Turn Your Arguing Child into a Positive

My kids attend a classical school which uses the age-old Trivium as the model for education. In the Grammar years they do lots of memorization, because that’s what little minds naturally want to do. In the Logic years (roughly middle school), they begin to take all that information and make well-reasoned arguments, or defend ideas. One of my 7th grader’s teachers quipped recently that “teaching 7th graders to argue well is like giving a squirrel an energy drink.” How true.

It’s a fact that verbally pushing back against some ideas is a natural part of adolescent development. And older tweens and teens are hardwired to challenge authority and question the status quo. But this needn’t be a cause for true conflict or total exasperation on the parent’s end. First, understand Why Teenagers Like to Argue.  We realize that this is a slippery slope and that some arguing isn’t healthy or respectful, so we’ve outlined 5 Keys to Healthy Debate with Your Teen to keep the back-and-forth productive.

Also take a look at iSpecialist Dr. Gary Oliver’s 12 Insights for Healthy Conflict that you and your child can learn from.