Kids in Crisis: A Workable Plan for Successful Parenting

by Dean Merrill and Ross Wright

From the popularity of "militant nanny" reality shows to the ever-struggling disciplinary systems in our schools, there's evidence that more and more kids are seriously spinning out of control. For any mom or dad who thinks a certain child is just too tough to handle, Kids in Crisis provides a sane, workable plan for successful parenting. Author Ross Wright culls his wisdom from the trenches, having more than twenty years of experience in the youth...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805443991
• ISBN13: 9780805443998
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: B&H Books
• Length: 195 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful parenting guide

While looking into becoming foster parents, I ran across this book. I am so incredibly impressed with this book! The ideas not only make sense, but THEY WORK. Children are our most precious resources and should be treated as such. Life should not be full of punishments no matter how troubled any person is. This should be required for anyone that has or plans to have children. Crisis' are a part of life, and don't have to be life threatening to be life changing. Thank you, Ross!

Great book

What a great book! Ross not only tells us how to deal with tough kids, he helps us prevent the situations in the first place. If every kid knew they were special for something, society wouldn't have any troubled kids.

Great book

What a wonderful book- a wealth of information and a sensible, progressive way of thinking. This is a book of ideas and strategies, not a fix all. Even though I don't have a child that would be described as "in crisis", I do have three teenagers, and we have occasional "crises"- short lived as they may be. This book is a wonderful help for our usually good/occasionally-not-so-good functioning family. Thanks Ross and Dean for a great reading and educational experience!

Couldn't Put it Down--Brilliant and Sane.

I read KIDS IN CRISIS this afternoon and couldn't put it down. As the stay-at-home mom of a four year old and a one year old, I found the principles to be just as useable for me as they are for foster parents struggling with seemingly hardened teenagers. Everywhere I turn (sigh), whether it's church, the pediatrician's office or the playground, I have to dodge popular parenting theories that lopsidedly embolden parents to "reach for a bigger hammer" (a term Ross frequently uses in his book). I know this only intensifies power struggles and disempowers children and young people, stripping them of dignity and worth, and often causing them to either become rageful and destructive or simply emotionally flat and "compliant." So I was excited to read this book which offers a brilliant, sound, tried and true, individualized, paradoxical strategy for parenting every age group: instead of reaching for "a bigger hammer" (read: becoming more punitive and emotionally distant), consider the developmental and temperamental needs of each child and work WITH that rather than against it. Using the analogy of a bank account, Ross encourages parents to make personalized deposits into their chldren's emotional bank accounts (love, compliments, understanding, grace, quality time) before making withdrawals (discipline, correction, requiring behavior change, etc.). Citing real-life examples from decades of personal experience not only as an RTC/foster agency professional, but also as a parent, Ross will win readers over with his authenticity, expertise and sense of true compassion for even the most troubled youth. Without sounding preachy or clinical, Ross not only lays out sound and balanced theoretical framework (which he calls Love to Nurture), drawing from the developmental theories of Erickson, Piaget & Kohlburg, but he also provides practical tools to help any parent successfully integrate these ideas into everyday life by using the STAR principles. From the expectant mom to the seasoned foster parent who's at a loss with an especially disturbed teenager, every parent can benefit from this fresh approach to parenting challenges. A few years ago, I sat speechless when a "mentor mom" at my MOPS group spoke and told a room full of young moms (of the 0-5 age group, mind you) to "never let them win." In that same speech, she told these moms to "strap" their one-year olds in time out if they wouldn't stay put. I walked away disturbed, saddened, and sickened that dangerous ideas such as these are being lapped up by desperate parents looking for answers to disciplinary dilemmas. But Ross's book provides a welcome respite from some of these punitive, emotionally bankrupt methods by teaching parents how to cultivate and maintain an actual relationship with their children--no matter how difficult--while optimizing the kids' development of their God-given interests, passions & gifts, leaving kids feeling empowered and motivated to rise to the task of givi

Real Life Stories... Real Life Help

As a veteran youthworker of ten years, and the father of three, I was so refreshed to read this practical guide to, not just parenting, but caring for young people. Society has in many ways sytematically abandoned our youth. I throughouly enjoyed this helpful easy read and I think it is a vital and neccesary tool for parents and youth workers alike.