Troubled Teens Resources

Teen help via the golf course? Can the gentleman’s game of golf have any interest for teens at risk? Can golf be used as a means of reaching the out of control teen? Can learning the art of golf keep a teen away from the nightmare of teen age drug abuse? Officials in a small town in New York seem to think so.

“Folks in the town of Islip say one way to turn troubled teenagers away from gangs could be with a round of golf.

The game would play a role in a mentoring program being developed to aid children in the Brentwood School District who officials believe are on the verge of joining a gang.

Six youngsters, ages 11 to 14, will be matched with mentors from SUNY Stony Brook, who will take the kids out for lessons and rounds at Islip’s Brentwood Country Club. “

What benefits are there in teaching teen juvenile offenders golf? Proponents of the program claim that the civility inherent in the game will be instructive in and of itself. Also, key to the course is the mentors that come with it.

“The game would play a role in a mentoring program being developed to aid children in the Brentwood School District who officials believe are on the verge of joining a gang.
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“Many of these kids have never been out of their neighborhood. It’s all they know,” said Lopez.

Golf’s relatively slow pace also leaves room for lots of talking between mentors and students, he said.”

(Source)

In addition to mentoring, advocates believe that the lessons in sportsmanship as well as exposure to a different perspective on life will go along way towards encouraging troubled teenagers into envisioning new possibilities.

Teen crisis intervention is the most powerful when it induces in the troubled teen a vision for the future that they never before could imagine. When their talents and skills are tapped and they can feel the high of recognition for a job well done. Often addictive personalities trade one addiction for another. If it is a positive addiction,it is a powerful change. Such as this photography and essay course introduced into a teen rehab program in California. What better way to recover than by being “addicted” to the joys that you can produce from your heart and mind.

“Kim, a recovering drug addict, is one of 20 teenagers with photos on display at the Anne Arundel County Circuit Courthouse in Annapolis. The exhibit, “Insights: The Identity Project,” is composed entirely of work by children involved in the county’s Juvenile Treatment Court program.
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The project, a partnership between the county and VisionWorkshops, a nonprofit photography mentoring program, is a mandatory component of the drug court, now in its fourth year. County residents, ages 13 through 18 with substance abuse problems and legal woes, are lent cameras so they can take photos and keep journals about who they are and what makes them tick.”

(Source)

Often teen age drug abuse is the result of a sense of emptiness and futility. But for a teen to be able to examine their feelings and their world and interpret them according to their own light is a transformative experience. For a troubled teen to discover their creativity is a powerful gift.