him help develop punishments, consequences and privileges so that he is invested in the task and feels as if he has more control over his responsibilities. Experts at Heartland Family Service in Omaha, Nebraska, also recommend teaching your teen life skills, such as balancing a checkbook and maintaining an automobile, to give him the opportunity to illustrate responsible behavior.

Discuss Current Events

• Teens tend to possess tunnel vision when it comes to the world around them. Many can only identify with their own experiences. Help develop your teen̵7;s maturity level and his responsibility as a member of the community by discussing current events in the news, volunteer opportunities in the local area and the misfortunes of others. Helping your teen to see that the world exists beyond his own experiences will enhance his maturity and cause him to think about how his contributions can better society.