Many people believe normal adolescence is dark and tumultuous and anti-adult, and research says that's simply not so. Only one-third of adolescents have a turbulent adolescence. The media would have you believe they all are having a turbulent time, and that's not so. The thing that worries me is the average adolescent depression isn't diagnosed for three years. They've lost that much of their life to depression.
Parents often are in denial, or they rationalize it.
It's very painful to have a sad child. They often don't interpret it accurately. We need to go as a family and talk to somebody. Then we'll go and talk about it. I don't think kids are unusually cruel compared with adults.