Balancing Your Teen's Self Expression With Your Own Common Sense

your son wear that dog collar or whatever other strange adornment he comes up with; at least that is something he can take off easily.

That hole in your daughter’s navel will never close up completely, at least not without scarring, (not to mention the risk of infection) so you may want to go ahead and compromise on the pink hair if she promises to hold off on the belly ring. If pink isn’t her color, suggest purple, and try to have fun with it. In the grand scheme of things, a little purple hair is not a big deal.

Teens have to rebel and their personal style is often just one of the ways they do so. They have to break away from Mom and Dad and become their own person, and they frequently feel as if their bodies are about the only things they have control over.

The last thing you want to do as a parent is to push teens into exercising that control in self-destructive ways by stifling their sense of self-expression.

When you consider the alternative ways they can exercise their need for control (like through huge back-spanningr nose and lip rings that connect with a chain), dealing with some pink hair and some funky clothes