I sat and watched the episode of the "dangerous" teens. And the lack of respect they had or have with their parents. I was so glad to see the boy and his step father together on the stage trying to make things work. Although I was disappointed for the mother not to be there. Granted I do respect her decision to not show up. But I do not in anyway respect her for letting someone, who doesn't even know her, stop her from trying to be there for her son. I am a parent. I love my daughter so much that if I had to slain myself to give her what she needs, mind you I said needs not wants, I would gladly sacrifice myself for her. And I will be damned before I let anyone or anything come between my daughter and me. The bond between a parent and their child is and always should be the strongest connection between any two human beings. And to be honest it about sickened me that the mother coudln't do that for her son. As for the 14 year old young lady? I sat and watched how her mom and her sister basically gang up on her. They wanted to ask her questions. But instead of sitting back and being quiet and listening to her. They not only bombarded her with more questions, but wouldn't listen to her answers. I'm sorry if anyone takes offense to this. But anyone who can speak for themselves should be given the chance to do so. I thought it was totally unfair for her and her friend. And I was truly disgusted when asked about her drinking the mother said, it was because of the things her daughter was doing. The hitting, the pushing and the verbally lashing out. I don't know if anyone else noticed. But mom was way far from perfect. Basically blaming that young lady for her drinking problem. I would love to use the term alcoholic. But that woman gives alcoholics a bad name. She is a flat out drunk. Who is sad enough to use anything and anyone for an excuse to tip that bottle. She sat there not seeing what she could be at fault for. And as for the oldest daughter, she only can go by what her mother tells her. And who do you think she is gonna believe? Evidentally the drunk. The least I would have expected from her is to take some time alone with her sister and say, "Hey Sis, Mom has been telling me you're doing this, this, and this. Now talk to me. What's going on?" Believe it or not I would say 9 times out of 10. She would have opened up and talked to her. But she wasn't even given that common courtesy. And for future reference. It does not hurt to praise the child for what they do right, as opposed to being griped at for what they done wrong. Sometimes some positive comments can go a long way. Now before I get blasted for what I said, let me make it clear, I do not agree with disrespting your parents.And I also do not agree with parents disrespecting their children, that is wrong also. And as everyone should know, two wrongs don't make a right.
And I would also like to say I support what Jen and Becky have sent into the discussion. Parents today are just to wimpy. For example, taking things away from a child who is misbehaving? OH HELL NO.. bust that bottom, smack that mouth if ya have too. My child may not have the fear of god into her. But she does have the fear of me. It worked for my parents. And so it works for me. Now don't get me wrong, I do not beat my child. As a matter of fact the last time she was spanked was so long ago I can barely remember. But she knows if she don't listen to what either her mother or I tell her. There is consequences for her actions. And it's none of the " I'm gonna take this away from you." nonsense. My daughter has great respect for us. As we do her. She is not afraid to ask us questions she wants answered. I feel our line of communication is quite open.
But with all this parents being threatened by their kids that if they so much as spank them they are going to call the police? All I got to say to them parents is, Let them call the police. Let them get put into a foster care program or home. And when they find out that they didn't have it so bad at home? Welcome them with open arms, take them back into the house. And tell them, " I love you with all my heart babies, But don't think that I won't keep you in check when need be."
Oh and I would also like to add that sexual orientation of any human being is born in them. You can't turn gay or bi. It's like being pregnant either you are or you're not. And to be quite honest. I would rather my daughter be a happy healthy lesbian, than a bitter old drunk anyday.
Thank You,
Bonez Baxter

I have a saucy no respect teenage son and a great 10 year old daughter. Both raised the same but my son thinks he can run the house tell us where to go and no matter what we do there is no change. We take thinks from him ground him to his room and he'll just leave anyway. What do you do?

Our teenage sons who are 14 and 16 yell at their mom and dad, they cuss, call us names, put us down, take their anger out on us. They act spoiled, hurt our feelins, dont appreciate us and dont seem to care when we tell them to show respect and appreciaton for us. They cant control their emotions and act like they need to be in boot camp. i feel we faied at being good parents and raising good sons.

I have a 14 year old daughter who has been mainly raised by her Dad. She has no respect for anyone including herself. She displays all the same behaviours that her father and step monster display when things don't go their way. If respect isn't installed at an early age how are you supposed to teach it? She's at that age where she just doesn't care about anything or anyone.

