You think your daughter doesn't respect your authority and is occasionally "out of control"? Compare her to Maricela H. to get a sense of just how worse it could be:
"Maricela was born in 1995 to mother and C.H. (father). . . . Mother had no control over Maricela, who would come and go as she pleased, without telling mother her plans. Mother did not know what Maricela was doing. Maricela associated with 'the wrong people,' as she put it, used drugs, drank, and fought. She stopped going to school. In 2010, when 15 years old, Maricela gave birth to a child. Her relationship with the baby's father involved methamphetamine abuse and domestic violence. Mother provided the baby with a home.
Mother tried to control Maricela by talking to her. She enrolled Maricela in an independent study program and kept her at home. However, Maricela frequently ran away for days at a time and continued engaging in risky, self-destructive behavior. She chased after older men, had unprotected sex, and used drugs and alcohol. Against her better judgment, mother gave permission to Maricela to go out with a girl, and Maricela did not return for two days.
When Maricela left home on September 16, 2011, mother filed a police report and called the Department of Children and Family Services (Department) because Maricela threatened to take the baby from mother‘s care. The Department detained the baby and offered Maricela a voluntary placement and services plan. Maricela was placed in a group home in Pasadena, was enrolled in school, and agreed to participate in counseling and a substance abuse program.
Maricela stated she wanted to change and follow her program, but she continued abusing drugs, fighting, disregarding rules, and running away. On November 8, 2011, she ran away from the group home to the alleys of Los Angeles after she had assaulted two peers and a teacher."
Yikes.
Let's let CS&N deliver a more uplifting message.
