Training Troubled Teenage Boys

The last thing a troubled teenage boy needs is idle time on his hands. When he's not in school, he needs to have plenty of things to do! Where you live will have a lot to do with the type of options you have available to you, but here are some ideas.   If there are other kids in your home, or if you or your spouse enjoy playing board games, have a regularly scheduled board game night! It's a great time to build relationships, to learn to get along with people, to learn to be both a better winner and a better loser. If you have a big yard, give your son the task of being the property manager. In that role, give him a list of things he's in charge of. For example, he could be in charge of keeping the hedges trimmed. And he shouldn't have to be told every time it needs to be done. He needs to set an alarm or keep a calendar or do something to remind himself of keeping up with this task. Perhaps his job could be to grow and weed a garden. Or to make sure the family pet is f...

Academics often pose a host of challenges for troubled teenage boys. The work itself is difficult, and they would rather do pretty much anything else. Aside from the course work they struggle with, the schooling environment itself often exposes them to peer pressure, bullying, and a host of temptations. If a boy who is known to get into a lot of trouble is in a public school system, there's a pretty good chance his parents are going to be consulted about, and likely pressured into having an I.E.P. (Individualized Education Plan) created for him. This plan will, in essence, say your son is an exception to the standards expected of his peers. In other words, that your son can't be expected to do the same amount of work as everyone else in the same amount of time everyone else has to do it in. The I.E.P. may say your son needs help with his tests and reading his assignments. It basically places a label on your child that encourages him to play the victim card . "Dad, I reali...

Why would a relatively unknown small-town Montana preacher by the name of JR Thompson spend so much time writing blog posts offering tips for those raising troubled teenage boys? That's a good question and I'll try to answer it the best way I know how! God. There's your answer. No, I couldn't stop there. That wouldn't suffice for very many of you, would it? But it is true. God is the reason I write this blog.   You see, when I was a teenager, I despised my peers. I was that awkward, skinny, nerdy guy who had the big glasses, the big nose, and teeth that were too big for his smile. I was the guy with the high-pitched voice, no athletic ability, and the annoying personality that made it hard to find friends. I suppose you could say I was despised and rejected by my peers. For that reason, I hated being around anyone under the age of 25. I just knew they would find something to make fun of me about, and they wouldn't have to look very hard to find a thing or twenty...

When working with at-risk teenagers, technology can be your best friend! It can help you monitor your son's behaviors and it can protect you in the event he makes allegations against you or anyone else in your home, especially when he's corrected for wrong doing. If you have a sneaky teen and haven't looked into security systems, you should! Let me share a little of what I've learned over the years. I'm not trying to sell you on anything so I'm not going to include links to any specific products, but just give you an idea of what's out there. First, there is software out there that businesses use that will enable you to put a program on your son's laptop or tablet that will record every keystroke and every screen he looks at. You can log into something on your own computer and check 100% of his computer-related activity at any time you'd like and he will never know it! Just install it on the laptop or tablet before you give it to him! Secondly, eith...