The parents of today’s teens have more to deal with than parents ever have. Although parents who grew up in the 1990s had access to the internet and may have found ways to use it to get into trouble, the social networking boom of the 21st century has given troubled teens a plethora of opportunities to get into trouble in ways that previous generations never envisioned.
Social networking sites such as MySpace are extremely popular with today’s teens. These sites allow people of all ages to keep in touch with one another, share photos and videos, and keep their friends abreast of their activities. However, social networking has another side that tends to attract troubled teens. These sites tend to be hotbeds of illicit activity such as drugs and sexual activity with minors. In fact, MySpace found and deleted the online profiles of 29,000 registered sex offenders in 2007. This would be a frightening statistic for any parent, but it becomes even more so when one considers the fact that troubled teens have a tendency to lie about their ages in an effort to encourage communication with people who are older than they are, which can lead to attracting the attention of sexual predators.
Because social networking leads to easy contact with a wider variety of people, it has also made the process or illegally acquiring drugs and alcohol easier for today’s troubled teens than ever before. In a 2005 survey of young people aged 12-20, 10.8 million respondents admitted to having tried alcohol in the past month. Of these, 7.2 million admitted to being binge drinkers. Substance abuse is a problem of epidemic proportions among teens trouble, which have easy access to nearly any substance they want, thanks to the ability to blast messages to hundreds of people simultaneously on social networking sites.
Although most teens spend a great deal of time using their computers, it is important to be vigilant when looking for the signs of a teen who is getting involved into something that they should not be. For example, pay close attention to who your teen dates. If they are reluctant to let you meet their boyfriend or girlfriend, this is a potential sign that the relationship may be an illicit one. Also, get to know your teen’s friends. This can help you to determine the types of activities that they may be getting involved in.
If you have a troubled teen at home you should also look at troubled teens schools. Schools for troubled teens can help your child become more discipline through the programs and activities they offer at school troubled teens.
