One for all parents? Mobile phone feature teaches parents how to make teenagers tidy their rooms

This is one for all the parents out there: an app that teaches parents how to make teenagers tidy their rooms. As most parents know, telling stroppy teenagers to tidy their rooms is often a waste of breath.

But help is at hand thanks to a new app which teaches parents and teenagers negotiating skills for use in arguments at home. The ‘Close My Deal’ app gives parents useful hints on how to approach their children and gives teenagers suggestions on how to compromise.

It works by posing scenarios which could spark an argument,  and prompts the user  to choose from a range of answers to the problem. It then scores users on their choice and gives tips on how to improve their negotiating style. Both sides can also get ideas for ‘concessions’ they can make to secure a deal, for example the teenager offering to unload the dishwasher every night or go without pocket money for a month.

Creator Clive Rich, 52,  a business negotiator, said: ‘In my experience, negotiating with a stubborn teenager is every bit as difficult as trying to win a boardroom deal.’

As part of the app users can choose from a range of answers before being scored and then get feedback on how to tackle each situation and improve their negotiation style. Both sides can also get tips on the ‘concessions’ they can make to secure a deal. They include the teenager offering to unload the dishwasher every night or go without pocket money for a month, or parents agreeing to pay for concert tickets if a teenager attends an elderly relative’s birthday party.

The web app also gives users an insight into their personal ‘negotiating style’. By completing the profiler section users can find out if they subconsciously use demanding or aggressive behaviour during negotiations and receive instructions on how to adapt their approach. After a 25-year career brokering multi-billion corporate deals Mr Rich now hopes his new app – launched this week – will eventually bring an end to the family squabbles.

Technology's power: Could a simple computer program turn your teenager into the perfect child? (File picture)

What amazes me is that parents think their children have time to clean their rooms! How can they possibly fit that in with all the competing technology out there from smart phones, tabs, laptops, not to mention their busy schedules like hanging out in bars and clubs and whatnot. Aren't today's parents being just a little bit selfish asking their kids to take responsibility for cleaning their rooms? Answers on a  postcard to...

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