Teenagers!!!

[LauraT7]

"I wish you could neuter children, like you can neuter dogs."

LOL! --

i know you don't REALLY mean that - if that were true, you'd loose the sweet revenge of GRANDCHILDREN that torment your KIDS, just as your kids tormented YOU!

LOL!


Corrina - no offense taken. I agree, meds AND discipline are a core part of reaching these kids - but too many people think that that is ALL they have to do - like the meds are a 'cure' or discipline (some people use the word 'discipline when they mean 'punishment) will 'teach them a lesson'. ADHD, ODD or whatever is not something you can 'fix' and be done with. it's something that exists in that person FOREVER, and is ongoing thru their whole life.

(people used to think that ADHD only happened in boys, and only in kids, but what happens is that those who 'survived' to be apparently 'normal' adults learned coping skills to deal with the 'normal' world. Out of school, the things that make ADDer's such annoying kids, can be channeled into creative carreers. IF they're lucky)

Camps, outward bound, etc are great. So many of these kids don't see in THEMSELVES that they are worth saving - esp when they are surrounded by so-called 'friends' and environments (school) that support that failing self image. Teens are very cruel pack animals. That's why I'm all for getting a kid totally out of his familiar territory and with NEW people that don't judge him on his past and support him into sliding back into familiar (and bad) habits.


Tonya -

"EVERYONE knows right from wrong." - you said you were tired and couldn't read the entire thread - so I'm hoping this was just a short statement that you really didn't mean the way it sounded.

'EVERYONE' does NOT "know" right from wrong - I spend ALOT of time with teens, and it's amazing how many don't have a clue what's 'right' and what's 'wrong'. What is even sadder, is that, unlike this boy's parents, there are so very many kids whose parents just don't care enough to teach right from wrong, if they even know themselves.

As for 'believing' in a disorder, just because YOU don't understand something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. (I don't understand quantum mechanics,either - but they still exist!)

It's true that alot of understanding how the mind works is baised on observation, and things that can't be extracted, examined, and measured - psychology will never be an 'exact' science. But I KNOW kids with severe ODD - you ask them if they want an ice cream cone and they shout "NO" while reaching for the cone with eager eyes!

What a childs disability is, I'm not qualified to tell - but believe me - when you live or work with one of these kids every day, and if you truly care about the child - you come to 'believe' - real quick. There is no other logical explaination. No one would 'choose' to have ANY of these disabilities!

That being said, you can't use a diagnosis as an excuse for a kid to run wild over others - only as a basis for taking steps in treating and correcting behavior.

and in the end, there are no guarantees that whatever we do, it will turn out OK for them as adults.

laura