Helping Children Cope in a Fallen World - LPNI

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Helping Children Cope in a Fallen World

LPNI Health Topic - April 2023

Today’s parents face many troubling issues: drug abuse, body and gender dysmorphia, abortion, depression, and suicide ideation, to name just a few. How can one parish nurse help families avoid these dangerous pitfalls? Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ, (Galatians 6:2 ESV).

I’ve often wondered what more I could have done to prevent one dysfunctional church family’s nightmare. I watched this child’s strange behavior worsen as he entered his teen years. It culminated in an incident where he brought his father’s gun to school, pointing it at the resource officer. He finally got the help he so desperately needed when placed in a teen behavior psych unit. What happened? Should I have intervened sooner?

In retrospect, perhaps a class on parenting and positive discipline techniques may have been beneficial. I would have developed a stronger relationship with the family and perhaps been able to promote strategies that prevented an escalation of the harmful behaviors. This potential “shooter in the building” hit too close to home.

Another heartbreaking problem that parents face are Fentanyl overdoses. Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin, 100 times stronger than morphine, and the leading cause of death in 18 to 49 year olds. There are 150 deaths in the USA each day. Would a Christian drug prevention program help? Do not be deceived: Bad company ruins morals, (1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV).

In 2017, it was estimated that approximately 15,000 US teens suffered from Gender Dysphoria. By 2021 that number had risen to over 42,000. What is causing so many vulnerable teens to question the bodies God gave them? Parents are desperate for help, and don’t understand the dangers of pharmaceutical hormone blockers or gender change surgery that permanently alters a young growing body. Christian and pastoral counseling is needed to help teens cope with the issues that torment them. Most will return to their biological gender once the vulnerable teen years have passed. I praise you, for I’m fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14 ESV).

Teen sexual promiscuity and abortion rates remain far too high. Would a Christian prevention class help teens avoid the pitfalls they will pass on their way to adulthood? One strategy that worked well in our church was based on the book by Dr. James Dobson, Preparing for Adolescence: How to Survive the Coming Years of Change. After 5th grade Mom could begin reading a chapter at a time to her daughter while Dad reads it to his son. It’s an intimate opportunity to describe the parent’s insights and experiences to help the child navigate safely through the teen years. In addition, parish nurses can ensure that congregations actively support a Christian pregnancy center and children’s clothing depot for at risk families.

Finally, the world has become a dangerous place for children. Far too many are succumbing to the evil that permeates our cultures worldwide leading to a great deal of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. These vulnerable young ones need our love, support, spiritual and psychological care. Each parish nurse can work with his or her pastor to identify those at risk, provide them with Christian resources and, most importantly, point them to the cross. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:2 ESV).

Jennie E. Johnson RN-BC, PhD

Parish Nurse, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Rathdrum, ID 83815

ask@jenniejohnsonrn.com

Resources:

Fentanyl Facts, CDC, (February 23, 2022). https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/fentanyl/index.html

Conklin, Fentanyl Overdoses Become the Number 1 Cause of Death among US Adults, Ages 18-45: A National Emergency, Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/us/fentanyl-overdoses-leading-cause-death-adults

Respaut & Tuhume, Putting Numbers on the Rise in Children Seeking Gender Care, Reuters, (October 6, 2022). https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-data/

Hruz, Mayer & McHugh, Growing Pains: Problems with Puberty Suppression in Treating Gender Dysphoria, (Spring 2017). https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/growing-pains

Dobson, Preparing for Adolescence: How to Survive the Coming Years of Change, (December 1, 2005), Gospel Light. https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-Adolescence-Survive-Coming-Change/dp/0830738266