Hope for Parents of Troubled Teens: A Practical Guide to Getting Them Back on Track

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Introduction

What Can You Do?

Adolescence can be an exciting time of growth and newness for parents and children. Many families make it through with relatively few battle scars and with an established sense of healthy interdependence. However, some young people get caught up in rebellious behavior that escalates into something serious.

This book has been written to bring hope and healing to families, especially to parents who are teetering on the edge of despair with their teenage children. I’ve been there. I’ve felt the pain and the hopelessness.

My family has experienced the message of this book. Our own rebellious child finally made it, but not until six long, hard years had passed. In the end, really the beginning for our son, it was God who brought about the miracle of change in his life. It was God who gave him the determination and strength to make decisions about his future. It was God who gave him the daily power to carry those decisions through. Mom and Dad, meanwhile, examined, evaluated, and reevaluated everything. It was a time of growing and becoming, in spite of daily frightening circumstances, or maybe because of them.

When we were experiencing the worst with our teenage son, we wanted to know that somebody, anybody, understood what was happening to us. We heard a lot of comments like, Oh, we’re so sorry or There’s nothing you can do. You just have to wait until he comes to his senses or Kick him out. Let him see what it feels like to be on his own or Make stronger rules; ground him. Though well-meaning, none of this was helpful.

There are no words, initially, to lift the heavy weight in your heart or to miraculously turn your child around to see the light. What I often tell parents I work with is: It’s likely to get worse before it gets better. Not exactly what they want to hear. But it’s the truth. And in the meantime, there are things we can, and should, do.

First, try to take the focus off thoughts like, How could he/she do this to me? and start thinking, How can I help this child find his/her way? This change in attitude goes a long way toward helping your own bleeding to stop.

Second, try to establish some kind of relationship with the warring teen. It’s difficult, but do whatever you can to make this happen. They may ignore you or refuse your gestures, but try.

From there, please take the time to read this book and follow the suggestions for moving your family toward wholeness. There are no magic solutions. But I believe as you explore the Something to Do suggestions at the end of each chapter, there will be movement in the right direction. You are suffering. Your child is suffering in a different way. Do something.

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The Bible tells us that faith without works is dead. The message of this book is that having hope, faith, and trust, means there are things we can do to make a difference in our relationship with our child, even if he does not respond to us as we would like him to.

But when the last authority figure has been talked with, when the final desperate measure has been taken, when the last shred of human wisdom has been tapped, hope may be all that is left. The Scriptures tell us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hope rests in our faith in God, and our willingness to trust that He will do what we cannot do.

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In addition to offering counsel to parents already in crisis, I would hope that some parents will read this book before their child’s behavior becomes troublesome so they might avoid the upheaval and chaos that happens when a child loses his way. If you are a parent just entering the world of teenagers, and you haven’t experienced any significant troubles yet, this book might help you circumvent problems that may lie ahead.

My earnest prayer is that you will find information, wisdom, and encouragement within these pages. I trust your family will be made whole.

1

Where Did This Kid Come From, Anyway?

We were driving to church—just my husband and I. Silently. Finally, I said, Have we been too hard? Too strict? Too unbending? Maybe we should have given in more, let him do some things even if we weren’t comfortable with them.

More silence. Then my husband replied, He did everything he wanted to do—whether we OK’d it or not. Look where it got him. What else could we have done? What could we have done differently and still been true to our convictions?

More silence. We were both thinking. Wondering. Steve was safe for the moment—in the county jail. It was amazing how the worries lifted when we knew where he was and that he couldn’t get into more trouble—for the time being. He was remorseful. Again.

This was the third, or was it the fourth time he was incarcerated? The first times had been to juvenile detention. We celebrated his eighteenth birthday in a tiny room in juvenile hall—and then they moved him across the street to the county jail.

We were the ones responsible for his first arrest. After several incidents, promises made and broken, we went to the juvenile authorities and asked them to help us. They did. They arrested him and confined him. He was angry. The minute he got out, on probation with all kinds of restrictions, he was off to be with his friends—the same ones he was getting into trouble with. Then it was only a matter of time before he was picked up again—for possession of marijuana.

Steve had written checks on our family’s meager bank account. He’d pawned family items. He’d borrowed his father’s truck to run around in when he was supposed to be in school. He didn’t have a license. His father taught in the junior high school across the street from the high school. Many times he left at the end of the day thinking he had parked his truck in one place and found it in another. Shaking his head, he blew it off to poor memory.

Then there was the day when he pulled into a neighborhood gas station to fill up the tank. Man, your truck must really burn up the gas. Your son was just in here and filled it.

