Troubled Teens: The Blame Game

It is all the kids he/she is hanging out with, it is not my teen.  If it weren't for those bad influences, my child would never act like that - or smoke pot.....

Really - you want to believe that so badly, but in reality if your teen that is making the choice not only to hang with that negative peer group, he/she is also part of it!  So another parent of a teen he/she is hanging with is saying the same thing.

Your teen has choices, he/she is making a choice of who their so-called friends are.  Your teen is making the decision to smoke pot.  Your teen is making a choice to stop studying and heading down a negative path.

It is no different than a parent making a choice to be friends with their neighbor, who may not be the biggest gossip in the town. 

If your teen is making bad choices that are escalating to a point that you are no longer able to control him/her, it is time to look at parent choices.  Seeking local therapy, youth groups, outpatient facilities and even looking for help from relatives - exhausting all your local options. 

Don't get stuck in the blame game circle!  It isn't your fault - parenting is not easy, and we do our best to give our children the best.  Entitlement issues have become a trend of today.

If you come to the conclusion you need residential therapy, do your homework - this is a major decision that is not only financial, it is an emotional one.

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