If children are taught at a very young age to respect their parents and if they are treated correctley. They will respond with love and respect. I told my kids when they were very small(YOU MAY NOT ALWAYS LIKE ME-BUT AS LONG AS YOU WALK THE FACE OF THE EARTH YOU WILL RESPECT ME!)My kids are all grown with kids of their own and they were all raised with love and respect.Just teach them while they are young with out screaming and cussing at them and they will respond. Be there for your kids--Daddys that goes for you too!!!!!!!!! Brenda--mississippi

ok people the reasons why YOUR KIDS are acting up is because you dont give them the right type of freedom. if a kid knows at a eraly age w hat drugs and sex will do to their lifes then it will stick with them. and judge=ing their friends wont help!!!!

thank you n good night

I was SHOCKED that Dr. Ablow would suggest to the mother, that the 25 year old boyfriend of her 17 year old daughter, should move into her home. WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS HE THINKING? Where was this man going to sleep? How long did he think it would before she had a second grandchild out of wedlock? He put that poor woman on the spot on national TV...shame on him! I feel certain he would not have given that advice if it was his daughter he was talking about. I have an 18 year old and am having problems with her defiance and inability to make appropriate decisions that will affect the rest of her life. My heart went out to that mother, she seemed to really want to teach and guide her daughter. Her daughter should thank her mother every day for caring so much. Dr. Ablow should not have been so easy on the teen. He should have stressed to her how lucky she was to have a place to live and a mother who was taking care of her, her baby, and trying to get her a good education. Then he should have stressed that it is inappropriate for a 17 year old teen to date a 25 year old who is married and has a child!!!!! Both of them should put their ids to bed, and start acting like adults and show some real maturity and responsibility. He should have told that child that in his opinion she should stay in school and not see the boyfriend again until he was divorced, had a job and was taking care of the child he already had.
Dr. Ablow --- what were you thinking?????

On "teens that don't respect their mothers" both the 5yr. old boy and his 15yr. old sister Ashley have "it"...can someone get them an agent, seriously!!!

I want to tie in the 2 shows of "anger illness" and "teens who do not respect their mothers". Is it possible that there is an anger illness with the teen? I am a single mother of a 14 year old daughter. She is an angel in the community and attends church and youth groups and has wonderful friends. When the doors close in my home, she is so rotten to me in a way I have never been treated so badly as I have from an enemy. She calls me names, tells me I stink, does whatever she wants, whenever she wants. I have lost all control. Mind you, I recieved custody of my daughter after losing her in a custody battle. I have had her for a year. My ex has bad mouthed me to her threw out her time with him. (about 10 years) There is more to the story but regardless, I am living with the devils spawn; a wolf in sheeps clothing. I am depressed, not sure what to do. It effects every area of my life. I can't work, can't sleep, my body feels diseased. I don't want to give up on her like her father did. Please help me.

Desparate and out of control

Hi, I am the mother of 3 kids, my son is 27, very well balanced and adjusted, from my first marriage, my 2 daughters are 12 and 13. From my current marriage. I have seen a lot of difference from when my son was a teenager and todays teenagers. I agree, I think you need to lay down the foundation early on in life. Let the kids know who is in charge, and don't deviate from you're position as a parent simply because they want to act out. In my opinion, life is hard enough, we have to teach our kids that there is an order to everything, and what consequences are. Now there is a word (consequences) something the majority of young folks today do not have to deal with. We cannot do everything for our kids and expect them to grow up and be responsible mature adults. Love them, hug them, nurture them, but always maintain you're parental position and responsibility. Thanks..

Children that don't respect their parents have either a.) not been trained about adult authority or b.) not received the respect themselves from their parents.

Communication is the key factor lacking in most relationships.

As for letting a 25 year old with a 17 year old move in. That is ridiculous. The 25 year old should not a.) be dating a minor and b.) able to afford his own abode especially if he has made the decision to take on a minor. That right there says something is wrong.

People fall in love at all different ages but there as to be focus on how the mother/father lacked in this relationship in where there is no respect from the child.

