Troubled Teens Resources

Schools for troubled teens seem like a throwback to the 18th century for some out-of-control teens. Especially for those teens who are addicted. No, we are not talking about teen age drug abuse and addictions. Add internet addiction to your lexicon of destructive habits that you do not want your teen to acquire.

These kids need to be wired up, connected, plugged-in, online. It is the air that they breathe and, for some, the only type of connection that they have with anyone, ever. In the real world,these are the teens who feel inept, clumsy and despised by their peers and family. They are alienated from everyone, except for those connections, for good or ill, that they make online.

Military schools, boarding schools - none of them allow the internet addicted teen to take refuge in a virtual world 24/7. Use of the internet is considered a privelege. For some kids those rules force them to deal with the social and relationship issues that they fear.

But it is not all on the troubled teen. Parents, as usual play a pivotal and primary role. When the writer, linked below, asked high school students what issues were most important to them, their number one answer was the relationship, or lack thereof, that they had with their parents.

“Independent of the depressing effects of excessive Internet use, the most devastating impact of Internet addiction may be the decreased amount of quality time teenagers have with their parents. Just like other addictions, the Internet addict probably suffers from feelings of emotional and physical isolation from his or friends and family and spends little time involved in healthy relationships which are the basis for positive emotional development.”

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Read the link above for an instructive look at internet addiction and the importance of having your teen connect with you, not the internet.

Teen crisis intervention programs are typically spearheaded by community groups who want more safeguards and effective solutions in place when dealing with out of control teens. Some very innovative programs have sprung up across the country by groups of parents who have become alarmed over the prevalence of teen drinking and drug abuse.

In the past, such programs have primarily targeted teens. Unfortunately the laxity of many parents around teen drinking have caused some communities to create laws that hold parents as accountable as their teens if a drinking party goes South. Such as this ordinance recently introduced in a California town that targeted parents who host underage drinking.

“The city is revising its “unruly party” ordinance to make it easier to crack down on teenage drinking — including a provision that changes the definition of a party from five underage revelers to two. The new ordinance will eliminate the current $1,000 cap on the amount the city can recover from party hosts — or their parents — when police respond to gatherings.”

The changes in the ordinance were due to a letter sent out by a parents that described the vandalism and excessive drinking that occurred at an unauthorized party held in their home.

“Local high school parents responded by forming healthy choices committees that promised to work with the schools and community to cut down on teen drinking and drug use and come up with alternative activities for teenagers.”
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As a parent, you have more power in your community than you may realize. Be pro-active in teen crisis intervention in your neighborhood, It can be as simple as circulating a letter and approaching your local officials for support.