Troubled Youth Schools

Peer pressure, puberty and parental expectations can cause some adolescents to stray from conventional coping methods. Some teens may act out or behave inappropriately in an effort to deal with the struggles of adolescence. Teens may experience academic failure, social withdrawal, fights, rage or otherwise deviant behavior. Troubled youth schools, located across the nation, may help your teen overcome his issues.

Definition

• Troubled youth schools aim to keep adolescents on track toward a successful adulthood. The teenage years cause stress and hardship that can lead some individuals down a path of despair and destruction. Acting out can manifest in many ways from poor academic performance to substance abuse. Troubled youth schools, as opposed to public schools, attend to deeply rooted issues rather than just academics. Rehabilitation is a key factor in the delivery of troubled youth school curriculum. Similar to boarding schools, most troubled youth schools operate year-round with students and staff living on-site.

Admission

• Plenty of teenagers struggle throughout adolescence, however, troubled youth schools are not for everyone. Troubled youth schools admit students with consistently troublesome and harmful behavior. Such behaviors include substance abuse, confrontational behavior, truancy and membership in a gang. According to White River Academy, before contacting a troubled youth school regarding your child, you must assess the severity of the situation. Reflect on questions such as if your child is verbally abusive, behaves promiscuously, has been in trouble with the law or displays signs of problems with authority and so forth.

Therapy

• Most troubled youth schools incorporate therapy into the curriculum. Some schools do not provide therapeutic services to students unless requested by the parents. Therapy ranges from traditional one-on-one counseling sessions to unconventional therapeutic practices. Spring Creek Lodge in Montana, for instance, offers specialized counseling services to assist students coping with adoption, sexual abuse survival and chemical dependency. Other schools, such as Aspen Ranch in Utah, offer equine therapy to any interested students. Equine therapy helps teens develop essential life skills through training, riding and raising a horse. Family therapy also plays an integral role in troubled youth schools. Most schools offer student and parent counseling, family counseling and parental counseling to ensure uniformity from school to family life.

Academics

• Academic success remains an integral part of troubled youth school curriculum. Each school offers high school credit courses so the teens do not fall back in traditional schooling. Schools like Horizon Academy in California emphasize the importance of education with strict standards, like a mandatory 80 percent or B- in every class for every student. The small class sizes at most troubled youth schools allow for more specified attention to each student to ensure success in academia.