It’s an undeniable fact. Sometimes teenagers do stupid things. As the parent of a teenager, you are probably more aware of this fact than most people. And if you are the parent of a teenager who has managed to get into some sort of trouble with the law, you are quite possibly losing sleep worrying about what to do now. Of course, there are different types of parenting styles, and a wide variety of parental responses to situations involving teenagers and the law.
Some parents might choose to steer clear of the situation, assuming that there are measures built into the legal system to ensure that teenage offenders are not unduly punished for momentary lapses of judgment. Sadly, this is not the case. Often, teenage – and even young juvenile – offenders are unquestioningly treated as punishment-deserving criminals from the word go. This is why it is crucial to seek expert legal counsel the very moment you discover that your teenager is caught up in any sort of legal trouble.
Some parents fail to accept that their perfectly angelic teenager is capable of doing anything even remotely deserving of legal intervention. Alas, even the most well-behaved teenagers sometimes get into trouble, and often this trouble requires a good lawyer to fully resolve. Sure, you’re beyond disappointed when you get that call from the cops that your model student, track star, soon-to-be valedictorian son or daughter has been detained for questioning. However, you should save the disappointed lectures for another day and instead focus on the very important matter of your child’s expert legal defense.
Some parents, of course, choose to take a different approach. Punishment is an excellent teacher, after all, so why not simply leave your child to the mercies of the legal system? Let your son or daughter learn the hard way that there are consequences to every action. This is perhaps the single worst thing that you can do if your child has been questioned or detained by the authorities for any type of misdemeanor or felony criminal activity. Even if your child is just involved by association (bad friends, wrong place, wrong time) now is not the time to adopt a “you’ve made your bed, now lie in it” type of attitude.
Remember, you have the rest of your life to deliver righteous lectures on the importance of obedience to the law. You have considerably less time to take decisive legal action to ensure that your child’s reputation – and possibly even his or her permanent record – is not irreversibly tarnished. If your teenager is in trouble with the law, contact the criminal defense attorneys at Naiburg, Obedin and Weissman for aggressive legal representation.