Has anyone had to deal with this issue?

I haven't, but we work with boys, I was talking to a friend, she runs a girls program, and she was talking about how often it was an issue that she had to contend with in her home.

I was wondering if anyone else ran into it?

I have... friends in high school, and I also worked as a recreational therapist in a residential treatment program. I think it is a much bigger problem than people know about.

__________________
It's not what you make; it's what you spend.

Join the Budget Scrapbooking challenges and earn a discount to the CC store!

Yes, I have worked (as a therapist) with some girls who were cutters or used other self harm behaviors

My best friend from college has a daughter who was my DD's best friend for probably 10 years although she was homeschooled so after my DD started to school they saw each other much less frequently. She was cutting and even had a little "kit" she took with her whenever she went somewhere so she could duck in a bathroom and cut.

I don't think my DD ever knew, but the mom told me all about it. It was very disturbing to me but the mother seemed not too bothered by it thinking it was just a phase Last I knew the mom thought she wasn't doing it anymore. I had strongly encouraged the mom to get her some counseling before it became worse, but she never did. She's one of those people that doesn't really "believe" in counseling.

__________________

My daughter did, but stopped before I found out. For awhile afterwords, I made her show me her skin so I could be sure she stopped. She used to wear long sleeves a lot.

I have heard from a friend that guys do it to, and some even have cutting parties. It is a big problem that parents need to watch for.

__________________
"The Christian does not think that God will love us because we are good, but God will make us good because he loves us."- C.S. Lewis

M'ija had a girlfriend who was cutting herself. She wanted to tell the girl's mom, but was afraid to lose her friendship, so she told me. I told M'ija to ask her friend if she she would be willing to talk to me about it, and I was able to convince her to tell her mom, who got her into counseling.

__________________
When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!
Any time God closes one door, She always opens another, even though sometimes it's Hell in the hallway.
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, prepare to die. (Klingon proverb)
Don't point. You'll poke holes in the air and all the faeries will escape.

Not cutting, but ds did a lot of self-harm before we put him in an outpatient program to get things straightened around. That was a long road.

__________________

My nephew as a cutter in college. He finally told my sister (his mom) and she got him into therapy. He's fine now. He's always been very self-conscious about wearing shorts or short-sleeves, or anything not black, but he has a girlfriend now who has helped in that regard, and he's been known to wear colors in recent years - LOL. He's fine now.

__________________

I just don't get why kids do this!!! I can't wrap my mind around it.

__________________
There's been a grave misunderstanding

The kids who cut are generally in a lot of emotional/psychological pain. The physical pain distracts them from the deeper pain.

__________________
When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!
Any time God closes one door, She always opens another, even though sometimes it's Hell in the hallway.
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, prepare to die. (Klingon proverb)
Don't point. You'll poke holes in the air and all the faeries will escape.