A grieving teen has the right….
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to know the truth about the death, the deceased, and the circumstances.
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to have questions answered honestly.
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to be heard with dignity and respect.
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to be silent and not tell you her/his grief emotions and thoughts.
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to not agree with your perceptions and conclusions.
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to see the person who died and the place of the death.
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to grieve any way she/he wants without hurting self or others.
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to feel all the feelings and to think all the thoughts of his/her own unique grief.
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to not have to follow the “Stages of Grief” as outlined in a high school health book.
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to grieve in one’s own unique, individual way without censorship.
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to be angry at death, at the person who died, at God, at self, and at others.
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to have his/her own theological and philosophical beliefs about life and death.
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to be involved in the decisions about the rituals related to the death.
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to not be taken advantage of in this vulnerable mourning condition and circumstances.
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to have guilt about how he/she could have intervened to stop the death.
by Teens at The Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon
