Teenagers are awful...

Sometimes being a teenager comes down to survival of the fittest. Attack is the best form of defence, kill or be killed....

In my previous post I told you about how Steph has been having trouble at school with one of the boys turning nasty on her.

She conducted herself pretty well throughout this, not replying to his text messages, deleting him off facebook and bascically turning the other cheek. She spoke to both her school counsellor, and the principal and they have been supportive and helped her feel that people cared about her and that they were there to help.

The same can't be said for some of her friends. She has some great friends. They are loyal and protective.

And their loyalty has meant that they have turned the tables on the lad in question.

They are making his life a misery.

Stephanie is flattered that her friends care enough to want to protect her. The message I've been trying to get across is that they are now treating him in the same way he treated her. And that's not right.

I'm not excusing his behaviour in any way. Not at all.

But he is a human being. He is someone's son. At the moment he is going home from school miserable and hurting, and I know how that feels as a parent.

Two wrongs do not make a right.

I'm really struggling to convey this to Stephanie. She is still full of anger (and the boy isn't helping himself by continuing to say mean things about her) and in no mood to forgive. She thinks he's getting what he deserves. Forgiveness has always been an issue for her. She has always held a grudge. She will bring up past hurts years later.

So how do you get a kid who has been hurt to forgive? How do you soften their heart to prevent it from becoming bitter and hard?

Lord, I pray that Stephanie can find it in her heart to forgive. She can be so compassionate and caring and I pray that she can see that the hurt being inflicted on this boy is equal to what was inflicted on her, and it's not her or her friends job to judge or hand out punishment. Please be with this young man as he struggles to endure the consequences of his actions. Please help him to forgive also and help them both to move on and get along. I pray for his parents as they deal with a difficult teen, I pray that they can find the right words to encourage him.