- Image by freeparking via Flickr
Adolescence is the age of experimentation. Teens are naturally rebellious because they are testing the limits of what is normal and what is not. However, when their behavior shows a strong and frequent pattern of defiance and delinquency, it is time for the parents to face the truth that their teen may be on the wrong path of development.
During these times of conflicting fear, shame and guilt, the parents should seek professional help. Many professionals work in therapeutic boarding schools for troubled boys and troubled girls. They help these troubled teens reconcile their emotional and mental issues to become psychologically healthy adults. They also help them develop good social and communication skills, which they can use when they re-integrate into mainstream society.
Troubled teens most often blame their parents or have deep-seated feelings of anger that they themselves fail to comprehend or even pinpoint the source. Through therapy, they learn how to deal with their emotions and to reach for self-realization, which is the last step in Maslow’s hierarchy for personality development.
When troubled teens lean towards violent behavior, parents can choose to “incarcerate” them in military schools and boot camps for adolescents. If they have committed a crime while being a minor, then the state has the right to place them in a state-run juvenile delinquency facility, unless they consent to undergoing a shock incarceration program in a boot camp or military training school (based on the US Code).
However, the severity of military school training programs seem too harsh for some parents, who would rather send their kids to therapeutic boarding schools, a form of private residential treatment. Here are tips from the Federal Trade Commission when considering private residential treatment for your troubled teen:
- Check for a state-issued license or an accreditation from governing bodies.
- Contact the state Attorney General (www.naag.org), the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org), and the local consumer protection office (www.consumeraction.gov/state.shtml) where the program is located.
- Pay particular attention to any reports of unsanitary or unsafe living conditions, bad food, exposure to extreme environmental conditions or extreme physical activities, inadequate supervision, medical neglect, physical or sexual abuse, and any violation of youth or family right.
- Check whether the program provides an academic curriculum. Some schools only offer distance education or self-study.
- Check the credentials of the employees, including the clinical director, the staff, the educators, the counselors and the therapists. Ask if there is a doctor or nurse available to address the medical needs of the teenagers.
- Ask probing questions about the program, particularly on how they discipline their students and how they measure success in their treatments. As a parent of one of their students, you have the right to request for detailed reports about your child’s progress.
Parents should be particular when asking these questions from institutions that provide private residential treatment. The federal government does not regulate these types of programs, unlike military schools that qualify under the shock incarceration program. A 2007 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have found cases of abuse and neglect at these programs.
