Helping families cope with violent young daughters

Imagine a mother who can’t think of a good thing to say about her 9-year-old daughter.

“I knew she had a beautiful smile,” Lena recalls tearfully. “But she didn’t smile enough.”

From about age 5, Lena’s daughter wore a constant frown. She punched and kicked her parents and other children. She threw rocks at her neighbours’ homes and eggs at their cars. At school she talked back to the teachers, hit her classmates and stole their belongings. She was sent home from church camp for attacking fellow campers. And once she lunged at her mother with a knife.

The angry little girl with the explosive temper became a pariah. She was never invited to birthday parties, play dates or sleepovers. Even Lena’s friends and family stopped calling and visiting.

“It was heartbreaking,” Lena says. “We were so distraught we just wanted to hide.”
Today, Lena’s daughter is a funny, considerate and compassionate 16-year-old. She has friends. She is doing well at school. And she’s helping others stay out of trouble.

Read the full story: Dark side of girl power