# Were you a "troubled" teen? Tell me your story.



## mcfun61

If you were a "troubled" teen I would like to here your story.
If you had trouble with:
Running away
Defiance
Criminal Activity
Substance Abuse
etc.
I would like to here what you did, why, how you overcame your trouble, Do you have teens now? how did your experieces shape the way you parent. Etc.


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## Penelope

oh yes!  I am sure I was a 'troubled' teen!  My parents will attest to that as well!  In what way?  errrm .. I've forgotten?


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## Jasmine

*Is still a troubled teen trapped in an adult *splutter* body!*

I have runaway experience...but nothing horrific...And, I kind of draw from that part of my life when I write...Personnal thing, y'know?

I'm not a parent, though...so it's not what you're looking for anyway...*Is too tired!*


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## mcfun61

Thanks Jasmine that reminds me. My email is in my profile for those that prefer.


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## faraway

Well - I was never a troubled teen - my mother actually got worried a lot because I would not get angry at anything or anyone (you know - the thing teens do so well)... and I've never lost my temper... ever...


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## kinetickyle

Oh, the whole defiance thing is something that I've never grown out of.  I used to make extra keys to my car and stash them about, so when my folks grounded me, I'd have a way out.  I never did what I was told.  In fact, the quickest way to get me to do something was to tell me that I couldn't.  

I'm still that way to a certain extent today.  I think I'm just naturally rebellious...not even the navy could break me of it.  I mean, I got my nipple pierced simply because the navy didn't allow body piercings...


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## Kimberly Bird

Hmmm, it's hard to want to remember that far back.  My biggest problem I would say was that I loved the opposite sex, drank too much Southern Comfort, and smoked too much honey oil.  I had to quickly grow out of that stage though when I met my husband-to-be at age 17.  And now I get to re-live the rebellious teen years with my daughters.  And if they get out of control and not phone home or things like that, I'm the first one hunting them down and dragging their sorry butt home.  They have yet to outsmart me.  Like I always tell them, been there done that, so don't pull no B.S. with me. :lol: 

Kimberly


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## Penelope

I didn't drink or smoke.  ;-)


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## Arden1528

Well I was the youngest of three brothers, and my parents last hope. I was spoiled as a kid, but I did find drugs. Going to parties in the bowls of Detroit to go to a party. I had some horrible times at these parties. I was well drugged though so it seemed harmless at the time. Nothing happened to myself personally, it was mostly other people there. For example, I saw someone get stabbed in the stomach. It happened right next to me. I will never forget the look on the mans face as he fell to the ground. As if he had just sucked a lemon or something.


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## David Kenneth Johnson

I wasn't allowed to be, and didn't permit myself to admit that I was, a troubled teen.  My Dad doubled as my HS principal, so any prospective friends would be a friend to the administration; any special attention from teachers might be construed as sucking up to the boss, etc., etc.

DKJ


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## Penelope

oh what the hell .. here goes!

My troubled years began at the age of five when I was sent home for bloodying the nose of a male classmate who shoved me out of the way.  I took umbrage.  

I was the only girl in the history of Nechako Elementary School to get the strap.  I was given more lashes because I refused to cry.  The teacher who delivered this indignity had his daughter in my classroom and I hated the way he continuously and publicly belittled her.

When a highschool teacher picked on a female classmate making fun of her clothes and weight, I began mimicing his accent.  He sent me to the principle's office and then went to my mother's place of work and informed her that I was a rude girl.  When my mother grilled me I told her what he had done.  The teacher was given a drubbing by my mother, in the presence of the principle, for not being completely honest about the chain of events.  (I didn't find out about that till later.)

I told my grade 8 lit teacher that I thought he was a letch because he kept asking the girls intimate questions about their sex life.  He failed me.  

I ran away from home once [I was 8] because my eldest brother told me I was adopted.   I made it as far as the snow bank across the street from my home.  

