Signs of a troubled teen

Being the parent of two teens and stepparent to two, I found these ‘typical signs’ most helpful and have stored them in the recesses of my mind (and here on SuperNannyRules) for future reference.  I’ve already recognized a couple of these tell-tale signs in two of our children and am in the process of taking proper steps to end this before it spins out of control.

Signs of a troubled teen:

Your child becomes more secretive, and it seems like more than a desire for greater privacy

Your teen has regular, sudden outbursts of anger that are clearly unreasonable and out of proportion to whatever has caused the anger

Your teen regularly misses curfew, does not show up when expected, and lies about his or her whereabouts (is not where you expected them to be if you check up on them)
Your teenager has suddenly changed his or her peer group and hasn’t made an effort to let you meet these new friends. The new group has led to a distinct change in appearance (clothing, jewelry) and change in attitude (more sullen, defiant, hostile).

Your adolescent has stolen money from your purse on regular occasions.

Your adolescent has extreme mood swings, from depression to elation, and seems to sleep a lot more than usual at times.

Your child’s grades have suddenly dropped and the child has lost interest in the usual activities.

For more information on troubled teens or to learn exactly what IS a troubled teen, check out 4troubledteens.com