How to Pick a School for Troubled Teens

Finding a school for a troubled youth can be a daunting challenge indeed. The stakes seem extraordinarily high, and there are a number of difficult factors that can make the process even harder. Follow these proven tips for choosing the right school for your troubled teen.

Start by discussing the matter with the many organizations devoted to helping trouble youth, including organizations for runaways, the juvenile justice system, and vocational programs. Such groups have dealt with vast numbers of youth that are in the same or worse situation as your teen. Therefore, they have a great deal of authority and experience shaping their recommendations.

At the same time, don't overlook the most readily available source of information in this matter - your own local public school system. Guidance counselors are prepared to make recommendations regarding a wide variety of schools and programs.

Next, narrow down the type of schools you'd like to consider. Such schools generally break into two broad categories, day schools and boarding schools. Are you prepared to go without seeing your child for extended periods of time? Than perhaps a boarding school wouldn't be the best choice. Conversely, if your child is proving too difficult to handle at home, perhaps a boarding school would be a better choice. By deciding this issue early in the process, you avoid wasting time contacting schools that don't fit your needs.

Armed with advice and recommendations from agencies, counselors, and other professionals, you can now begin to take a closer look at the schools that appear to fit your criteria. Some of the issues to consider are whether they offer counseling. If so, how is it administered? What is the ratio of counselors to students? How many sessions are they expected to participate in? Are they group sessions or individual? Likewise, how is discipline administered in the school? Policies and procedures can vary widely between schools. Your teen may require more strict methods, or more lenient methods. You should be the judge as to what's appropriate.