Troubled Teens Resources

Troubled Teen Options

Once a family has decided that they can no longer control their teen, they begin searching for ways to deal with the defiant youth.  There are several avenues that distressed parents usually use.  Most parents will typically attempt one or all of these listed below:

            “You’re going to stay with your Grandma.”

This option may seem like a good idea, since Grandma raised the teen’s parent and everything seemed to turn out ok.  The problem with this logic is after the newness of the visit with Grandma wears off, the teen begins to treat Grandma like he or she did the parent.  Another problem with this option is the teen will eventually need to go to school.  When the teen gets to school he will find new negative friends to replace the old ones he has been hanging with.  The majority of the time this option ends in the child hating the Grandparents as much as he does his parents.

            “You’re going to see a therapist”

This option makes sense; the teen obviously has some type of problem he is not dealing with.  While this may be true, any kind of counseling or therapy requires a willing participant.  Many times the youth will convince the Therapist how bad he has it, and in some cases the Therapist even takes the teen’s side.  Sometimes the teen will manipulate the Therapist and try to run up a therapy bill for their parents.  There have even been instances where a teen has convinced the therapist that his parents are the ones that need help.

            “You’re grounded”

When teens negative behaviors start to manifest themselves most parents will revert to the punishment they grew up with and ground their child.  This worked for them; maybe it will work for their child.  In most households of today both parents work, leaving the defiant teen on the “honor system” to stay at home until they get home from work.  The problem with this are fairly obvious, if the child is smoking pot, cutting school, and breaking the law, they will have no problem lying about coming home right after school.

            “Were checking you into the hospital”

When a teen comes home totally drunk or loaded on pot, parents are sometimes forced to take the child to the hospital.  After the crisis is over, the parents may discuss taking the child to a psychiatric hospital to be evaluated.  If the child is simply acting out negatively, and is not suicidal, this option can sometimes create more problems than it solves.  A child unnecessarily placed in a psychiatric situation will probably learn new tools to manipulate the adults in their lives.  Suicide is a very serious problem and threats must all be treated seriously.  Once a teen that has not had suicidal tendencies learns this, he may begin to threaten all of the time.  The teen may also learn how to obtain medications that he may not even need.

The decision can be a very difficult one to make.  If you would like some no cost low pressure help, give us a call at 800 781 8081 or visit us at www.teenoptions.com.

Boarding schools for teenagers may not be the best solution for any number of reasons. Admittedly, teen boarding schools, be they for troubled teens or specialty schools for the gifted, are a luxury that many parents find that they can not afford. But in many cases parents very much want their kids to experience a complete family life. They want them at the kitchen table doing homework, they want them in the back yard throwing a football. They want the traditional American family life.

But by the same token, most parents are alarmed by the education that their teens are receiving in public schools.

“There are those who seem to think that there is simply no hope for a child who goes to a public school. This is far from true. While private school and home schooling can be excellent options for those to whom they are available, one need not view public school as a choice of last resort.”

Of course, it requires a parent to be pro-active in their teens life. You can’t send them out the door and hope for the best.

“If you as the parent are not getting involved with the education process, the chances of your child’s success in public school drastically diminish.

Education begins in the home, and your child’s success will have a lot to do with the groundwork laid before the child even walks into kindergarten that first day. Moreover, education must continue to be reinforced in the home throughout your child’s schooling…. ”

(source)
(Photo: Kate Geraghty)

Click the link above to see how you can work with your teenagers.