Troubled Teens Resources

In a perfect world there would be no teen age drug abuse, no brat camps, no juvenile justice. In that world, young people would not only discover their gifts and talent, they would do so at an early age, allowing them to direct all their energy into learning how to execute their passion successfully, paving a way to a productive and satisfying life.

It seems so simple, yet it is so hard.

“You have to find their passion,” she says of children.”

She is a mother who home schooled her son until fourth grade, “…she exposed him to a world of possibilities“. At 8 years of age, the young man found his passion;rebuilding and designing cars and his parents had faith in his vision.

“Several years and about $50,000 later, according to Bell’s mother, who sold a car and refinanced her home to acquire cars and tools for her son, Bell has become an accomplished welder, cutter and chopper.”

Another phrase I have heard used is that you have to find a child’s gift, that which they were born to do. But how many adults are still trying to find what they love to do, and if they do happen to figure it out, can they make a living from it?

We don’t live in that perfect world, but the principle of finding what you love and doing it is exemplified by this story. A story where parents take the time to know their teen, present the worlds possibilities, and guide and support them as they hone their skills and master their strengths.

Teen crisis intervention is required, not only in our communities, but apparently in our country’s juvenile justice system as well. Earlier we posted on problems in Ohio. Another troubling problem plaguing the juvenile justice system is being scrutinized in Texas.

There has been increased concerns about juvenile offenders being subjected to adult justice. Many state adult prisons are not set up to accommodate or work with the many teen offenders that have committed crimes serious enough to necessitate their being tried as an adult, thus landing them in adult prisons ill prepared to undertake their rehabilitation.

In Texas the concern is that their beleaguered juvenile system is being run by inept and possibly corrupt officials coming out of the adult penal system who have little training or expertise with youth offenders.

Teenagers who are cavalier about flouting the law might want to think twice about being incarcerated in a state run facility. Brat camps and other privately run troubled teen schools seem the more promising option for those teen offenders who have the potential for rehabilitation.

“For Texas youths trapped in a dysfunctional correctional system, the question is much broader than one ill-fit administrator. Mr. Perry should insist that TYC officials take more seriously a blue-ribbon panel, which recommends a dramatic transformation built around experts in juvenile justice, not refugees from the adult prison system.”

(source)

Teen boarding schools, specialty schools and brat camps are not a last resort. More and more parents are moving their teens out of the public school system and separating them from an increasingly corrosive culture perpetuated by the media and the corporations who stand to profit from the teenage demographic.

“According to the most recent report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), private schools have enjoyed a steady increase in enrollment, climbing by 18 percent between 1988 and 2001 — and enrollment rates are expected to continue to rise by at least another 7 percent by 2013! Public school enrollment rose by about the same rate (19 percent) but is expected to continue to rise by only 4 percent.”

Besides superior academics, private boarding schools act as a powerful antidote to the destructive chatter, rap and hip hop that streams from teenagers iPods, MySpace and other cultural reenforcers of destructive life styles.

when you read accounts like the following, you can only wonder what parents can do when, by all appearances, their teenager seems to be doing well. Could the values and discipline that boarding schools bring to the table have made a difference?

“Attractive, vivacious, somewhat irreverent and full of spirit and talent. All these are attributes friends and family gleaned from 17-year-old Tracey.
[..]
But on Easter Sunday in 2004, that determination was snuffed out. Tracey died of a heroin overdose. Her death was hard on family members, but what shocked them even more was that Tracey had begun her addictive odyssey way before anyone ever knew.
[..]
Tracey’s now just a memory. Her mother keeps some of her ashes in a heart-shaped locket around her neck.

“This is not where your parents want you to be, around their neck in a piece of jewelry. They would rather have your arms around their neck, hugging them,” Faye said.

Tracey would have turned 21 this year if she had lived. Her mother now speaks to adult groups and schools about teen prescription drug abuse as often as she can.”

(Source)