In every age and place, some students have trouble adjusting to home life and school demands. Much of the time, families and schools are not prepared to meet their unique emotional and academic demands. In such cases, caregivers can choose from a variety of therapeutic boarding schools for troubled teens. These allow teenagers to develop self-esteem and a sense of community while the family has time to recoup its strength, meet its own needs, and learn to better support the troubled teen.
The answers below address common concerns of families considering therapeutic boarding schools.
Who should attend a boarding school for troubled teens?
The notion of “troubled” is of course subjective and includes a wide range of behaviors and feelings. Some teens are troubled but merely lack discipline and focus. These students are not appropriate candidates for residential treatment centers; they would be better served by traditional military academies and boarding schools. Programs for troubled youth are targeted at those with more severe acting-out behaviors.
Many troubled students enroll in boarding school during their junior year of high school. Their families aim to improve the student’s academic record and emotional preparedness for college in time for the college application process. Many boarding schools offer customized lessons that fill in the gaps in students’ academic transcripts. They also feature extensive college counseling and standardized test preparation assistance.
How are boarding schools for troubled teens different from military schools?
Boarding schools for troubled teens differ from traditional military schools because they include therapeutic components. Thus teens are able to simultaneously improve their grades and outgrow their problem behaviors. Many therapeutic boarding schools even specialize in learning disabilities such as dyslexia and ADHD. Teens with more severe issues such as substance abuse problems and oppositional defiant disorders can also be treated in specialized boarding schools.
How much does boarding school cost?
A Christian boarding school for troubled teens is not cheap: room, board, schooling, and therapy typically form a combined monthly bill of $3500 to $7500. Although this price tag may be staggering, financial aid may be available. Furthermore, considering that residential schools may profoundly impact a troubled teen’s life, they may be well worth the investment.
No, these schools aren’t always cheap. But when compared to the price of losing a troubled teen to ever-worsening and dangerous behavior, they can be outstanding bargains.
Many times troubled teens come from troubled families. While at the boarding school they progress and find a group of people that want them to succeed. When they return home their parents and friends are waiting for them. Finding new friends can be done, but what’s a teen to do when their own family is destructive?