No child is perfect; each has their own challenges. If you have a child, I strongly suspect that there are things that the child has done that make you nervous, or wish you could change, or something like that.
Some children, however, bring bigger challenges than others. So, sometimes, a brief comparison may be helpful. If only to help the parent recognize that, yeah, things could be a lot, lot worse.
So, for example, with Hunter W., down here in San Diego:
"In 2015, Hunter and another minor got into a fight over the purchase of cigarettes. The fight escalated and Hunter, who was 13 years old at the time, told the victim he was going to kill him. Hunter pulled out a knife, stabbed the victim three times, left the knife in the victim, and fled the scene. Two days later, Hunter’s mother brought him to the police station, where Hunter admitted to stabbing the victim . . . As a result of the stabbing, the District Attorney filed a juvenile wardship petition alleging Hunter fell within the court’s jurisdiction under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602.
Before the petition was adjudicated, the District Attorney filed a second petition alleging Hunter had driven without a license (Veh. Code, § 12500, subd. (a)) and under the influence of drugs (id., § 23152, subd. (a)). Hunter had taken his mother’s car and crashed it into a tree. The car caught fire and was destroyed. Hunter told the responding officers at the scene what happened, and admitted he was under the influence of Xanax and marijuana that he obtained illegally."
Yeah. That's a challenge. Especially since Hunter "did not perform well on probation, and after multiple violations . . . the court revoked probation and the parties stipulated to placement in the DJJ. The court then set the maximum term of confinement at seven years."
In short: Being a parent (or kid) is tough, but it could be worse. Much worse.
