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Can Boarding School Help with Teens' Emotional Issues?

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Spring is a great time to enroll your teen in a wilderness program!

Phoenix Outdoor is a licensed wilderness-based substance abuse and chemical dependency treatment program for teenagers ages 13-17.

SUWS of the Carolinas is a therapeutic wilderness program that uses the outdoors as an alternative to conventional treatment environments, while engaging students using traditional therapeutic methods.

Wilderness Programs for Teens

Four Circles Recovery Center for older teens and young adults ages 18-28 is an innovative addictions, substance abuse and co-occuring mental health disorders treatment program that combines a traditional counseling setting with extensive wilderness experiences.

Adirondack Leadership Expeditions is a character development wilderness program that promotes personal growth through focused experiences. The forested, mountain setting removes urban distractions to allow students room to gain insight into their core values and accept responsibility for their choices.

Turn-About Ranch is a place where old-time values such as hard work, honesty, respect, teamwork and accountability are the standard. Teens thrive in the unique environment of this spirited working cow-and-horse ranch. The objective of Turn-About Ranch is to provide a hard-hitting, high-impact therapeutic program that will remold and turn around the lives of rebellious teens.

Can Boarding School Help with Teens' Emotional Issues?

Boarding schools are most often promoted as being beneficial for teenagers who struggle withbehavior disorders or substance abuse issues. But what if your teenager's main challenges are emotional? Can boarding schools help teens overcome emotional challenges?

Yes, they can.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

At their core, most behavioral problems are caused by emotional issues. A person who is happy, has good self-esteem, and a healthy outlook on life isn't likely to exhibit defiant or destructive behavior. People often act out and act up because of negative emotions that they aren't able to get rid of, process or explain.

Granted, this isn't true for everyone. Some teenagers have diagnosed disorders such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). But for those without a diagnosable disorder, an emotional growth issue is often the cause of the behavior challenges.

How Boarding Schools Can Help

A boarding school can help a teenager who has emotional problems, because boarding school programs are developed specifically with that teenager in mind. The environment is more structured and consistent, classrooms are often smaller, and extra-curricular activities are designed to promote improved self-esteem and personal responsibility.

A good boarding school will be staffed by trained, licensed professionals. This includes the teachers, counselors and administrative staff. Group therapy sessions are typically offered at these schools, and required at some. You want to make sure your teenager's counseling is appropriate and beneficial, and that's most likely to come from people with the proper education and experience.

Continue reading how boarding schools can help teen emotional issues>>

Teen Meth Use

Meth use by teens may have dropped significantly in recent years, but that doesn’t mean use of the drug by the teenage population is no longer a concern.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA’s) 2009 Monitoring the Future survey, the number of high school seniors reporting they used methamphetamines in the past year was 1.2 percent, the lowest since 1999, when it was 4.7 percent. The number of 10th graders reporting that crystal meth was easy to obtain decreased from 19.5 percent in 2004 to 14 percent in 2009.

“We are encouraged by the reduction of methamphetamine use, but we know that each new generation of teens brings unique prevention and education challenges,” said National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins M.D., Ph.D.

That means it’s still important to teach teens about the risks of meth use and work to prevent them from developing a dangerous drug addiction to meth.

What Is Meth?

Methamphetamine, also known as meth or speed, is a stimulant that can be smoked, snorted or injected. Meth is easy to acquire and is relatively inexpensive, making it a drug of choice for many teens who are addicted to drugs.

Part of the reason that meth is so accessible is that it can be produced using legal and readily available ingredients with recipes found on the Internet. New ways to produce meth have become prevalent online, featuring simpler formulas and more streamlined processes that may make the drug more accessible to teens.

No matter which version of meth is used, the drug can have serious and harmful effects. Use of meth can result in the following:

Lowered inhibitions
Decreased appetite
Rapid heart rate and irregular heartbeat
Feelings of invincibility
Increased blood pressure
Sensations of euphoria
Increased wakefulness
Heightened sexual experiences
Hyperactivity

Long-term use of meth can result in extreme weight loss, severe dental problems, violent behavior, anxiety and insomnia. According to NIDA, chronic meth users can exhibit psychotic behaviors, including paranoia, hallucinations and delusions.

Learn more about teenage usage of methamphetamine>>

Getting Your Runaway Teen to Come Home

When a teen runs away from home, the entire family is shaken with worry and frustration. Approximately 2 million teens between the ages of 13 and 17 run away from home each year, leaving millions of parents wondering how to get their child to come back home.

Why Do Teens Run Away?

Teens run away from home for a variety of reasons, but usually some sort of family conflict is involved. Common reasons include the following:

Heated argument with parents
Trouble in school
Feelings of not belonging or not being good enough
Physical or sexual abuse
Fighting or violence between parents
Pregnancy
Lured by online predators
Sexual orientation
Alcohol and drug use (by parents or teens)
Gang activity
Loss of a parent due to divorce or death
Moving to a new area or school
Peer pressure

The root of the problem may also be a behavioral disorder, such asOppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) or conduct disorder, or other mental health issues such as anxiety or depression.

Whatever the reason for leaving home, runaways face serious risks to their mental, physical and emotional health. Some of these risks include malnutrition, psychological disorders, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse, robbery, sexual abuse and physical assault, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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