Now having been what in the kindest of terms would be called a “wild” teenager, I am one of the lucky ones that was allowed to come to my senses within a family of frustrated but loving and supportive parents. I feel for the minority that are sent off to a program that is geared to break the will and stifle the imagination while force feeding guilt and shame down their captive throats.

This is one area where I feel children should be able to fight back. In this and many other states at the age of 13 a child has the ability to block their parents from accessing their mental and physical health records. I think 13 year olds should have the right to refuse “treatment” and select a medical advocate, be that a psychiatrist or physician that will consider the child’s desires and symptoms, if any, independent of the parents’ desires and opinions. It is a sad but all too real fact that some children need to be protected from their parents and I believe that it is the government’s responsibility to provide access to that protection should the child feel s/he needs it.