During my younger teen years, I would do periodic escapes through the basement bathroom window.  It was easy getting out, but re-entering was tricky.  If one wasn't careful they ended up falling in the toilet.  

I got married at 16 due to .. well .. why did/does any 16 year old female get married?  (I excelled in biology in school.)  This did not curtail my rebellious streak but simply gave me another adversary.

At 30, I decided to turn over a new leaf and spent 19 years in a crappy relationship because I thought it was the 'right' thing to do.  

Now, I'm back to square one.


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## Sub

I am a teen.  I have all sorts of problems, like sex and school and all of that sort.  Talk to me if you want info!


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## Kimberly Bird

Penelope, I'm jumping up and down saying "I knew it, I knew it.  I knew there was more to you than you wanted to let on. :lol:

Sub, they say a child's mind grows twice in life, once when they are between 1-3, and then again when they are teenagers.  So during these stages children and teens are soaking in so much, body is growing and all that.  So I guess all you can do is hold on and enjoy the ride, and just slow down at the speed bumps. :wink: 


Kimberly


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## mattquarterstein

I was never a troubled teen, but everyone else around me was for some reason. Ever since I was 4 I've had the maturity of an adult and in that way I've stuck out like a sore thumb.

I never drank, never smoked, never did drugs, never played sport. I always handed in my homework on time and got high grades for it.

Like i said, everyone else had the troubles. I only saw a reflection of it. I don't see what the big deal about the teen years are. People go "Oh, I'd never live through that again", I really don't know why.


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## Washer

matt, I can relate.  I'm a teen as we speak, only a few short weeks from 17, and I haven't smoked, drank, done drugs, had sex, committed crimes of more than the most minor sort,  or anything exciting for that matter.  And it worries me.

I think it's important for a good writer to do bad things, to experience life at its most visceral.  For some reason, I can't bring myself to do this.  Ack.  I have friends who can no longer drive for legal reasons, friends who have been arrested, and convicted, one acquaintance who used to be addicted to speed.  I know a guy who has a 15 year old girlfriend.  But vicariously sampling my friends' lives has left me little in the way of actual knowledge.  If only I could adopt the persona of someone more daring and bold, if only to experience all that life has meant for me not to.  You know?


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## Penelope

Washer, while you may not leap into the abyss of 'foolish' acts you have friends who do so.  To save yourself the agonies, live vicariously through their misadventures.  A good writer does not need to suffer.  They simply need to be observant.  If it's not your nature to misbehave then you will fail if you try it.  So excell in not making stupid mistakes with my blessings.  :-D  You already write well, so you have no worries.


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## David Kenneth Johnson

Penelope said:
			
		

> Washer, while you may not leap into the abyss of 'foolish' acts you have friends who do so.  To save yourself the agonies, live vicariously through their misadventures.  A good writer does not need to suffer.  They simply need to be observant."
> 
> I think that's just right, Penelope.  Though I would add that vicarious living is overrated for this other reason, too:  Each of us
> experiences directly the moments of his or her life, even when we suppose ourselves to be "merely" observing the life of another.
> 
> DKJ


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## Penelope

'Vacarious' living does have some benefits.  As one who's done both and lived to write about it, I find I draw from most of my wilderness experiences when I write.  They had a profound impact on my senses and survival.  What I did in the urban 'jungle' has less to do with survival and more to do with stupidity.  Living in the city and comparing it to isolation just doesn't cut it with me.  There are just too many people and cell phones around.  
Thank you for considering my comments worthy enough to quote.


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## Anonymous

My daughters have diabetes; I don't.  I experience the disease directly on a daily basis, however differently from their experiences of it.  No experience is any more genuine than the others -- though some may be more or less meaningful or acute.  In this case, mine is a different sort of vicarious longing,  where I frequently wish actually to adopt  the experience of others, if only to save them from it.


