If you are the parent of a troubled teenager who is having a rough time of it in a traditional educational setting in Maine, a school devoted to troubled teens might provide the help you need. Many of these schools help students through sports, academics, counseling and exposure to the great outdoors. Your son or daughter can get active and enjoy nature while helping to prepare for a productive life after school. Those facing challenges in behavioral, emotional, educational or substance-abuse issues can sometimes find redemption in physical activity. This is an aspect many schools employ to help troubled teens turn their lives around.
Private Boarding Schools
These schools typically serve either boys or girls and involve them in interscholastic competition such as football, soccer, golf, basketball, hockey, skiing, lacrosse, baseball and tennis. Intramural competition is found in basketball, softball, ice hockey and dodgeball teams. One school even serves the post-high school graduate community where boys can benefit from a rigorous academic program and sports to promote growth and prepare them for college.
Mostly, these are small and residential high schools for kids who have struggled in a more traditional and mainstream setting. The dormitory feel allows students and staff to work together to create a community and home that reinforces positive peer relationships and encourages growth that is socially, academically and emotionally healthy.
Treatment Programs
You might choose a program that lasts only six to nine months, where your child can get an education and preparation to return home for regular schooling. These programs offer treatment combined with intensive daily counseling and group sessions to get to the heart of the problem. Students also do chores and experience outside adventures and many extracurricular activities like taking care of horses as well as art, cooking, agriculture and nature therapy.
Many treatment programs have levels through which students must progress. During this time away from home, they learn responsibility, accountability, self-respect and self-confidence. This helps them develop the skills they need to live better lives. The goal is to leave treatment with a new-found resolve to avoid bad choices and old habits.
Wilderness Programs
Adventure-based therapy, or wilderness programs, are fully licensed residential treatment centers located in the mountains or near great bodies of water in rural Maine. Therapy sessions help the students engage and connect with themselves, classmates and counselors. Academic settings require students to keep up with their studies. But the challenging wilderness expeditions are when the kids really come alive. They learn responsibility for themselves as well as the part they play in family and their community. They also learn to believe in their future.
Outdoor adventures help students ages 12 to 19 to build the self-confidence and skills they need to better themselves. Students leave wilderness programs with new respect for themselves, their peers and the world around them.
Military Schools
Sometimes children need more discipline and structure than a public school can provide. Military schools are an option for such kids. Providing order and motivation, military schools in Maine build in activities, drills and academics to encourage a life change. Kids graduate with more self-esteem and confidence that will serve them well the rest of their lives.
Tips
Talk to your children and a licensed therapist before deciding on a program. Visit each school and talk with the administrators. Make sure it's a good fit for your child and his specific needs.
