Bible Question: My cousin is 19 years,she is stubborn and knows all.Her biological dad passed away when she was one years old and her mum remarried.She has two elder brothers who are fine,but she is a problem.Party animal,non-obedient,disrespectful and rudely answers back whonever talks to her |
Bible Answer: I can only share with you what my wife and I did with our son with the same kind of attitude. BUT the big difference there was his age and our united stand as husband and wife, father and mother. This works best under these kind of circumstances. I talked to some folks at the church and they referred to the local sheriff who fixed me up with a visit to a nearby prison. We took our son to that prison and "treated" him to a rather UN-pleasant conversation with a couple of reformed prisoners. These men do a wonderful service to the local community, "scaring the devil" out of kids who have too much attitude and put the fear of God back in them. They talk very rough to them, telling them what kind of life they're headed for in prison, if they keep on disrespecting the authority figures in their life. If this sounds a little too scary for you or for those over your cousin, there are alternatives. You might be able to find a old video using the same kind of basic technique, filmed in a prison setting with several teenagers. I think the video is entitled "Scared Straight." I saw it and got the idea above from that. I know these ideas sound a little drastic but believe me, my son and I almost were ready to go to court. If it hadn't been for my wife to intervene, I don't know what would have happened...I shudder to think. Anyway, a parent or a person in such a role has to adopt "tough love" approaches to rearing kids nowadays. I know she may be chronologically 19 years old but sometimes it's hard to believe. As a last note, I gotta say I agree with Hank when he says this Forum is NOT the ideal place to get good, complete advice for personal struggles. I do hope God blesses you in your struggle to be a role model. And do a lot of praying. |