Ahh, those habits we all try so hard to break. Chewing on all your pens and pencils? Procrastinating on a project till the day it’s due? Waiting until the last minute to refill your gas tank? Biting your nails? All of these are habits that are caused by something, whether good or bad. As kids reach different ages, especially during adolescence, unhealthy behaviors can accumulate and become more prevalent.
As adults, we can learn to meander around these habits or continue to feed them as they become part of our lifestyle. For your children, though, recognizing practices that could become harmful or unproductive over time is probably not something that crosses their minds too frequently. Early intervention in kids is crucial to prevent bad habits from becoming ingrained as they grow older. As a result, you might have to have a heart-to-heart with your teenage son or daughter if you suspect they are making choices that don’t benefit them in the long run. But what are some of the top bad habits of teens, and what can you do to help?
Open family communication is key, as it helps teens understand the difference between bad habits and the importance of establishing good habits early on for lifelong well-being.
Today, we will discuss what a habit is and some examples of bad habits that teens can engage in, such as skipping breakfast, forgetting to brush teeth, and drinking alcohol or not drinking enough water. After that, we’ll look at a few ways you can help your teen get back on track with more positive habits!
Forgetting routines like eating regular meals or drinking water can negatively impact health, leading to unstable blood sugar levels and affecting both mood and energy.
What is a Habit?
Before we dive in, let's define what a habit actually is. According to Merriam-Webster, a habit is “a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior” or “an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.” While in terms of positive habits, this can look like brushing your teeth, setting your alarm for your usual morning run, or ensuring that your water bottle is full and ready before you begin your day (to name just a few). However, on the flip side, there are habits that we - and our teenagers - can get involved in that are far from positive.
Let's take a look at some habits of teens nowadays that need to be addressed immediately, many of which are tied to deeper root causes of teen sex, substance use, and defiance:
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Excessive video games
- Excessive social media usage + cell phone time
- Lying and stealing
- Sexual activity
- Lack of exercise
- Hanging out with the wrong crowd
- Lack of attention to nutrition (i.e., too much fast food, skipping meals, etc.)
While this is just a small list of behaviors your son or daughter may experience through their teen years, it's inconclusive. There also has to be a realization within your family dynamic of what habits you consider acceptable, what needs to be dealt with in moderation, and what is unacceptable. Communicating as a family unit will have everyone on the same page regarding what you expect from your children and what they expect from you.
Screen Time and Social Media
For most teenagers today, screen time—including hours spent on social media—has become a daily routine. However, excessive screen time can have a range of negative effects on mental health, from increased risk of depression and anxiety to sleep deprivation and difficulty focusing. Spending too much time on screens can also lead to decreased attention span, higher stress levels, and a decline in face-to-face communication skills, all of which can affect a teen’s ability to succeed in school and build healthy relationships.
Social media, in particular, can create unrealistic expectations and foster a sense of competition or inadequacy, which may lead to negative self-image and mental health issues. Overly monitoring or sheltering your son from real-world experiences can also backfire, making it harder for him to learn healthy ways to handle these pressures. The constant dopamine rush from notifications and likes can make it hard for teenagers to disconnect, further impacting their sleep and overall well-being.
Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in helping teens develop good habits around screen time. Setting reasonable limits, encouraging other activities like exercise, reading, or spending time with friends and family, and modeling healthy behaviors can all make a difference; these same strategies can also help if you’re trying to prevent your teenager from sneaking out at night. It’s important to create a balanced routine that allows for technology use in moderation while prioritizing activities that benefit mental health and heart health.
By being proactive and supportive, parents can help teenagers recognize the ill effects of excessive screen time and social media, and guide them toward healthier habits that will benefit them for their entire life.
Tips to Change Behavior
Let’s say you have tried to set a handle on just how much screen time your teenager gets; unfortunately, the more you try to enforce a boundary, the more it seems they want to rebel and push back. While it might seem like a lost cause, habits can be changed - it just requires consistency, dedication, and discipline. So what are you to do as a parent to help direct your teen away from possibly destructive behavior, and when is it time to consider where to send a disobedient teen for structured help?
Check in with your teen (and yourself) about habits you can change - together. For example, maybe you need to step into the gym three days a week and be more dedicated to improving your health. On the other hand, your son or daughter needs to cut back on their screen time once they get home from school during the week, or in more serious cases, might benefit from the structure of a residential treatment center for troubled boys. Homework can also contribute to stress and interfere with healthy habits like regular meals and exercise, so it's important to find a balance. Together, you can discuss areas of life that can use a bit of improvement (and bonus, your teen will see you working to break into a new habit as well!).
Figure out why these new habits haven’t been established already. Are you busy doing other things during the time you’d typically be at the gym? Are you dedicating your time to other areas of life that might not be as essential in helping you reach your fitness goals? The same mindset goes for your teen. Are they on their phone more after school out of boredom? Do they need an outlet for creativity? While you’re making your list of habits that you can both change, determine the “whys” about how these better habits aren’t already in place - and what you can do to change that. Remember, unhealthy habits can affect your teen's daily job of learning and managing emotions, making it harder for them to succeed academically and emotionally.
Start with minor changes. Don’t expect your teen to go from hours of afternoon screen time down to nothing - it’s unrealistic, and it won’t help the habit turn from a negative to a positive one. Instead, maybe start by reducing it to just a few minutes each day until you get to where you’d like them to be. Perhaps this looks like no more than an hour after school and an hour after dinner (or whatever works best for you and your family). Whatever the new habit may be, know that it will take time to reverse the previous routine and schedule that your teen already has! Lack of sleep or poor habits can leave teens feeling tired, making it even harder to focus and build new, healthier routines.
These are just a few of the tips and tricks for improving habits that are unhealthy, and some families also explore how teenage boot camps improve behavior when problems become more serious. Remember, no one else in the world is exactly like you—building good habits is a personal journey. Check out PsychCentral for more ideas!
Bottom Line
If you feel you have exhausted all of your options regarding helping your teen get back on track with healthy habits, then it's time to reach out to the professionals, whether that means learning about boot camps in Georgia for troubled teens and their alternatives or speaking directly with a therapeutic program. The team at Liahona Academy is trained for just these types of situations - and is available to help you understand the root of habits, as well as what to do in order to modify their behavior. Many parents first look into options like boot camps in Washington for troubled teens or military schools in Tennessee, but ultimately find that a therapeutic setting focused on long-term change is a better fit. Reach out today for a consultation and to start moving those habits from bad to good!