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## David Kenneth Johnson

I accidentally posted as a guest.  Their names are Sarah and Laura; they are my heroes.

dkj


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## Penelope

Sarah/Sara is a special name to me.  I've written two poems about the Sarah/Sara's I've never known.  Only poems I've ever written about a female enigma.


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## modified7

*Nonfiction?    Why the research?*

Fun topic to discuss.......lively, but why are you asking of these experiences......research?
I was going to be a chemist until teenage years, discovered cars and girls and it was all over.  Never been big on drugs, but drank enough for three teenagers.....wrecked some cars.  Lots of fights as a teen (even arrested for it once)....but never hurt anyone seriously in a fight.
Never ran away, never understood the appeal of it, but I grew up in a house with great parents.
I don't think there is a substitute for experiencing things firsthand, but as with most once you've outgrown all the experimenting......you wonder how you lived through it all.  I don't mind saying in today's world I wouldn't want to go back through all of it.........a different world we live in today........ Keith


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## David Kenneth Johnson

Penelope said:
			
		

> Sarah/Sara is a special name to me.  I've written two poems about the Sarah/Sara's I've never known.  Only poems I've ever written about a female enigma.




May we read them?  I like the creative twist that they're about people you've never known.

dkj


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## AdamR

Currently, at 15, I'm not a 'troubled' teen. I'm only 2 (almost 3) years into the world of teenagers... 4 (almost 3) to go. I have plans for my future, and drinking, smoking, sex, nor crime are part of that future. Well, they are in the plan...the plan of what _*not*_ to do.

I ran away once or twice when I was like five or six.  I was a 'perservering' kid, so I stuck to what I decided to do. I actually got a mile away before I decided to go back. My parents were so surprised because usually, when a kid decides to 'run away,' it's usually only a block away or to the end of the street. I wonder if that's good or bad? :wink:


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## David Kenneth Johnson

AdamR said:
			
		

> I actually got a mile away before I decided to go back. My parents were so surprised because usually, when a kid decides to 'run away,' it's usually only a block away or to the end of the street. I wonder if that's good or bad? :wink:



Perhaps it is good, a sign that you follow through on your promises.  Afterall, making it a mile from home at that age IS running away, even if you quickly ran back


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## Lily

The only trouble I have is with my mom . . . silly tyrannical Chinese mom! It's not a story you haven't heard before, so I'll just keep it to myself


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## Darkshine

Washer and Matt- I know what you're talking about. I'm in college now (and still technically a teenage) and I'm never in trouble. I had a father who abused drugs and alchohol and so I stayed far away from them. His pounding on the windows in the middle of the night in a drunken rage was enough to keep me from experimenting. 

I've had a slew of relationships, some of them sexual, some of them not, but I've never lied to my mom about any of them. As a matter of fact...I think the only thing I have ever lied to my mom about was once I went to the mountains with my boyfriend when I told my mom I was at the mall. I did that because I thought I ougta be more "rebellious". Heh. 

I think my biggest problem was (somewhat like Penelope) being reprimanded for defending myself in various ways. Mostly challenging teachers and the like. That and I went through a lot of middle school and high school with very few or no friends. I was depressed constantly and got in huge amount of trouble from my mom and dad for the "tone" of my writing. That's about it though...fairly tame high school experience.


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## Allusearna

’m not, nor was, nor am intending to be a ‘troubled teen’.  

_I think my biggest problem was (somewhat like Penelope) being reprimanded for defending myself in various ways._

I can sympathise with that one.  At school the teachers were constantly telling us ‘if someone hits you, you don’t hit them back, you go tell the teacher.  If someone calls you names, you don’t call them names back, you tell a teacher’ whereas at home I grew up with ‘if someone hits you, you damn well hit them back!’
Ak. That one got me into conflict a few times… Once when I was about nine or ten this big mean girl was blocking my was into the toilets at school, calling me names and not letting me in, and if I tried to get past her she just pushed me back. I got really annoyed and yelled at her and pushed her out of the way.  And guess who got in trouble? Yup, I did.  I got the ‘and what would Jesus have done?” lecture and ‘Jesus would have just asked her nicely to go away…because he loved everybody’ and I was like ‘I did ask her, and maybe if Jesus had learned self defence he wouldn’t have died!’
That one landed me in detention for two lunchtimes.  Stupid teachers, how are you supposed to survive in a world if you can’t defend yourself!


