4 Ways to Parent Teens in Trouble

1. Step in Early

You need to react quickly and decidedly when your teen gets into trouble. Though it can be tempting to write off an episode as a youthful indiscretion, you want to address anything serious enough to be labeled trouble. Show your teenager that the behavior is unacceptable by dispensing a firm but fair punishment for unruliness. One of the most effective ways to quickly squelch troubled behavior is to remove your child from the environment where it happened. This often means cutting off his physical and electronic communication with friends.

2. Find Out Everything You Can

Be a loving and supportive parent by doing everything possible to discover why your teenager has gotten into trouble. Reacting quickly and getting to the core of the problem are the first steps in helping her. If you're sure things are fine in your home, it's imperative to check out his school life and, especially, his social life. Is she being bullied and reacting by bullying others? Is she being pressures by friends to engage in sexual activity? Find the cause of her troubling actions so you can develop a plan to get her out of danger.

3. You'll Be There No Matter What

Many teens resist revealing the fact that they're in trouble because they fear their parents' disappointment. Reassure your child that you will love and support him no matter what mistakes he makes or what kind of trouble he becomes involved in. Teens who are taught from an early age that they can tell their parents anything and be supported are more likely to avoid trouble, and generally deal better with it if it does happen.

4. Make a Plan and See It Through

Once you've confirmed your teenager is in trouble, you and she need to develop a plan to get her out of it. This can be complicated if the problem is far-reaching or if she's been in trouble for a long time before you discovered it. Sit down with her and brainstorm options for dealing with the situation. Sort through the pros and cons of each idea before determining a course of action. Once you have a plan in place, see it through. Often this will involve difficult steps for your teen, including confronting others with the truth about her actions even turning herself in to law enforcement. Whatever steps she needs to take, stand behind her trust that this difficult situation will be resolved.