dstebbins said:
If you are a parent, chances are you've been faced with finding ciggarettes or other drugs in his or her bags. It's been proven that grounding them doesn't work, and teaching them the hazards of such stuff has also proven ineffective.
But no one enjoys being made fun of for being in therapy! I know this because I was in counseling for much of my childhood, and I was made fun of by immature kids. They were immature, but that doesn't make it hurt any less.
The problem is that therapy costs money, and medicaid won't cover things that are unnecessary, so maybe we should change that. Let's bug Congress to modify the Medicaid program to include rehabilitation therapy. What do you think?
Welcome to the generation of Dr. Phil. We're being brainwashed into
believing that therapists, even those without children, are more
knowledgeable than ourselves. We've forsaken the teachings of our
grandparents in exchange for advice and direction from complete
strangers.
My grandmother said a great many things which are still with me today
even though she's not. Here's a few:
- If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. Meaning:
Simply be kind to others and they'll do the same.
- Don't air your dirty laundry in public. This falls into my Dr. Phil remark
above. There are issues which are better left alone or handled privately.
Airing problems on national television doesn't make society a better
place, it creates hysteria.
- Children should be seen and not heard. Don't read this as granny never
spoke to us punk kids, she did and often. She made it clear that children
would behave in public settings (grocery store, doctor's office, at
restaurants and the like).
- Live within your means and always pay your debts. People today want
everything without having to work for it. Credit is the watchword of
today. Does that imply you can't take out a home loan? Of course not.
But there's good debt and bad debt.
- "Can't" is a giant too lazy to work. Boy did I hear this one a lot when
I was a kid.
- Get out of the house and get some stink off. Another favorite she said
often. Today's GameBoy generation can't seem to create their own
fun unless it involves an LCD screen and a keypad of sorts.
I strayed from your original point but all of these things would lessen
the delinquency problem.
There are major problems where a professional therapist is warranted.
Then there are the thera-chondriacs who think they can't make it through
the day without a session.
My parents often gave us the "idle hands" rant. I can't find a kid raking
leaves in my town in the fall, shoveling snow in the winter or mowing
grass in the summer. Kids have so much time on their hands they seem
to gravitate to the problems you mentioned above.
Kids will experiment with cigarettes. Most will not take it up because
it's one stinky habit which permeates everything it comes into contact
with. Many will also try marijuana but most will, for the most part,
not use it regularly. I did the latter not the former but have not done
the latter for decades. I wouldn't go overboard with regard to
experimentation of these two items. Booze would fit into that mix too.