I am wondering what people's opinions are on this. Do you feel that juvenile hall is a preferable location for a troubled teen, than them being placed in a program?
Let's say a parent knows their teen is using drugs, and knows the teen is stealing from the neighbors home to support their drug use. What should the parent do?
Should the parent call the police and have their own teen arrested for burglary and drug possession?
Should the parent ignore this behavior, and hope it gets better?
Should the parent confront their teen and attempt to control the situation themselves?
But what if the teen is caught by the police. The judge gives the parent a choice, six months in a juvenile hall or state run boot camp, or the parent can send the kid to a private program instead. What would you suggest this parent do?
According to
parents on the board Conductdisorders the parents should call the police on their own kids. I happen to disagree with them, but I am not living in a culture where public psychological treatment is equal juvenile hall and court reference.
Not they should not ignore the behavior. They should investigate what is going on with an open mind. It is wellknown that problems can be caused due to problems in the family dynamics. Are both parents onboard or are they using their child as tool to fix a domestic issue? Are they using alcohol or perscription medication in front of their child while lecturing it about the dangers of alcohol and drugs teaching the doublestandards? Should they go to rehab first to set the good example? Is the community the problem? Can they join forces with other parents? Are there options for teenagers at all in the community?
Yes, they should confront their children, but in many cases they should seek training in how to conduct the confrontation. If people never are challenged on their actions how should they change them?
The juvenile hall should always be chosen but with a application for a psychological evaluation. Too many kids are overmedicated. They need to be taken off medication. State run boot camps are killers. The number teenagers killed in prove this statement. Private run programs can not be chosen with such a short time for proper evaluation. The decision of what program the child would go to would be a matter of who is paying the educational consultant the highest referral fee rather than what is in the best interest of the child.