Teens Should Question Authority
Your teen will test authority. They may utter words under their breath or they may be the teen that pushes the desk over while leaving class. Both teens have limits on their desire to test authority. Both teens will hopefully learn from the consequence of their actions. Both teens will hopefully also learn when those same actions will allow them to stick up for their rights.
Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.” If the teen pushed the chair over because the school decided a certain group should be excluded from prom and the whole school defends the right for all students to attend prom, you might say you are proud of your teen’s questioning of authority. After all, if your teen were excluded from prom, wouldn’t you want someone to defend their right to be there? This practice comes from their ability to test your authority. You must direct it well. Challenge your teen to have the courage to question authority when authority is wrong.
Yes your teen should have a healthy respect for authority and should learn that it is there to abide by for the most part, but as any thinking person knows, no one is right 100% of the time and certainly not all the forms of authority that we are aware of. Your teen has come to appreciate the imperfection of the adults around them. Why lie to them, help them make us better by challenging us when we are wrong.
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