We had prayed that he would not get away with anything—and God honored our prayer. At one point we sat in the office of the probation officer (PO) with our son, hoping to find a way to stop this rush to destruction. He was in big trouble now. The PO was giving him the opportunity to confess to everything he had ever done, for immunity. Our son looked at us and with a solemn shake of his head, said, "They know everything I have ever done; and then to us, Have I missed anything?" We didn’t think so. God was faithful, and we made sure our son and the probation officer knew it.

Out of jail once again, we helped him get a job. We let him be home again, as he earnestly attempted to get his life on track. But the temptations were too great, the will too weak, and he was back in trouble again.

Thanksgiving Eve, middle of the night, we received a phone call from the sheriff’s office. He had been arrested, once again, for possession of marijuana. We were expecting a houseful of family and friends for Thanksgiving dinner. We were heartbroken, embarrassed, frightened, and we still had to entertain.

It was hard to tell the family again. Everyone had hoped and prayed he was finally on the way to getting it together. We feared differently, but still we hoped. Still we prayed, Whatever it takes.

So here we were.

The last time we had been in court with our son, the judge had said he didn’t ever want to see him again before his desk. He made it clear that if there was a next time, he would go away for a long time.

Our son had had a three-year history of forging checks, auto theft, running away—all crimes within the family. We could have overlooked them. We could have excused them. We could have threatened and required restitution. In fact, we did all of those things. Nothing made a difference. We went to the authorities for backup, to force him into compliance—and now he was facing real prison time. We were fearful. We were remorseful. We wondered if our righteousness had condemned our son to imprisonment with felons, murderers, and rapists. What had we done?

Hope Becomes Reality

Today, Steve has been married more than twenty-five years and is the father of two grown children. He has been a successful businessman, an entrepreneur, a planner, and a developer. He is a good man. He honors his father and his mother and appreciates his siblings and extended family. Life has not always been easy. He learned his first trade while in a nine-month drug treatment program—the alternative to prison time. We hired a lawyer who very directly put it to Steve: prison or treatment program. You choose. He chose the treatment program with no hope that it would make a difference for him.

We were so fearful he would bolt again that we picked him up at the county jailhouse door, locked him in the backseat of the car (child locks!), held onto him from both sides while we stopped at the local music store to buy him a guitar (Christmas present), and three hours later, delivered him into the hands of the intake person at the treatment center. He knew he was free to leave at any time, but the moment he would do so, an all-points bulletin would be issued for his arrest, and his next stop would be prison. He stayed.

Two weeks after entering the program, they allowed him to call home—our Christmas present. Mom, Dad, I want you to know I’ve turned my life over to Christ. I’m going to make it. I’ll stay here as long as it takes. It took nine months.

Our Children Are Unique

Sometimes life seems so unfair. Just about the time we feel we are getting it all together, along comes a precious little bundle of joy and energy who doesn’t necessarily live up to our expectations. If we already have a child who is totally delightful (yes, they do exist!), the shock may be doubly staggering. And then we compare ourselves to that perfect family who has only happy, manageable children—or at least appears to. And we wonder.

It would be wonderful if all newborns were indeed a tabula rasa, as John Locke suggested back in the 1600s—a blank sheet of paper, upon which experience writes. We could be perfect parents, imprinting only the best things on our children’s absorbent little minds, and they would all turn out wonderfully well. Or would they? What a burden to put upon the parents of the world!

No, God had a different plan. Each of our children is born with a unique and many-faceted personality. Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family said it this way: Just as surely as some children are naturally compliant, there are others who seem to be defiant upon exit from the womb. They come into the world smoking a cigar and yelling about the temperature in the delivery room and the incompetence of the nursing staff. They expect meals to be served the instant they are ordered, and they demand every moment of mother’s time.[1]

Most parents of more than one child are well aware of their children’s temperament differences—especially the differences that are annoying or that cause family disturbances. But sometimes, in the dailiness of living, we lose sight of the individuality of the child. We find ourselves fighting with behaviors that might represent some special character trait that needs to be recognized and developed into a strength. In the immature expression of that trait, we find ourselves irritated and frustrated, so instead of analyzing the temperament of the child, we begin to kill something that might be quite important in years to come.

Dr. Roger Williams commented in his book You Are Extraordinary on a study that was done by the Menninger Foundation.[2] One hundred twenty-eight babies were observed from one month of age until almost eight months of age. Everything about them was watched carefully, from diaper habits to feeding, sleeping, playing, crying, bathing. Marked personality differences showed up as soon as they could be observed. Some babies were bold. Others were shy. Some reacted quickly to stimuli. Others didn’t even seem to notice. Some could tolerate tension and frustration. Others fell apart. These were all babies considered normal in every sense of the word.

This distinctiveness, this uniqueness of the individual stays with each of our children as they mature. In spite of the fact that we make bold attempts to mold them into a particular pattern of our choice and convenience, they remain who they are. Maybe if we could recognize who they are when they are small, we might avoid certain problems when they are bigger.

