3 things to never say to your teens

Parenting teenagers can feel like walking a tightrope where one wrong word and you are met with an eye roll, a slammed door, or worse - silence. Adolescence is a time of emotional volatility and deep identity formation and while words may seem fleeting, they can shape how teens see themselves and their parents. A teenager's brain is still developing emotional regulation and self-esteem meaning language from parents has a far greater impact than most realise. Here are three phrases every parent should avoid and the positive alternatives that build trust instead of tension.