Do You Know Where Your Children Are?

Posted by Susan Epstein on December 21st, 2010 at 12:58am

A year and a half ago I went to a reunion…not a typical high school reunion…this was a reunion from high school days when I belonged to a youth group. If you have already read this article….keep reading because it’s different.

The last time I had seen most of these old friends was 1976. So…33 years later there we were…most of us with kids the same age or older as we were the last time we saw each other.

We reminisced about those days and how important our friendships were. We sang songs that we hadn’t sung in over 30 years and remembered most of the words.

We shared what our kids were doing, who had divorced, who had passed away, who had cancer.

We had aged, some well and others well- not so well. We knew each other between the ages of 14 and 18, those vulnerable years when sometimes one decision can send your life spiraling.

During the weekend, I began to think about all the families that I work with and the issues facing families today that just weren’t even fathomable in 1976.

Like…

AIDS
9/11
Columbine
Medicating Kids for ADD
The PC
The Internet
Cell phones…texting…FB, MySpace
Meth Labs
The Cost of a College Education

and….

- All the ACTIVITIES!

It just wasn’t that dangerous then and it wasn’t that complicated.

Life is faster and busier now and we expect our teens to be independent and make good decisions. We give them a lot of leeway and probably not enough supervision. We don’t know where they are most of the time. We trust that they will be okay.

But…we need to take heed…

In our small community in Southeastern CT, we experienced two teen related tragedies in the last month. The first was a group of 6 boys, ages 17 and 18 who jumped and murdered a 23 year man on his way home from working as a cook in a restaurant. (2:00am) When asked why?, they said they were bored.

The other incident was a group of 5 friends ages 14, 15 and 16 driving around together at 4:30pm. The driver was 15 and had a learners permit. He smashed the car into telephone poles and 4 out of 5 kids were instantly killed. The fifth is in the hospital in critical condition.

The parents of all these kids did not know where their kids were. Had they known that their sons were roaming the streets at 2:00am, I am sure they would have called them home. Had the parents of the kids in the car crash gotten wind of their plans to joy ride with a child without a license, they would have stopped that from happening. These parents don’t have a second chance. The boys involved in the murder are now in prison and probably will be for life. The man who lost his life will never make his parents proud again. The parents of the kids that died in the crash are more than devastated and the one surviving kid from the crash, if he lives will live with tremendous guilt for the rest of his life.

Please keep track of your kids. Teens don’t always make the best decisions and groups of teens make really lousy- life ending- tragic decisions.

As a parent you have your work cut out for you…and my hat is off to you…this is a 24/7 job where you cannot afford to even look the other way for 1 minute.

Your kids need your supervision, your encouragement, your emotional connection, not to mention your financial support.

But raising kids…is not ALL scary…some of it is incredibly cool…your kids can write a 10 page paper without having to go to the library!

Information is at our fingertips…Help is only a key stroke away…

You can get parenting help no matter where you live…via the internet and telephone…

I wanted you to know that we are here to support you through this incredibly complex world of raising your kids from 3 to 18 (and beyond if you need it!)

Thank you for choosing Parenting Powers as your parenting connection.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all!

Wishing you a peaceful home,

Your Parent Coaches,

Susan, Mindy and Amy

www.ParentingPowers.com