Troubled Teen Boarding Schools a Necessary Evil

Boarding schools for troubled teens exist for a reason. Teenagers who are unresponsive to their parents and teachers when being disciplined, troubled teenagers who insist on breaking the law - using drugs and abusing alcohol - where do you go with those teens? You can’t really say that problems with youth are decreasing when efforts to fight drug and alcohol consumption now also target elementary and middle school kids, in addition to all the high school kids. Did you ever really think you’d need efforts to thwart pre-teens from binge drinking? There are incorrigible teens who resist every effort to help and discipline them. They are the one’s who ought to be grateful for an opportunity to turn it around in a troubled teen program. In cases where such programs are unavailable, the teen is typically warehoused and released to offend again - a recipe for disaster.

High School Binge Drinking

” The Tamalpais Union High School District, which has the highest rate of binge drinking among high schools in Marin, is in line for a five-year, $1,125,000 anti-drinking program. Educators want to create a program that is similar to the approach used by anti-tobacco activists who reduced teen consumption by raising prices, reducing advertising and eliminating parents as a source. “We’re looking at alcohol the same way,” said Carol Eber, director of student support services in the district. In results released last year, 18 percent of Tam district ninth graders reported binge drinking during the previous 30 days, compared with 16 percent of their Marin peers and 12 percent across the entire state. For 11th-graders in the Tam district, the rate was 38 percent compared with 33 percent across Marin and 23 percent in the state. “It’s clear from the data,” Najarian said. “They’re really at risk for health and legal consequences.” (Najarian) By Ann Walker