One of the biggest skills that teens struggle with is the ability to communicate their needs or feelings.
Often this may be due to a fear of rejection or failure. Other times, they may be upset at someone and instead of asking a question for clarity on why something happened, they just get upset and it impacts the relationship.
Effective and Assertive Communication is key to being able to get what they want, get the help they may need or share how they feel to avoid a repeat of a scenario that did not serve them.
As parents, we need to model this behavior by communicating effectively with them and showing them strategies to better communicate with us when they are struggling to say what they want.
Helping them understand that holding back or making assumptions and acting on those assumptions will not serve them and over time can impact their self confidence and relations with peers.
Teaching them to ask for what they want in a non-aggressive way and learning to validate others feelings in the moment will always open the door for a healthy discussion and often times get them what they need.