Teenagers who are selfish

Teenagers by nature tend to be somewhat self absorbed creatures; they believe that nobody has had to go through what they are experiencing and sometimes they can be downright selfish! This can be exasperating for parents, as obviously they too, were once teenagers, but their understanding of teenage problems is dismissed by teens that cannot imagine their parents as being anything other than old.

On the other hand, some teenagers can be very passionate about issues such as animal cruelty or the environment, and devote a lot of energy to these causes. Some parents may, on occasion, wish that their teenager would show as much interest in their own family as they do in these causes. Scientific research has come up with a partial answer to teenage selfishness; they have discovered that part of the brain, the frontal lobe, which deals with impulse control and cerebral thought, is the last part to develop in a teenager as they mature between their teens and early twenties.

This may explain why teens seem less able to think through the consequences of their actions, or consider the impact of their behavior on others. However, the brain is a sponge, absorbing information and maturing at different rates in different people; learning to control ones selfish impulses is part of growing up.

Teenagers do tend to believe that they are the center of their own universe, and parents need to teach them how to care about others in their world, starting with immediate family. Although all parents will make some allowances for impulsive and erratic behavior, understanding the impact of hormones on a growing teenager, some behavior cannot be excused. If teenagers are never disciplined for being rude, selfish and unkind, how will they learn that these are unacceptable traits that must be curbed?

No parent or sibling should be subjected to tantrums when a teen does not get what they want. No one member of the family is more important than another, except in time of serious illness when the family should pull together as a supportive unit. There is a thin line between selfish, and bullying behavior.

Teenagers who continually exhibit selfish and uncaring behavior, and who seem to lack a conscience about this, need to be taken in hand. They cannot be allowed to rule the family with their demands, nor grow up taking no responsibility for their actions. They need to learn that other people have rights too. If the selfish teenager shows no sign of growing out of this behavior and does not respond to parents disciplining them, then they may need some form of behavior modification therapy in order to ensure they do not continue this behavior into adulthood. An adult, who has no conscience and always puts themselves first with no regard for others, is often classified as a sociopath.