Troubled Teens Resources

Teen crisis intervention is most affective when it is delivered from a person who has walked in the shoes that their teen audience is presently walking in. Former addicts intimately know the territory that a teen drug addict must navigate . They quickly recognize excuses and rationalizations because they have made them all themselves thousands of times.

Sometimes an ex-addict’s face and eyes tell a story that no other visage can communicate. No matter how unnecessary and useless the horrific pain caused by addiction may be, the hopelessness, fear and soul exhaustion felt by an addict is innervating and real. Troubled teenagers, broken by addiction, will instinctively recognize the signs.

“Mason used to be a heroin-addicted bank robber, which led to incarceration inside Milhaven Penitentiary, and a string of other Canadian and U.S. prisons.

“If I wasn’t using drugs I wouldn’t have turned to crime to feed the addiction.”

He survived 15 years in the joint, witnessing “all sorts of crap”– including murder.
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After he got out of prison, the Southern Ontario native managed to kick his drug habit and better understand the root of his addiction. He later studied to become a specialist in addictions recovery.”

Mason conducts ‘field trips’ that he calls “Kids on Skids”, touring teens at risk through neighborhoods that are ravaged by teen age drug abuse and crime.

“[The addicts] know the kids are down here for an education before it’s too late and they end up on the Downtown Eastside,” he says. “This is hard-core reality. It’s ugly back there.”

Some of the kids on the tour are as young as 11 years old. He hopes the tour will change their life trajectory.
[..]
“Their eyes are open; they’ve seen it; they’ve smelled it and they’ve walked through it.”

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Teens at risk are not necessarily easy to identify. Some teen drug addicts, like adult drug addicts, are known as high performance addicts. Even thought they are actively on an illicit drug and spend a great deal of energy acquiring the drug, they still perform well in school and manage to hide their addiction from their parents.

As diligently as parents seek ways to constantly monitor their troubled teenagers, those teens are just as industriously figuring out ways to pull the wool over their parents eyes.

Teen crisis intervention starts with thorough and sound information on drugs, drug culture, and teen behavior. What better person to offer a parent insight into their drug addicted teen than a former teen addict?

A new book just released by such an author might just prove be a good investment for parents just starting their library devoted to teen help.

“Clean: A New Generation in Recovery Speaks Out” is written by Chris Beckman of MTV’s Real World Chicago fame. The book moves quickly through his teen years describing his first encounter with Jim Beam at 11. Yes, you read that right, 11.

Beckman makes an excellent case for alcohol being considered a gateway drug. There is a considerable amount of controversy about that theory, but Beckman shows a clear progression of abuse starting with alcohol and ending with hard drugs.
Interlaced throughout the book are stories of addiction and recovery from others who share their journeys. Clean, also provides the reader with a plethora of resources on where to get help, risk factors, and related health issues.
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