ONLINE PARENTING COACH

Mark- My question is: Why are children so violent these days. We had a murder here (15-year-old killed a 17-year-old after school)... and now this threat in our small town school ! Why are so many children becoming violent …why are so many committing murder? J. ```````````````````````````````````` Hi J., The reasons for the rise in kids committing murder are multi-faceted. You can't blame it on the school, and you can't blame it on the family, the breakdown of religion or the availability of guns. It is not that simple. It is usually a combination of things. Behavior is multi-determined. There are a lot of different reasons for behavior. However, some aspects of gang-related violence suggest that some kids are very psychopathic. They are just criminally-minded kids. The way some kids solve conflict is with weapons. Some kids are young predators. Also, kids tend to murder in groups. Remember, teenagers tend to do everything together. For example, if on...

My son is a brilliantly gifted 15 year old that is a total underachiever in school. He is currently expelled for having a knife at school and is attending a special program for such students. He is of course underachieving and not doing his work at this program. The relationship with him and his current teacher has gone downhill as she is trying to micro manage him. For example, today she got upset because he was using the computer to print out a time sheet for the community service that he was going to after school. I have tried to explain to him that he needs to listen to her as she holds the key to his future, at the moment (she decides if he passes or not). I found out today that she told my son maybe he belongs in a juvenile facility. Being a child and youth worker who has worked in such facilities, I can say with all confidence that my son does not belong in jail. He also told me that she has previously told him that he has ODD. I do not know her credentials and doubt that ...

Dear Mark, I joined your programme yesterday in the UK. I have got to say it makes the best sense of anything that I have ever come across. Although I only had a few hours at it yesterday, I have done the topics very thoroughly (only the first 4 of week 1) and I had the best evening yesterday with my 13 year old daughter. I felt much more calm and confident because I believe that this is going to work if applied consistently. We went for a lovely walk and talked about her friends. The previous night, she was leaving home …going to live in care and her bag was packed! So, onwards and upwards. We'll see. But I think that the fact that I am calmer has made a difference to her. She is unnerved. Poker face tonight. You have given me hope and inspiration not to give up on my daughter. Last week I wondered if I even liked her; now I know that I do love her. Thank you. I will keep in touch, V. Online Parent Support