I am the MOTHER in the show with the 17 year old single mother and the 25 year old boyfriend. This is just to let people know: The boyfriend will not be moving in with us. He doesn’t want that and nor would I ever allow that. He still has a lot of things to prove to me before he can take on the financial and emotional needs of my daughter and my grand daughter. I was not that naive to let just one person suggest that to me. Also, on behalf of the legal matter of age: in Texas your child is legal at 17 and can make there own decisions, they can also move out of the house although they can not get an apartment, car or any of the luxuries. (Strange Laws) My daughter will continue to live in my house and complete her college education. She is a very loving and caring mother who is still learning how to be the BEST mom she can be. I am not necessarily trying to control her life but trying to direct her in the best way I know how... People may seem to think it is controlling, but, being in a similar situation at a later year in life, I am just trying to help her not make the same mistakes and be able to raise her daughter, (MY GRANDDAUGHTER) in a better situation than I was able to. I do not want my daughter to possibly go through the same things that we did. I want her life to be stable and fulfilling early in life instead of later. I want them to be able to take vacations without wondering how they will make it through the next month’s bills. My Daughter has the ability and I just want to make her dream of being a Marine Biologist come true, she has wanted this since she was 10 years old and I want it to happen. So, that is why I push my daughter and make sure she can handle every thing that may come her way. But no matter what, what ever she does with her life I will always be here for her to boast or to pick up the pieces. Just remember all you parents in this same situation: NO MATTER WHAT, kids are not perfect and still need guidance, just be careful on how you deliver your help to them. You do not want to loose a child over words. Try to find the right way to communicate and I think all things will work out. I KNOW WE ARE TRYING HERE!!

Thank You,

Kerry

I am a newly single mother of 2 teenage boys. I always follow through on what I tell them I'll do. They still won't do what I tell them to do. I told my oldest one that he was grounded because of his poor grades, and he just took off on his bicycle and went to homecoming of his friend's school. He is riding in the dark wearing all black with no light on his bike. He is just a freshman, and is already failing one of his classes even though he started out in the gifted and talented program. He says that most of the kids are failing the class, so why shouldn't I be satisfied with his poor performance. His teacher sent me a progress report, and he is missing a lot of his work. If it is completely missing, how can he possibly be trying? He gets so angry at his younger brother and they fight so much that they have broken some of the doors in my new house. I took both of the boys to an anger management class this last summer, and I don't think it helped much. I am getting very frustrated.

Penelope, I couldn't have said it better myself. What in the world is Keith Ablow doing suggesting that this woman move the 25 year old boyfriend of her 17 year old, single-mother, daughter under HER roof?! So they can play house on HER dime? And the way he did it really put the woman on the spot. Did you see the look on her face?! If she had immediately said NO (which would've been my response), I'm sure she would have accused of not really trying to mend her and her daughter's relationship. I, too, have no recollection of them mentioning the status of the biological father or Ablow even remarking on the age difference and considering he is an educated individual I find it really lax that he didn't address this. (Isn't that relationship techinically illegal in most states?!) That aside, if this 25 year old man states that 'he can't afford a divorce right now' and is living with his in-laws, and not even supporting his own child, how in the world is he going to be able to contribute anything to her household? I'm not familiar with Ablow's credentials or know if he has any children but it seems to me even he wouldn't take his own advice if it were HIS kid.

~~ Children who disrespect either one of their parents should get there A** kicked ... Sorry for being so blunt ... I think the reason children don't mind and are mouthy because parents don't whip anymore ... Children will do as they are aloud ... Put your foot down and teach them starting at a young age and usually they will respect there parents and be well behaved ... ~~

I could not believe Dr. Keith's advice for the mother of the first segment. How could he suggest letting her 17 year-old daughter's 25 year-old boyfriend have a "trial run" and live under the same roof with them for a month? She won't even abide by her mother's rules AND she had had a baby when she was just herself a child. That didn't sound like a solution; it sounded a reward. The biological father wasn't even brought up! He didn't even comment on the fact that the boyfriend is 25 years old! When I was her age, I said things like, "...I'm going to leave if you don't start treating me like an adult." The result was my mother slacked off helping me and providing everything except the basic necessities just to show me what "being an adult" was really like. In the end, I realized that my mother's rules weren't there to hinder me, but to make my path in life a little easier than it would be otherwise. The boyfriend wasn't contributing a great deal to his own child and he was still married! I think you dropped you ball on this one, Dr. Keith. I just hope the mother does what most doctors advise of their patients - gets a second opinion.

As a mother of a 5 year old daughter, I would hate to lose her respect. But if you give in to every little wish and desire, how can your child have respect for you? If you look at how the way some mothers act these days it is no surprise these children have no respect.