Troubled Teens Resources

Boot camps, military boarding schools, troubled teen boarding schools, local non-profit teen programs, mentoring; all of these various programs dedicated to teen help achieve success by inculcating in the troubled teen one lesson and giving back a couple gifts.

The lesson comes in teaching the teen how to harness the power of his or her own will by choosing the discipline of commitment, exercised by perseverance.

Independence and self-possession are the gifts. Independence from addiction, independence from the negative influence of popular culture and peer pressure, independence from the dependency of victimhood. And that delivers the troubled teen’s life back into their possession, free to make of it what they will.

And those gifts come by way of the teen committing to do what it takes, no matter what it takes, to gain mastery over their life. The simplest way to learn that is to get a job and develop a work ethic that will hold the teen in good stead the rest of their life. The basics are boring, initially unrewarding, but pave the way to life long habits of success.

Many communities have put together such programs, underwritten by non profits or the business community. Waco, in the story below, is one such town.

“Through the program, teen parents, dropouts, juvenile offenders, homeless youth and others learn fundamental trade skills that will land them high-demand jobs and — for some — a chance at a college education.

Over the course of six weeks, a dozen youths rebuild their lives with little more than self- discipline and simple carpenters’ tools.
[..]
Brandon turned it all around after being accepted into Summer Building Trades…“I was able to see the result (of my bad decisions) and correct things,” he said. “You can’t get a job if you’re behind bars.”
[..]
He recently scored a football scholarship to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and said he’d like to become a teacher or a social worker.”

(Source)