Getting our children and adolescents to open up

Let me explain that I am a mother as well as an Educator. Working with children and adolescents can be very stressful and exciting at the same time. I can honestly admit that there is never a dull moment when an adult is surrounded by children. I work at an Alternative School and seeing these kids coming here could really break your heart.

Don’t be fooled because some of these children and teens have felony charges and other charges that are unbelievable. I have tried to find the why and how of these children and the element that they all have in common is that they are young. Most have had negative experiences and have been with the wrong people. Sometimes the wrong people are your flesh and blood and that’s scary. What helps me the most is when caring adults share some of their experiences and inform the child that it’s okay to make mistakes, just don’t let the mistake lead to some criminal consequences.

As an educator and parent, there are some kids you can help, but from my own personal experience, there are some kids you just can’t. Those are the ones who want to learn their lesson the hard way. We can’t give up our youth but we can’t be afraid of them either. We still need to try to empower and engage them to do and be better. In my own household of 5 kids, some listen and some don’t and because of that they were forced to be removed for disrespect.

Yes, we must show love, but we must always show that there will be consequences for his behavior if he does not comply. Most parents act like they forgot when they were young. I really understand why some of us were horrible teenagers and we don’t want to be reminded of it. Some of us were good and probably can’t relate to our children who may be experiencing some difficulty. Let’s start having an open dialogue without judging just by discussing with our children and adolescents.