Posted by med_empowered on October 21, 2005, at 13:27:24
In reply to Re: Teen traumas husband hassles, posted by stresser on September 9, 2005, at 18:15:10
hey..to fairywings..I'm not a parent, but I was a teenager fairly recently (I'm 21)...I think you did the right thing. Its good to set some sort of line, but at the same time keep an even keel, be a little bit laid back, and generally avoid dramatizing any situation--that just feeds the flames. And with the drinking thing...again, good idea. WhenI was in high school, I did dabble in pot and what not a bit (never a major problem), and one of my friends had parents who would (gasp) let us smoke up at their house and drink and what not. It struck me as crazy, at first...kids walking into the house, lit cigarettes and beers in hand. But then I saw the point of it all: first of all, pot was the hardest drug that we were allowed to use...all the kids followed that rule, because they respected the parents allowing us to party at their place at all. Then..if anyone got too smashed to drive or got sick, whatever, the parents were there...people could spend the night if they wanted or get rides home. On one occasion a kid did develop alcohol poisoning...that could have proven tragic, since usually teens would just hide their friend away from their parents...but in this case, it was fine. The mom was a nurse, so she checked the kid out, called some people at the hospital where she worked, and got him proper medical attention. Again--an important lesson in dealing with anyone, especially teenagers-- MINIMIZE the drama. When parents control themselves, the kids are more likely to keep themselves more or less under control, and the whole situation can be resolved with minimal fuss.
poster:med_empowered
thread:548093
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/child/20050817/msgs/569838.html