Troubled Teens Resources

When you read the description of a child or teen labeled with Oppositional Defiant Disorder you think it is inevitable that those teens will end up in schools for troubled teens. They are described as negative, aggressively hostile, strong-willed, spiteful, forward….well, you get the idea, these troubled teens are supposed to be train wrecks.

So you have to ask yourself - what track did these trains wreck on before there were shrinks to label the wrecks.

An interesting post suggests that parents ought to think twice before boarding the “label” train. It could be what you break won’t be ODD, but a strong spirit.

“Let’s face it, kids are tough. Kids push the line every chance they get. They have incredibly strong wills. Why? Because they want it to be their way.

Personally, I want my son to be strong willed because that means his will be independent. He won’t be easily swayed by every passing fad. I don’t want to break him of it, I want to show him the limits.

I am not saying that there are no kids who legitimately have these syndromes, but I can’t help but think that many parents look for labels to put on their kids. Our children shouldn’t be perfectly obedient, malleable little clay people. They are going to question and push the limits. They are going to act up when they are bored, tired, and over or under stimulated. They are kids! We have to be parents.

If we refuse to be parents and enforce our strong wills on our children, we can expect “problem children”.

(Source)