Good Sunday Morning! Between listening to my home pastor preach a word this morning, and considering applying for a position to be a case manager for at-risk youth, I thought I’d spend some time talking to y’all about a real situation. So many youth are at-risk and it’s tearing apart the potential they have to be great from what they’re out here doing.
If you have a teen in your household, I ‘m asking that you really consider this post as informational. This might help you with learning about a lot of things these teens are going through.
WHY I DECIDED TO BECOME A CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL LIFE-COACH
I understand that people struggle regardless of how old they are, or what bloodline they possess. Most people struggle with finances, but most of their struggle comes from not taking the time to personally develop themselves while they have the time.
Personal development isn’t by experiences alone, but by effective planning and having a schedule or routine that will help keep you focused. I have many crazy life encounters that I could talk about (from teenage years) that I still haven’t forgotten until this day. Most of these chaotic encounters have come from my own family, and yet here I am just learning the big meaning of life.
After going through most of what other at-risk teens go through, I decided that maybe I could be of help to others. Doesn’t have to just be teens, because I’ve coached some adults near my age or older than myself. Instead of saying, in order to stay out of trouble you have to do this and that…I said I’m going to show these people by example what needs to be done.
I wanted to be of some kind of support system to those struggling, because I knew it was guaranteed that I could help them see differing results. No strings attached or anything, just having the desire to be “willing” in times that are challenging.
WHAT THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND ABOUT CHALLENGE
Most often times, I feel like at-risk teens misunderstand the use for challenge. For example, they don’t have money and they need food to feed their family but instead of applying for a job and going to a pantry for the meantime they believe it is right to rob a store.
No. The right answer comes through being about to trust yourself enough to make a right decision. Some teens might not think that applying for a job and heading to a pantry for food is the rational thing to do. Why? Well, some may fear what others might think. So they hide behind making wrong decisions in trying times.
Challenges aren’t meant to send your teenager to a detention center/jail, they are made to help with transitioning growth.
Jail/detention centers are made up for traps, in hopes that teens and/or adults will choose the wrong path so that the system can make money off of them. If our at-risk teens chose better options, then there’d be no need for jails or detention centers. Stay with me on this topic.
WHAT IS TRANSITIONAL GROWTH?
In my own logical opinion, I believe that transitional growth is something everyone gets the opportunity to experience. Meaning that something happens, and the choice to go right or left is in your own hands. In other words, we can describe it as a thing called “fate”.
Others might not understand fate, so I like to break it down as easy as possible for others to understand. Transitional growth is that moment between “leveling up” and staying right where you are in life.
It’s almost like stepping out of the old skin into something new and more fitting. That is what each challenge is posed for. They aren’t used to hurt you, but to push you into your destiny.
GENERATIONAL CURSES ARE SUPER REAL, DON’T CATCH IT…
Usually those who end up in court, jail, group homes, etc. has followed some sort of footstep from someone they watch closely. Some children end up incarcerated like their parents were/are, and have no other way to not do what they’ve seen their parents do.
Should your teen catch a case, help them to break that curse. Don’t yell at them and talk about everything they did wrong, correct the action and suggest another way. Perhaps the solution to breaking a curse is removing yourself from the people/environment that enhances it. You cannot do what you don’t see.
In other words, if you’ve never seen someone steal then most likely you won’t do it. Why? Because you haven’t mastered the steps of successfully stealing and getting away with it. Even if you do, maybe that’s a habit you want to break. Everything is taped and doesn’t matter how you try to do something bad, it’ll catch up with you. That reason alone should be enough for you to want to do right.
THE ONLY AT-RISK YOUR TEEN SHOULD BE IS …
The only at-risk that your teen should be is with chasing their dreams to become better people. Get to know your teen and build a close bond with them so that they can be that comfortable to come to you about anything.
Parents you need to be more supportive and more assertive involving your teen(s) to make sure that they’re receiving the support that they need to make it in this world. My lessons of the “shark-tank” didn’t come from strangers out in this world, it came from people I knew and those I called family.
If you’re not worried about what your teenager is out here doing, then perhaps you’re at-risk too. If you have a teen who is experiencing this, please contact me so that I can help them professionally with getting out of the situation they’re currently in.
Don’t wait until it’s too late.
KC Copeland, LLC 