Troubled Teens Resources

A brilliant student, an ardent athlete, a compassionate and responsive teenager, Ben was every parent’s dream teen. Early in his sophomore year his younger brother met with a tragic accident that no one could have foresaw, yet Ben blamed himself. Therapy and counseling could not ease the young man’s guilt but drug and alcohol and rage did. His self-destruction advanced at an accelerated pace. Within 1 year after his brother’s death he was strung out on heroin and facing possible jail time.

When Ben should have been starting to look at colleges, his parents were instead seeking out boarding schools and specific troubled teen therapy programs that would not only bring about their son’s recovery, but redeem the lost time and academic achievements that Ben had once been fiercely proud of. Ben’s parent were looking for a boarding school that would summon from Ben the breadth of his talents, reconnect him to his integrity and would set him firmly on the course that his skill and intellect dictated.

They were impressed with the emphasis on discipline and structure offered by various boot camps and teen wilderness programs but sought to find that one boarding school that could answer all of their concerns. Parents of troubled teens need to invest time and deep consideration when choosing a boarding school for their teen. More so, think beyond the teenagers recovery, beyond their stay in the boarding school. Consider boarding schools whose programs will help position your teenager on a trajectory that will continue the momentum of healing and rehabilitation they achieved in school.

The John Dewey Academy is an example of one such institution. With sufficient time, a parent can find teen therapy program tailored for their teenagers needs, personality, and intellect.

“…the John Dewey Academy is a coeducational college preparatory boarding school with a strong therapeutic component.
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JDA is unique in its strong emphasis on academic excellence in the midst of an intense (and intensely ambitious) therapeutic program. We do not believe in warehousing dysfunctional adolescents; rather, we wish to provide the setting and caring community (positive peer culture) which facilitate change.”
(Source)

“Unfortunately, many adults do not really believe that young people possess the quality of “greatness,” which is perhaps not surprising since youth seldom are provided with opportunities to display their true human potentials. Positive Peer Culture is concerned with setting expectations high enough to challenge the young person to do all he is capable of doing. To expect less is to deprive him of the opportunity of feeling as positively about himself as possible.”

As a parent of a struggling teen you will have already accumulated a great deal of information on a variety of boarding schools, boot camps, and wilderness schools. Much as a student decides on academic curriculum, a parent will be seeking a boarding school for their teenager that incorporates curriculum and programs that will supply their teenager with simple, viable tools with which to modify their behavior and tools with which to successfully navigate through the traumas and pain that life inevitably brings.

The teenager often has no ability to recognize their “own greatness“. Indeed, quite the opposite occurs within a unhappy teenager’s mind; self-loathing,doubt, and shame will blind a young person from recognizing the wealth of strength and talent that they have yet to tap into.

It is very hard to destroy what you value and once a teen is able to experientially comprehend the value and gifts that they possess, their instinct will be to nurture and protect who they are, not self-destruct. To successfully walk in the power of one’s own strength, to supply the wind for one’s own sails, is headier than any narcotic available. Ask any teen who has successfully embraced their recovery programs and shed their addictions. The radiance of renewal and recovery is unmistakable.

” Positive Peer Culture makes no pretense of turning over all decision making to the students. Adults never abdicate their authority or responsibility. Instead Positive Peer Culture is so designed that adults are in control without controlling. A flight instructor does not give full control to the student pilot but is always available to take charge if hazards are encountered while the student learns to fly. So in Positive Peer Culture, adults assign responsibility to youth and then teach them to follow through on that responsibility.

The notion of heavy demands on students is not altogether fashionable, and traditional mental health concepts have sometimes been interpreted to say that setting high expectations actually is harmful for young people; hence, those with problems sometimes have not been sufficiently challenged to use the strength they possess. These ideas were criticized by Victor Frankl.

“If architects want to strengthen a decrepit arch, they increase the load that is laid upon it for thereby the parts are joined more firmly together. So if the therapists wish to foster the patients’ mental health they should not be afraid to increase that load through a reorientation towards the meaning of one’s life.’”
(Source)

Any boarding school or youth camp a parent chooses will need to incorporate programs and disciplines compatible with the teenager who is in criss. Positive Peer Culture presents another school of thought that parents will want to investigate when deciding which boarding school will prove the best fit for their teenager.