No one escapes having to live with rules in their life. Even kings, presidents and religious leaders have rules. No one is immune. We are subject to rules in school, at home, on the job, traffic rules, and mall rules. These rules restrict behavior, help provide protection and boundaries to what teens can do. Some families have strict rules, others have no rules. While many rules in the world do not go away, as teens grow into adults, they gradually get to bend some rules. Think about it. As a child, you did not get to choose your bedtime, or even what you wore to school. Chances are that now you have some choices about your clothes or bedtime.

Sometimes, parents are willing to negotiate on some rules. They may ask you to do something in return for bending the rules. This negotiation takes good communication skills. It also takes honesty and trust. If you earn your parents' trust, they will probably allow you to change some of the rules. Some rules may not be up for negotiation. Some parents may not be willing to negotiate rules. That can make a teen angry, which usually makes the parent even stricter. Sometimes getting counseling together can help improve the communication among teens and their parents. One thing is for sure. Rules will always be there, in some form. We all have to live with some of them, so it helps to learn the skills to cope with rules.

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