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November 3, 2006
Mean girls
By Carey Peña
For three months, I've been following a group of eighth-grade girls here in the Valley. What I've witnessed is nothing short of disturbing!
The way girls treat each other is not only mean, it's vicious.
So bad, in fact, that a local school counselor has set up lunch-time therapy groups to try to help girls deal with this issue. We had exclusive access inside these therapy groups and we got the scoop on what's going on, straight from the girls.
One thing we found out: Teenagers are on technology overload. Between text messaging and MySpace, girls don't talk face to face. The cat fights and confrontations are brought home from school, thanks to the Internet.
We interviewed a girl named Hannah. She often fakes being sick to avoid dealing with all the backstabbing and gossip. Some girls even go so far as to transfer schools because they can't handle all the "drama"!
Make no mistake, this goes beyond typical teenage feuding.
This vindictive, backstabbing behavior can create scars that run deep. Scars that can last a lifetime.
What can parents do? We ask a child psychiatrist from Phoenix Children's Hospital. He says, for one thing, parents need to wake up and stop trying to be friends with their kids. They need to be parents. The doctor says this "mean behavior is a total cultural problem... that has just kind of caught us, society as a whole."
Watch the whole story on "Good Evening Arizona" tonight at 5.
Posted by Carey Pena at November 3, 2006 9:27 AM
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Comments
Enjoyed the story as sad as it was. You or Patty memtioned a book that was suggested for teen girls to read. Could you advise me of that book again?
Thanks,
Dan
Posted by: Dan Minnix at November 5, 2006 3:23 PM
Your child psychiatrist from Phoenix Children's Hospital was so right. I substitute teach in the valley, it is so disheartening to see how much disrespect the children of today have for their parents, and adults in general. My feeling is that it is a thing that is not taught in the home (respect).
Most children run the home today, the parents are "OK" with that. I watched a cell phone ad the other day that was directed at the teenage daughter of the family, she did all of the talking while her parents stood by looking like dummies.
When are the parents going to take control of the family and treat the children like children and not someone who they have to answer to? Discipline is not a bad thing. It can be done with no hands on but parents do not follow through with the discipline. Nowhere in the definition of the word discipline (a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity) does it say beat, hit, strike, or otherwise knock around a person.
We all have to live by rules but most of the children of today feel they don't have to.
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