Comments for Support For Families with Troubled Teens

Comment on Three Springs Residential Treatment Center, Trenton, Alabama by Carter

Carter — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:07:26 +0000

Do not send your children here…i was sent here in 2005 with no drug problems besides smoking marijuana occasionally, and drinking sometimes on the weekend….while there i saw many things that have mentally scarred me for life….i have a social anxiety disorder now and am medicated because of it….if anything i learned more about drugs and doing illegal things while i was there if anything else….i am sucessful now and have a great job but i credit none of that to this terrible place…i wanted my life to end so many times while there because i didnt belong there….and know i have to take medication daily becuase i have so many panic attacks….thanks alot three springs

Comment on Teens Consequences for Bad Grades by Trevor

Trevor — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:13:45 +0000

To all of you worried parents out there who are in despair, you should know that you don’t always have to go to the extreme to get your kid’s head straight. I am a sophomore in highschool, and I too screwed up my freshman year because I had no interest in school. So naturally I was scolded by my parents. Plus I have a sister who is currently attending Stanford. So once I found out that my genius sister was going to a private college, I didn’t feel happy. Sure my friends found out about it, but I never bragged because I felt burdened. But during the summer, my older sister took me to her prefrosh week. It was incredible. There were so many things to do and learn, that I started to realize what I could be doing if I hadn’t messed up. So when I came back home, I set myself to become succesful. And by doing so, I discovered a lot of tips which helped me.
1) We kids do much better if we are self-inspired.
2) Parents, check on your children’s friends. I don’t know why, but you actually become “smarter” if you hang around with smarter people than you. ( I used to be with the jocks, but I’ve also been even more popular now ever since making friends with the smarter students.)
3) If you want, you could assign your child to a legit job. It boosts their self esteem. But don’t let them audition for something that wastes their time like pizza delivery. Becoming a tutor really helped me out! ( I was so surprised how much I learned from teaching that I told my mom and dad that I didn’t need a tutor!)
4) Make sure they don’t care too much about “what’s cool” or as we teens call it, hype!
5) DO NOT HOVER OVER THEM! I absolutely hated it when my parents did that. Even though their intentions were pure, it was so bothersome knowing that they always had their eyes on me.
6) Do not take away what they love (hobbies…it’s your call what to do if they have a boyfriend/girlfriend). But also make sure that they don’t over abuse it. For me, my parents threatened that if I didn’t bring my grades up, then I couldn’t play baseball or the saxophone anymore. But to me, sports and music were my “Trevor Time”. That was the only time I could relax and not over stress.

Comment on For London Youth, Down and Out Is Way of Life – NYTimes.com by Adam Alvarado

Adam Alvarado — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:04:45 +0000

An opportunity to find their OWN way in work, and find means to support themselves outside the job world that’s always up and down. I wish more saw it this way instead.

Comment on Teens Consequences for Bad Grades by Lynne

Lynne — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:55:48 +0000

My daughter has been going to private school since kindergarten (catholic school)..she is now a Sophomore and she’s a very confident 15 1/2 yr old, she is very active in Drama and Music and always was comfortable on stage and sings in front of the entire student body,,plus she’s a great girl, strong values, funny, lots of friends…HOWEVER,,her grades are horrible…granted she is in a lot of honors classes, her grades are 1 B,,C’s and D….not her best for sure, ..she is a smart girl with a lot of confidence, but she doesn’t seem to be alarmed by it,,she forgets or doesn’t care about homework and her tests are horrible…she gets to the bottom grade and then she has to work double hard to get it to a passing grade. Her schooling all these years have been a financial burden on us ( we don’t make a lot of money ) but the money we do make we have felt it’s important for our daughter to get a good education…she is our only child,,and no she is not spoiled..anything she has of value she bought herself with birthday money etc..WHAT DO I DO I stay up nights crying and worrying about her grades…I actually came to the point where I told her that if I see 1 “D” for her last qtr she will not return to the school she loves and she will go to public school ( would help our wallet but we really don’t want to do that)…PLEASE HELP…we’ve taken stuff away from her etc….she just doesn’t seem to stress over it…she does want to go to college but her GPA is only 2.7..not too good…HELP!!!

Comment on Teen Cutting A Self-Destructive Coping Skill by candy mason

candy mason — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:20:59 +0000

i am 17. when i was 14 i started cutting. my mom found out a year later. she yelled at me until i wanted to die. she made me feel so much worse about the cutting. i am afraid to cut myself again because of her yelling at me. i admit that i have self-esteem issues and i have one friend. my fiancé. he knows about my feelings and about me wanting to cut myself again. he is so understanding and listens to my every problem and complaint. he tells me that i dont need to cut myself. he has helped me cope with my pain. i just wanted love and now i have all of the love in the world. STM (my fiancé), has saved me.

Comment on Three Springs Residential Treatment Center, Trenton, Alabama by JS

JS — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:51:59 +0000

I was admitted into prvb in August of 2005 and graduated soon after my father died in August 2007. I was there for family issues, and anger issues. But what 15 year old freshly ripped out of their home in new jersey by their parents wouldn’t be? As a resident I got away with many things at the program, I feel I need to say that first, as some of you on here may know me. But when it comes to the program itself it is dysfunctional and very degrading, I was a trustworthy letter writer in my group and my stage was suspended for almost 4 months because the counselors “found” me trying to make acid in my personal area. I came to the program with no drug history and was allowed to be bullied because of that. Long story short, the day after I got home I went on a drug and alcohol fueled vendetta to get my adolescence back. This lasted all through my senior year and caused me to lose a full ride scholarship to BU for hockey. And up until about 2 years ago was getting me thrown in jail, into fights, ect ect. All I’m saying is, is don’t send youre child there, it’s not a healthy place mentally or physically for anyone staff included