As adolescents begin to assert their individuality, family tensions increase, and battles are fought over clothes and hair styles, late nights and so on. The doctor may find himself consulted; some parents feel that, if their children get into trouble or disagree with them, they must be ill. Others seek a referee or an accomplice in the battle of the generations. Often the younger doctor in a partnership has an advantage in dealing with such problems, being able to bridge the generation gap and communicate well with both parents and teenagers. Both generations need education about the other and particularly about current norms of behaviour. Children may have to be reminded that their parents also have rights, and parents, especially those with unrealistic ambitions for their offspring, or those determined to live their lives again through their children, must be taught to give their children more independence.