Why do teens like to argue with their parents!!??

[west seattle gal]

Teens are argumentative and disagreeable because their brains are growing and they begin to question everything, their hormones are raging like crazy and causing mood swings, they are somewhat innately irrational, and developmentally they must separate from their parents (and parents' ideas) in preparation of leaving the nest and entering adulthood.

I think this stage also prepares the parents for this transition. It has to be difficult in order to facilitate the break, and ultimately this is a good thing for both parents and kids. Just try to ride it and recognize it as normal development. You are not alone, it's tough.

[kelly237]

I clearly remember as a teen deliberately taking the opposing position in conversations with my parents...

I would have picked either side of the same arguement to be able to debate..
I was learning to think independently...
Thankfully my parents allowed that without too much ado, but that doesn't mean they
changed their opinions..

[slingshot]

Simple. That's just what they do and they all lie. Some outgrow it and some don't.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by purplepeach

I need to vent! I just had the STUPIDEST argument with my 17 year old son. We had the radio on and the station was playing Christmas songs. I made the simple comment that "If you weren't Christian, and had to listen to these songs on the radio, wouldn't it bug you" -which he replied- this isn't Christmas music. There is nothing religious in Rudolph. I said- it is about rudolph pulling santa's sleigh on Christmas eve! and Santa comes from St. Nicholas! It is a Christmas song! It is only played during the Christmas season!! My original comment was not about rudolph- it was about all Christmas music. I tried to illustrate what I meant by saying that if I wanted to listen to country music but when I turned the radio on and there was some other religion's holiday music on I would not like it since I wanted to hear country music. So it led to him saying they don't play Christmas music in the big cities! I said that there are people of other religions everywhere not just in the city and these radio stations can be tuned in almost everywhere nowadays. Basically it boiled down to whether this is really Christmas music since they don't sing about God/Jesus and he felt it wouldn't bug anyone cuz it had a cool tune to it.
For heaven's sake- It wasn't meant to be such a literal comment that had to be proven/disproven by being so scrutinized!!!
Why is he sooooo argumentative and disagreeable??!!

Heck, I'd argue with you about it and I'm not even a teen. Maybe because he didn't agree with your assessment?

It's not that teens LIKE to argue, but they are finding their own voice, and they will use it. Not sure why you would think that's a bad thing.

[XRiteMA98]

Originally Posted by Stagemomma

Because he is 17!

I see his point, Rudolph includes none of the Christian aspects of the holiday. BUT were it not for the Christian traditions, the pagan ones would not likely have survived the test of time. So there would be no Rudolph.

Stagemomma, I wouldn't use the word "pagan". To them we are the pagans.

To the OP: the music they play everywhere at Xmas time has nothing to do with religion whatsoever. It has to do with commerce. They want to put the buyers in holiday mood so they can spend more.

Now why a 17 yo like to argue? He is a teenager. He's going through a phase. He will come back to his normal sense when he's 25. This is when the brain is fully developed. Treat adolescence like some sort of disease and don;t despair over every minor disputes. Save your neurons for bigger, more important problems.

Honestly I dont like any of that music and the commercials so I tend not to use my car radio during holidays.

[armory]

Originally Posted by purplepeach

I need to vent! I just had the STUPIDEST argument with my 17 year old son. We had the radio on and the station was playing Christmas songs. I made the simple comment that "If
you weren't Christian, and had to listen to these songs on the radio, wouldn't it bug you"

For heaven's sake- It wasn't meant to be such a literal comment that had to be proven/disproven by being so scrutinized!!!
Why is he sooooo argumentative and disagreeable??!!

First, are you complaining about Christmas songs because they might have some ties to Christianity? Duh...it's Christmas.

Originally Posted by purplepeach

For heaven's sake- It wasn't meant to be such a literal comment that had to be proven/disproven by being so scrutinized!!!
Why is he sooooo argumentative and disagreeable??!!

Were you arguing for or against Christianity? I ask because you threw in a cry for the sake of heaven.
Your son is argumentative and disagreeable because you set the precedence. He is 17 and can think, he will most likely answer in a tone as was directed towards him. I usually do, especially when someone thinks to be better than others.