HAVE A STRONG-WILLED CHILD? You're lucky! Strong willed children can be a challenge to parent when they’re young, but if sensitively parented, they become terrific teens and young adults. Self-motivated and inner-directed, they go after what they want and are almost impervious to peer pressure. As long as parents resist the impulse to "break their will," strongwilled kids often become leaders. ?What exactly is a strong-willed, or spirited, child? Some parents call them "difficult" or “stubborn,” but we could also see strong-willed kids as people of integrity who aren’t easily swayed from their own viewpoints. Laura Markham on why you are lucky to have a strong-willed child who can sometimes be a bit wild.