Troubled Teens Resources

Teens at risk for gang indoctrination and recruitment aren’t limited to America. New Zealand fights the same problems as American parents and communities.

“A South Auckland community torn by gang violence is battling to win the souls of troubled teens.

A group of Otara born and bred ex gang members and youth workers, Crosspower Ministries and 274 Youthcore, says it is a tug of war with local gangs for the hearts and minds of the kids.

“The gang escalation has gone to a point where it’s very alarming,” says Crosspower Ministries 274 spokesperson Sully Paea.

Gangs are luring youth by giving them kickboxing lessons, winning them over with a gangster rap lifestyle and promises of the high life.”

An associate who has taught martial arts and weight lifting at schools for troubled teens talked about how powerful it was for a teen to extrapolate the discipline of physical sport to govern their own lives. The key is when the teen discovers their own power to affect the course of their life through good decisions. Graduates applied that wisdom in confronting all of their challenges.

But gangs teach the opposite. They may use kick boxing to teach, but in doing so they demand loyalty to the gang. And there is the difference. Power can be harnessed for good or bad. Where my friend used martial arts and sports discipline to inculcate independence and self-reliance, the gang confers token power in exchange for the teens identity and independence.

“They’re filling a need where there’s an emptiness in our children growing up today,” says Paea.”

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Brat camp counselors know this regimen well. So do troubled teen boarding school teachers as do the many teen help professionals that promote and value instilling discipline. And about the most enjoyable way to learn discipline is through sports.

I often recall the stories an athletic coach would tell of the amazing results that he had teaching troubled teens how to harness and enhance their natural power and prowess in a gym,and especially how well martial arts succeeded in teaching that. He was not alone in his enthusiasm.

“The mystique of karate, which filtered into the United States… has a draw that western team sports, such as baseball or basketball, can’t match, said Brad Binder, a neuro-biologist..

“The main reasons go beyond the physical activity,” he said. “But that aspect is speculative. No one really knows yet.”

A sense of accomplishment is valuable for all human beings. For many teens, that experience is hard to come by. They know failure after failure, and thus, view their lives as doomed. And now it appears that mastering martial arts not only can give the troubled teen that pride, but can also give them a tool to manage ADHD.

“Because karate is fast-paced and visual, it can appeal to children with attention disorders who in the classroom might lash out but are model students on the mat, said Joe Palanzo, president of the Worldwide Kenpo Karate Association in Baltimore.

“It gives you a certain satisfaction you don’t get doing anything else,” Palanzo said.

Sometimes this success extends into the classroom, increasing a student’s concentration.

“It taught me how to sit still and avoid the distractions, how to avoid everything around me, how everything around me is blocked out,” said Larry Calcote, 13, who is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.”

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