RELATIONSHIP THESAURUS

PARENT AND TEEN CHILD



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HELPFUL TIP:

Relationships are part of the very fabric of your character’s life. How well or poorly they get along with others oftentimes comes down to personality, so carefully consider the positive traits and negative traits of your story’s cast. Another factor that can pull characters together or create friction is motivation, so keep each individual’s goal—both at the scene and story level—in mind as you write.
DESCRIPTION:
A parent and teen relationship is often defined by dramatic highs and lows. While this relationship is vitally important for teens as they grow and mature, conflicting goals between the parent and child can result in ongoing low-level friction and spectacular blowups. And the pressure for parents to get it right can add to the already elevated stress of raising a teen.

RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS:
Below are a wide range of dynamics that may accompany this relationship. Use the ideas that suit your story and work best for your characters to bring about and/or resolve the necessary conflict.

Unconditional love between a parent and a child
Parents providing space for the teen to explore their world
Parents providing reasonable boundaries and rules to ensure the teen's safe development
Parents listening with an open mind—often without offering advice or criticism
Parents allowing the teen the freedom to establish their own beliefs and values
Parents being approachable, consistent, and reliable
The teen respecting their parent's knowledge and experience
A teen recognizing that the parent is on their side (they're not the enemy)
A teen being truthful and transparent with the parent
Parents offering conditional love in exchange for the child's obedience and achievement
A parent who shirks their responsibilities
Parents trying to be the teen's friend
A parent modeling bad behavior for a child to emulate
A parent abusing their teen
Parents exerting toxic control and interfering in a way that damages the teen's self-reliance and independence
A parent discouraging independent thought and other relationships to ensure the teen's dependency
The teen having no respect for their parent
A teen openly and purposely defying a parent
A teen knowingly endangering themselves or others to get back at a parent
The teen rejecting their parent's wisdom or experience
A teen deceiving their parents to engage in desired but unhealthy behaviors

CHALLENGES THAT COULD THREATEN THE STATUS QUO:
A divorce
One parent losing a job that results in a financial strain
A single parent remarrying someone with children of their own
The teen developing a mental disorder or learning disability
The teen entering into a toxic friendship or abusive relationship
The teen developing a habit that must be hidden from their parents
One person embracing ideas that the other finds abhorrent, such as those associated with a cult or hate group

WOUNDS THAT COULD FACTOR INTO THE RELATIONSHIP:
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POSSIBLE CONFLICT SCENARIOS:
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CONFLICTING DESIRES THAT CAN IMPAIR THE RELATIONSHIP:
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CLASHING PERSONALITY TRAIT COMBINATIONS:
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NEGATIVE OUTCOMES OF FRICTION:
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FICTIONAL SCENARIOS THAT COULD TURN THESE CHARACTERS INTO ALLIES:
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WAYS THIS RELATIONSHIP MAY LEAD TO POSITIVE GROWTH:
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THEMES AND SYMBOLS THAT CAN BE EXPLORED THROUGH THIS RELATIONSHIP:
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