How To Know Your Teenagers Better

Douglas H. Powell

Teenagers are group of men and women who are no longer children but are still short of adulthood. Generally, these youngsters are in the teenage bracket where their ages range between 13 and 19. The age boundaries for the teenagers are limitless according to psychologist Douglas H. Powell because "teenage" is a state of the mind and activity.

In his book, "Teenagers: When To Worry and What To Do", Powell classifies teenagers into four-color zones according to their social adjustment, growth, and development. Thus, it could be easy for their parents to define role in learning and understanding their teeners for better insight and a comprehensive solution in case a problem may arise later.

1. Green Zone: Normal Adaptation

The teenagers in this category is well adjusted. They enjoy their relationships with family and friends. They have the tendency to make new friends easily. They think well of themselves in relation to others, especially with peers, and welcome romantic attachments with the opposite sex. They have stable personality, mood and physical health. They love to eat junk food and lie to listen to loud music. They have several harmful behaviors, but they always get out of such and get their acts together in control.

2. Yellow Zone: Temporary Adjustment Reactions

Here they tend to be sarcastic, confrontational and critical, especially with their parents because of their moodiness, irritability and withdrawal. They try to escape problems or daydreaming or engaging in deviant behavior such as skipping school and shoplifting. They have still the inclination to correct their mistakes once they realize them. Their evident instability in character is temporal. It usually lasts between three to six months. They regard love as hate, dependence as revolt, admiration as contempt, and defiance as obedience.

3. Orange Zone: Neurotic Symptom

In this area, teeners are worse they are in distress and have persistent psychological impairment. They are antagonistic, lonely and poor in school; and they separate themselves from their  friends. They possess a compulsive disobedience. Even though how good things are, they are pessimistic in their life. They are easily tempted to do worse things like gambling, stealing, doing drugs, drinking alcohol or even engaging in sexual acts. They cannot find pleasure in what they do, thus they necessarily need help.

4. Red Zone: Severe Mal-adjustments

Teeners are terribly maladjusted in this zone. They are in their mental disorder like schizophrenia, and the like. They manifest paralyzing fears, self-starvation, delinquency, and drug dependence. The are self-centered that good friends leave them for good. They are very emotional and mentally confused all the time. They respond to stress with fits of depression, destructive fury, helplessness and anxiety. They tend not to control their emotion. Once they are provoked, they become violent. They lose lack of time, place, and even their own persons. They need help very badly.

These hard realities of teenagers' proclivities unfolded by Powell would make their own parents in the good position to handle them appropriately on what's normal and what's not for them.