IF YOUR teenager has trouble controlling their emotions or following house rules, you may find devising a behaviour contract useful.

The contract should be made between the parent and teenager, and it is important to agree on the rules, rewards and consequences. If your child agrees from the outset you have more chance of the agreement being observed.

An example of house rules could be:

- be gentle with each other (no hitting out or hurting others)

- speak quietly (no shouting)

- respect privacy and personal space (ask before taking other family members' stuff).

Consequences for rule breaking should be something reasonably instant and do-able, threatening to deny your teen their mobile phone, PlayStation etc for any long period of time isn’t really realistic and their constant nagging to have their devices back will wear you down. Choose a consequence which is agreed with your teen that you can apply instantly and effectively.

When the consequence has been applied, move on and look to focus on something positive your teen is doing. The power of praise is so important. Take a minute to recall the last time someone gave you praise and how it made you feel. Use this as a prompt to keep an eye out for something positive your teen is doing and comment on it.

As family life is so busy and demanding it is easy to nag and focus on the negative things our teens do, but do try and keep a balanced view…and try to remember how it felt to have raging hormones!

See www.parentandbabycoach.co.uk

NEXT WEEK: Goals for change