Sometimes the force of law is necessary to get a child to accept help. A parent’s asking the court to step in and order treatment is called “creative coercion” by Peter B. Rockholz, a Connecticut social worker with more than a decade of experience in the residential treatment of young alcohol and drug abusers. “It’s important to involve the law as an ally while your child is still a juvenile,” he says. “Often we wait too long. Some kids have to be taken away from their home and friends in order to get better, and a judge can arrange this most readily before the kid has to be treated as an adult.” If the court’s order I disobeyed, the youngster can be sent to a juvenile detention facility. The message is: “Get treatment or be treated as a delinquent.”

When a problem reaches crisis proportions, the court can step in quickly. One family brought their fourteen-year-old son to the probation department when this alcohol and drug use and fighting at home had become unbearable. The boy was so out of control the judge swiftly sent him to the local youth shelter for the night, and the next day he was in a thirty-day treatment center. “Some places say the kids must be motivated before they take them” the probation officer pushed, and when they need help they need it now. The judge did the pushing.”

The law can also be helpful in insisting that a child take treatment seriously. Mr. Rockholz worked with a boy who had been warned three times before coming into his facility, “Either give us your drugs or flush them down the toilet yourself, but no drugs are allowed here.” When the boy arrived for his stay, he had two marijuana joints hidden in his socks, although he swore he was clean. “We called the cops and they arrested him,” he reports. “It had a profound impact on treatment. He knew we meant what we said, and he stuck with us.”

Even when a child is older and living on his own, the authority of the law can move him into treatment. Here’s how one parent succeeded.

A father had been getting enormous bills from the local furniture store because his son had been charging items and selling them to support his drug habit. Realizing that it is not always best to rescue your child, this man called the store and told the manager not to sell any more goods to his son. If he came in and attempted to charge anything, the manager should call the police.

One day the father received a call from the store manager, who said his son was there buying a sofa bed. The father simply said, “Call the police.” Then he went downtown and stood in the aisle as the police arrested his son and took him to be booked for unlawful use of a credit card. This event shook the young man so severely that it turned the tide. The court ordered him into treatment. Now, two years later, he’s living drug-free and is buying his household needs and everything else with cash.

Some parents threaten to bring their children to court as they used to threaten them with the bogeyman or the policeman. If you say, “I’m going to take you to court if you don’t straighten out,” be prepared for some uncomfortable times. Unless there is a crisis necessitating immediate action, the first appearance before a judge or with a probation officer is never satisfying, according to a Washington, D.C., counselor who works closely with the juvenile courts. In addition, the procedure after that first day in court or the probation office is likely to take months. Your child’s reaction may be to think, “It’s not such a big deal.” If you do make the move, you have to be prepared to follow through with constructive action during the lull. One boy had to stay home while his school soccer team went to play in Ireland. His parents were determined that life would not just drift along as usual. When he made his second appearance at the probation department, he was ready to follow the officer’s recommendation to see a counselor.