Dealing With Rebellion in Children

Strategies for dealing with rebellion in children:

1. Pray for your children.

2. Proactively teach and model biblical wisdom.

3. Understand what rebellion looks like (hurt, bitterness, chronic anger, insubordination, full-blown rebellion, sarcastic speech, disobedience) and call it what it is.

4. Examine your child’s environment for potential co-conspirators (friends, music, media, parental provocation)

5. Intervene as early as possible – aim for the heart (confess, intercede/petition/pray, unite, rededicate, talk, discipline, set reasonable/consistent boundaries, persist, re-prioritize)

6. Seek help and counsel

7. Continue modeling biblical wisdom with patience and hope.


Ways Parents Facilitate Rebellion In Their Children

• Lack of marital harmony
• A child-centered home
• Modeling sinful anger
• Constantly displaying anger
• Practicing double standards
• Legalism
• Not admitting when you're wrong
• Not listening to a child's side
• Ridiculing your children
• Unrealistic expectations
• Physical Abuse
• Fault-finding
• Reversing God-assigned roles
• Comparing children
• Not praising your children
• Not talking to your children
• Publicly disciplining your children
• Too much freedom
• Not enough freedom
• Showing favoritism
  

Adapted from material presented by Lou Priolo in a seminar on this topic. At the time, Mr. Priolo was the Director of The Atlanta Center for Biblical Counseling.