Support (environmental)
A person’s support, in terms of their environment, is a group of people who are closest to them, who are there to help if they are in need of assistance of any kind. A person’s system of support is there for them physically, as well as emotionally. Furthermore, a person’s level of support is made up by family members and close friends.
While having others there for your personal needs is crucial for a living, an individual’s choice of who makes up that group is not always positive and can cause that person significant harm. Troubled teens are often a victim of choosing poor supporters, and victimize themselves by participating in negative behaviors that their ‘friends’ are engaging in. While having a negative influence may seem like an annoyance to parents, the wrong influential individual can result in fatal consequences for their child.
To ensure their child’s safety from the harms of negative influences, it is imperative that they are personally there to support their child. However, supporting a troubled child does not mean to bail constantly them out of trouble, or rescue them from choices they have made. This type of ‘support’ will only further enable a troubled adolescent out of control behaviors. Genuine support, however, would be to seek professional, therapeutic treatment for a child. There are nearly countless treatment options that specialize in treating troubled children, such as residential treatment for troubled teens.