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## samoajoe

My nephew is. He has ADHD. Treatments vary greatly, and may include prescription medication.  This is a decision best left to a trained physician as well, although  you should be informed about the medication and its possible side  effects. They also tried sending him to an ADHD boarding school in hopes turning the lives of troubled teens around, making permanent behavior  changes and setting them on a better path.


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## camillehanes

My son was a troubled teen and for parents like me I would recommend sending teens to a therapeutic boarding schools. There must be thousands of boarding schools and programs out there. Some are definitely better than others, and some are better for particular kids.  They can help the parents as well as the teen and even offer a temporary live-in facility for teen run-aways while they are in counseling with family.  I went there as a teen myself and it changed my life. .


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## Rustgold

Washer said:


> I think it's important for a good writer to do bad things, to experience life at its most visceral . . .  I know a guy who has a 15 year old girlfriend. But vicariously sampling my friends' lives has left me little in the way of actual knowledge. If only I could adopt the persona of someone more daring and bold, if only to experience all that life has meant for me not to.


If you gave some truth pills to some of these 'grew up in hard neighborhood' claimants, you'll find that many of them is fake.  It's fashionable for famous females to claim that they were sexually abused as a child and fashionable for males to claim sex/drugs/etc.  It's a lot like the hero outrunning the cops stories your grandparents would say, totally fake.  And you know that they're fake because it's a new adventure every week.

You don't need to give yourself another way to destroy your life.


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## Olly Buckle

mcfun61 said:


> Thanks Jasmine that reminds me. My email is in my profile for those that prefer.


 
I do not suspect any bad intentions here, however the private message system will maintain your anonymity, please be careful responding to outside links and e-mail addresses, we have no control once you go off site.


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## The Backward OX

Olly Buckle said:


> I do not suspect any bad intentions here, however the private message system will maintain your anonymity, please be careful responding to outside links and e-mail addresses, we have no control once you go off site.


 They're prolly both grandparents by now. Look at the dates on the posts.


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## garza

_I_ wasn't troubled. It was the people around me who didn't approve  of a smart-a. big-mouth, rock'n roll greaser, 14-year-old newspaper reporter, 15-year-old Uni-frosh. They were the troubled ones. Not me.

I've mellowed since then.

You got a problem with that?


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## candid petunia

garza said:


> _I_ wasn't troubled. It was the people around me who didn't approve of a smart-a. big-mouth, rock'n roll greaser, 14-year-old newspaper reporter, 15-year-old Uni-frosh. They were the troubled ones. Not me.


lol


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## m alexander

Staff troubled me the most at secondary school.  My step Dad was a fair man but the staff hated him because he had a good use of words to put them in their place.  My Uncle they hated him even more because he was much better than my Dad at putting them in their place.  So then my sister arrives at this school but never stepped out of line and never rocked the boat, so when I begin and take them on with words and morals it was time they'd had enough of our lot, and got me threw out for standing on a toilet!

I had my whole education destroyed because they didn't like my family, but now I see it as being beneficial I was given this path and that school lost something they will never get back.  In my new school I changed their ways massively, by rocking the boat with my high morals and involving the police and government where need be, them schooling systems were changed massively because of me, but i just stayed the same as i always was since getting threw out of that first school, oh and i was thrown out for standing on a toilet, which was me turning off an extraction fan younger kids had been turning off and on.


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## Bloggsworth

I was seriously boring as a teenager, didn't see the point of rebelling against conformity by conforming with my peers, I saw that as no rebellion at all. The most successful rebellions go unnoticed...


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