Troubled Teens Resources

You do not usually see the discipline that is handed out in boot camps practiced in a public high school, but then Tahlequah Alternative School is designed more along the lines of schools for troubled teens than your standard high school.

“Ninth-grader Dylan Yanez must hold his hands behind his back each time he walks across the Tahlequah Alternative School campus.

He must wear the same black sweats and black shirt as other students. He must spend the whole school day without taking a break to chat with classmates. If he wants to speak, he must stand by his chair and ask, “Permission to speak.”

Referred to as a regimented program, it is an effort by the public school district in that county to keep troubled teenagers in school while simultaneously addressing their behavioral problems. The students, both girls and boys, must dress entirely in black sweat suits with boys sporting buzz cuts and girls with their hair bound back.

Unlike quasi-military educational “boot camps” like Thunderbird Youth Academy in Pryor, the Cherokee County academy does not board students overnight.

But Sams makes no bones about it. From the time they get to the school at 8:50 in the morning to the end of school at 3:30 p.m., those kids maintain strict, military discipline.

“They move from one room to another with their hands behind their back and do not stop and mess with anyone,” Sams said. “When they go to class, I make them sit in the front of the class. They need to be listening to the teacher, not back socializing.”

(source)(Image/Jennifer Lyles)