Training Our Children, for Better or Worse

Many parents quote Proverbs 22:6 to assure themselves that if they teach their children Christian ways, they will eventually come back to their early training. But this Scripture can also be taken as a warning: Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it. This implies that if we are careful to discover the uniqueness that lies within our child and use that individuality as a tool in our parenting, we will make a considerable positive impact on our child’s life.

On the other hand, we can train our children negatively as well. If we neglect to train carefully, considering the individual needs of a particular youngster, we will unintentionally train them to go the wrong way. The impact of this kind of training may reach us when our children reach adolescence.

Psalm 139:13–18 describes the beauty of our individuality before God. The psalmist praises God for the fearful and awesome wonder of his birth. He speaks of being intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] (v. 15). He marvels at the revelation that God’s eyes saw his unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them (v. 16). He wonders at the innumerable thoughts of God toward him, and revels in the knowledge that God loves him.

In the wisdom of God, each of our children has been born with a special capacity to love and serve God, and has been given the uniqueness of temperament to do the job well.

As parents, we often despair at the willfulness, the cockiness, the deceitfulness, the rebellious-type spirit we have seen in certain of our children. But maybe we have misinterpreted and mishandled an independent, creative, potential leader by our lack of understanding.

Another question parents often ask is how these kids can be so different when we’ve raised them basically the same way. Given the extraordinary differences we find in children, it is no wonder they do not, cannot, respond to similar circumstances in similar ways. Each brings his own distinctive interpretation to life situations and to his own unique needs. How each child perceives his wants being met will have a major effect on his understanding of his life.

Individualized Spaces

In addition to inborn personality traits, each child has certain specific adjustments to make as a direct result of his particular situation. Birth order in the family, genders of siblings, the number of children in the family, the multiple complexities of relationships between parents and children—all give each child a very individualized space within the family unit.

Also, parents change. Family structures change. Environments change. Sometimes families change drastically in cases of separation, divorce, or death. All of these have a direct influence on each of the children in our home—but the message of that influence may be different for each child.

Stages of Child Growth and Development

Just as each of our children is different from the others, so he is, paradoxically, very much the same in his stages of growing up. A quick course in Child Growth and Development might look something like this:[3]

Some children seem to always be on the good side of the diagram, with maybe an occasional slip over to the not-so-good. Others never seem to leave the far right, and their parents are always coping with behavior that leaves them exhausted both mentally and physically, but especially emotionally. Still other children move back and forth between easy-to-live-with and hard-to-live-with relatively smoothly.

Each of these one-word descriptions is an overgeneralization, but it represents realistic and normal behavior for these general age categories. Within these categories, children respond to life and to circumstances depending upon their individual temperament, their own particular pattern of growth and general development—and even the time of day!

Parenting Styles

An equally important factor that influences our children’s decisions and attitudes is the philosophy of child-rearing that each parent, individually, brings to the family. Most parents train their children in a way that seems comfortable to them. In the midst of much confusing and even contradicting advice from the experts (and not-so-expert), most mothers and fathers still develop their own way of dealing with their children. They may completely accept the way they were raised and follow through with their own children. Or they may completely reject their parents’ practices, or fall somewhere in between. Whatever they end up doing, the style of parenting that emerges will have a strong influence on the development of each of their children.

Four general styles of parenting have been observed, with each style influencing children in specific ways.

The Authoritarian parent is one who demands complete control over his child. While they may justify this approach in various ways, the underlying motivation is often a desire to control, or fear that something will happen to the child, or the belief that the child is incapable of taking care of himself. The child often responds with what appears to be an ideal nature. He is obedient, well-behaved, and easy to get along with. But often there is an unnoticed volcano growing beneath the surface because the child may not be allowed to express himself or grow naturally into an independent person. His good behavior may be caused by fear. This child may begin to make his own decisions as soon as he realizes his parents can’t control him anymore. And his dependency on others to make decisions for him could put him in situations where he will go along with the crowd rather than use good judgment.

The Autocratic parent is similar to the authoritarian parent, but is characterized by a more impatient and demanding attitude. It’s the Do it yesterday approach paired with inconsiderate and inconsistent parental control. Motives are often selfish and self-centered, expecting much but giving little to help the child grow to independence. The child may respond with submissive behavior, but not without a fight. He often looks sullen or morose—not a very pleasant personality to be around. He may even develop nervous tics or neurotic behavior and may be dependent on someone else to run his life. When he gets old enough, he may find very specific ways to assert his immature independence and intentionally hurt or embarrass his parents.

The "Indifferent" parent is not given this label because of a lack of love for his child. This parent may indeed care and be concerned for his