Troubled Teens Resources

Teen crisis intervention via positive peer pressure is an effective method of teen help employed in many schools for troubled teens, with very good results. It is also employed, in various forms, throughout the country’s public schools via various programs - Teen Court being one most parents have heard of.

When a teen helps their peers by apprising them of the dangers of drug use, they are going to find themselves meeting with some opposition and hostility, but their efforts are valuable and commendable. That is how positive peer pressure is being deployed by Safe Teens Empowerment Project in one California middle school.

“That is going to be our target population,” said Badon. “Alcohol is available in many of these children’s homes, so they actually get alcohol just by tapping into the parent’s alcohol supply. Marijuana is available, too. If you are a middle school kid you can get marijuana from high school kids. So, these are not adult predators giving drugs to these young kids, they know how to get it.”

Participants in the program will also be present at DUI check points and participate in peer mediation. They needn’t be honor students to participate. The idea is to get a body of students that can relate to the many teen groups that they will encounter.

” Lisette Hernandez… said she wished she had a friend pull her aside to help steer her away from substance abuse…She admitted that she might not have listened at first to friends who didn’t drink or use drugs.

“But, there is always something that is going to stick in your head, maybe not today, but later on,” she said.”
(source)

Teenagers are given insight into the workings of juvenile justice when volunteering for Teen Court. Teen court is a form of teen crisis intervention that serves to educate youth on both sides of the law. For those who volunteer to serve, it is an opportunity not only to gain a better understanding of the legal system, but it also places them in a position to judge those of their peers who will stand before them.

“The defendants’ cases are presented to a jury of their peers, which determines their sentencing. Defendants are issued sentences that may include community service, writing letters of apology or essays or volunteering with the program.

“Many of the volunteers have been influenced by it,” said Driger. “We’ve tried to educate those persons.”

Teen court is used in various cities throughout the country and is noted most for making an impact on recidivism, making it one of the more effective programs for troubled teens.

The program has also chipped away considerably at one of its primary goals — preventing repeat offenders.

“Since the first year, the success rate has dipped below 90 percent just once — during a period from 2000-2001.”
“We’re very proud of the success rate…It gives them [defendants] the opportunity to make the right choice.”
(source)

One very effective means of teen crisis intervention is peer pressure. Yes, the same peer pressure that may convince a teenager to try drugs can also convince them not to. Teens have an opportunity to apply some of that type of pressure by presiding over the sentencing of their fellow teens in teen court.

Teen courts exist all over the nation. in one variation or another. and are surprisingly effective in dealing out justice that seems to leave a lasting impression. Teen help in the form of positive peer culture is employed on a far more comprehensive level in behavioral programs in many teen boarding schools.

“The court sees between 25 and 35 defendants each year, Rutten said.

The program has shown it works, Rutten said.

Only about 3 percent of the teens who have completed the court program end up back in the Clallam County juvenile justice system…”

What the teens say, goes. Thus one teen was told to go fishing and catch “dinner” for a week for a disabled person unable to do so. One of the objectives of the program is to help an offender to develop a connection with the community, theory being that teens do not cause harm to a neighborhood that they feel a part of.

“While Rutten and DuBeau observe the court, they do not intervene as the teens hear arguments and pass sentences.

“Kids are doing sentencing; they understand the motivation of why kids did something. They understand kids’ thoughts and action.”
[…]
Teenagers volunteering for the court said they like being in charge, and they take it seriously.”
(source)