Why daughters aged 14 are the most difficult children to handle.

Parents who think the 'terrible twos' are bad are in for a nasty shock a few years later.
According to mothers and fathers of older children, their offspring's early teenage years are a far more difficult age to cope with.
In fact, the most difficult to handle of all are daughters of 14, a survey revealed yesterday.
Their desperate desire to grow up fast - entailing demands for greater freedom, peer pressure to be thin and the dangers of experimenting with alcohol - has put millions of teenage girls on a collision course with their mothers and fathers.

In boys, parents pinpointed the age of 15 as the toughest time, as their sons battled bad skin during puberty while refusing to speak to anyone or get on with their studies.
More than two thirds of parents with both sons and daughters described teenage girls as the hardest to raise, according to a survey of 2,000 mothers and fathers to children aged over 18.
'New parents live in dread of the "terrible twos",' said Kathryn Crawford of TheBabyWebsite.com, which carried out the survey.
'But parents of teenagers will tell them that the worst is yet to come.
Many toddler traits surface again when children become teenagers, but often become even more difficult to deal with.
But daughters are the biggest problem because they tended to 'turn into a woman overnight' after their 14th birthday, parents said. After that date, they would succumb to peer pressure, often dabbling with drink, worrying about their weight and fiercely defending their privacy, it was said. More than half would throw tantrums.

Girls were more preoccupied with getting a boyfriend, buying make-up and going out with friends than working hard at school, parents claimed. They were also more likely to complain about pocket money.
Nine out of ten parents believed girls mature more quickly than boys.
Seven out of ten said 15-year- old sons would become frustrated when not understood and 67 per would lock themselves in their room to avoid talking to their parents.
While parents lamented such behaviour, two thirds acknowledged much of it was down to hormones.

Mrs Crawford added: 'We have to remember that as well as being the worst age for the parents, the teenage years are also the most difficult for the children themselves.
'Teenagers genuinely can't help being surly and moody. They are often confused and scared by their hormone- driven mood swings.
'Add peer pressure to the raging hormones and it's hardly surprising that teenagers throw the odd "strop". As a parent, all you can do is count to ten as often as it takes and just be there for them.'
While girls were voted the hardest to bring up during adolescence, boys were most difficult to handle during the early years, the survey concluded.