How Youngsters with ADHD Can Avoid the Criminal Justice System

By Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG – January 27, 2025

Some years ago, I had a conversation with an expert in the criminal justice system around helping young people with ADHD avoid the criminal justice system by understanding and managing their symptoms. The conversation included markers that represent important times, called tipping points, when those with ADHD are vulnerable and could head down the wrong path. But resources are available to help parents be proactive to catch these things before they happen.

So, imagine you’re a parent and you get an unexpected call from law enforcement or a criminal justice official. What do you do?

There are two types of tipping points that parents should understand. One type is when something’s likely to go wrong for these youngsters and the other type is when we can be sensitized to things that we can’t plan for, but we can spot if we’re looking for them.

A tipping point is anytime when it’s likely to fall apart, but if we do it right, we can hold them together and keep them on the right path. There’s an extensive list of simple things, things like the first day at a new school when they’ve got to go to different classes or a different location, the first job, the first time driving a car, and other firsts that parents are well aware of. It can be a nightmare for ADHD kids.

If we find that within the first day or two these kids are already in trouble at school, they didn’t accomplish anything, and all they’ve done is actually go to school. So that’s a tipping point. But how can a school help keep that kid out of trouble? The bottom line is that professionals and parents can be sensitized to spotting the tipping points and stopping them from having a disastrous outcome.

Another interesting fact is early smoking in many of these ADHD kids. There’s a massive amount of evidence that says kids with ADHD around the ages of 8 to 10 start smoking. It’s a self-medication thing. It makes them feel good, makes them feel grown up. They’re mixing with people who are maybe older and are smoking. The sad part about it is that there is compelling evidence that smoking cigarettes leads to using cannabis. From there, they move on to alcohol, and from there to even harder drugs.

These young people have a very clear pathway to taking drugs to manage their ADHD, and it starts with smoking. That’s a great tipping point for parents to start sniffing their kid’s clothing, asking the right questions, monitoring behavior.

If we can educate people who look after youngsters with ADHD on how to get them out of the criminal justice system, or indeed prevent them getting into the criminal justice system, we can give them a better chance of a good life just by understanding what’s going on for them.

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, please listen to my podcast episode, “Youngsters with ADHD: Avoiding the Criminal Justice System.”

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