alternatives

Finding the Right Military Boarding School for Your Troubled Teen

Military schools have become quite popular among parents of troubled teens. Parents have high hopes that strict discipline and being forced to work as a team will help change their child around.

In many cases military schools do just that. They equip a teenager with the skills they need for survival, respect for others, and teamwork. There are two basic types of military schools: ones that take troubled teenagers, and ones that do not. If your child has more than just a behavior problem or if your child has some special needs you may want to consider some of the other types of boarding schools.

Military schools that accept struggling teenagers are quite expensive. The prices of each school vary, but the average cost is between $25,000 and $30,000 per school year. That is a total for 9 months.

If a parent can’t pay the total upfront they may be offered a monthly payment plan. That payment plan usually costs extra. Just to be a part of the payment plan you can expect to tag on another $600. So basically, you can expect to pay about $3,000 per month. You must also consider the added costs of uniforms and personal items. You need to add on an additional $1,800 to cover these costs.

Boarding schools for troubled teens should also be considered, especially if the child has moderate to severe behavioral issues. These boarding schools specialize in helping children deal with their problems by getting at the root of the problem. In addition to all of the academic requirements, students will also be required to attend therapy.

Therapy will be provided individually as well as in a group setting. Attending a boarding school will still teach a child how to deal with schedules, following authority, and how to work as a team like the military schools do. These schools just have an added program to deal with the reason the teens were sent to the school in the first place.

Boarding schools also are not cheap. In fact they are more expensive than military schools because they have the added element of dealing with medical and psychological issues. Parents can expect to pay around $6,200 per month. On top of that there is a $2,200 enrollment fee.

If your child suffers from ADHD you can enroll them in a boarding school called Stone Mountain School. This is a good choice for teens suffering from this condition because the school specializes in it. You can be sure that the staff is extremely knowledgeable on the subject and how to help teens overcome it.

Teens will have to work on academics of course, but will also get the chance to work on any emotional or behavioral issues they may have as a result of ADHD. Teens will learn how to control their anger, improve on their social skills, be respectful to others, and how to become responsible adults.

This school is not much cheaper than the average boarding school for teens with moderate to severe behavioral issues. The tuition is $5,800 per month with an enrollment fee of $2,500. The enrollment fee, however, does include everything else the child will need during their stay at Stone Mountain School.

It includes school uniforms, school supplies, camping equipment, and any personal items that might be needed. That means you don’t need to worry about sending toothpaste or shampoo, and you don’t have to worry about what they will wear.

There are also boarding schools for teens with special needs. These would be children with learning disabilities and developmental delays. Special needs kids need extra care and nurturing. They also require medical assistance and several different forms of therapy.

Some teens need 24 hour a day care which they would not get at a normal boarding school or military school. Devereux GlenHolme is a boarding school for special needs teens. The school costs $300 per day. That comes out to $27, 375 per quarter and $109,500 per year.

There are also personal fees for the teen of $20 per month and the parents must maintain $500 in an emergency fund at all times. These figures may seem outrageous, but almost no family pays for the entire amount.

Special needs teens are entitled to funds from many different agencies. One such agency is called the Department of Developmental Disabilities or DDD for short. Money can also be obtained in many cases from the Board of Education. Any leftover financial responsibility would fall on the parents of the teen and their family.

In many cases your financial status does not affect whether you can afford the school or not. Some agencies cover the whole expense making it possible for low income families to utilize the school as well.

Special needs students will learn to become more independent in a boarding school and they will progress in their skills more rapidly than at home. This is because the school has plenty of intense programs and is focused on helping your child 24 hours per day.

Each of these schools has the ability to help a teenager grow and mature into an adult that can function in society and contribute to it. Finding the right boarding school for your child should be based on their individual needs or behavioral issues.

If your child could fit in to one or more of the above school categories you may want to plan a trip to check out the schools and meet with the staff. You would also be able to discuss payment arrangements and financial aid options in a more personal manner.

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Military School Alternatives

Military School Alternatives

With the dramatic increase in popularity and the rise in enrollments in military school over the course of the last two decades, it’s pretty safe to assume that our public schools don’t have enough man power, or the proper training to handle all of the problems that are encountered in dealing with today’s youth. Some students are medicated to try and help correct the problem; others experience suspensions, expulsions or spend much of their high school careers penned up in detention not really getting any help at all. Still others are sent away to be someone else’s problem – to another, even less capable public school or to a more corrupt private school or they think maybe the military could straighten them out.

The most uttered method of controlling a troubled teen heard in casual conversation, on TV and in the movies is, “ship him off to military school.” Implying that, no matter what the particular issue, some stern rules and discipline will somehow iron it all out. While military school may very well be the best option in some cases, different types of teen troubles require different methods of treatment.

Since military school may not be the very best solution for every situation, let’s examine some of the available alternatives that are better suited as well as more capably staffed to handle some of the problems suffered by today’s teens.

Though some teens will excel under the strict guidelines, stringent rules and regulations of a traditional military school, teens with developmental disabilities and behavioral disorders may become more withdrawn when submersed in the military atmosphere and struggle further academically. Teens with ADD, ADHD, dyslexia or other developmental disorders would most likely benefit more from a therapeutic boarding school. These schools have staff members that specialize in teaching teens with learning disabilities and a more structured learning atmosphere that helps maintain focus. The atmosphere here is much more structured and individually focused than that of a public school, but without the harsh edges present within the walls of a military school.

For teens with substance abuse problems or those with severe emotional or behavioral problems, a residential treatment center might prove to be the best option. The residential treatment center will put the teen in an environment where recovery from their addiction and treatment of their disorder is equally, if not more important than productivity in the educational part of the program. As the name “treatment center” implies, the participants are put in an atmosphere that is intended to aid in their recovery. Often, in addition to teachers who are trained to perform with positive results in this type of program, residential treatment centers will have therapists and registered nurses on site as well as other staff members who have gone through training to safely and properly handle all situations that may arise when dealing with addicted or troubled teens.

Parents who are skeptical about how their troubled teen may react when submersed into, what can be a very costly year long boarding school program can opt to try a wilderness program first. Many times, counselors or therapists will actually suggest that a parent try their child in a wilderness program before making a final decision on another type of behavioral program or institution, so professionals can gauge the teens reactions and progress within the group dynamic and perhaps be able to better determine what, if any, would be the best course of action to take next. Wilderness programs are much shorter in duration than a school year or even semester long boarding program, often lasting right around thirty days, and though the duration of a wilderness program is approximately the same as that of a military style boot camp, the focus is entirely different. Teens learn to work on activities in a group environment. They better learn the consequences of their actions by having to complete individual tasks in order for the overall group goal to be completed. They also learn to communicate with their peers and how to respond to positive as well as negative feedback. Participants will also learn how to be more self sufficient during these retreats.

In military school and boot camp programs, some teens will respond to the strict rules and discipline relatively well while they are attending, but as soon as the program is over they revert back to their old habits. It isn’t entirely uncommon for a wilderness camp to spark a true change in some participants, who will learn to live by the experiences they had with their group, potentially making longer and more expensive programs unnecessary.

A military school can be a fantastic option, in many instances it can be just what the doctor ordered, but just like the ailing public school system – military schools are not necessarily equipped to properly handle every troubled child. Military schools provide structure and discipline, but offer very little in the way of the capability of handling children and teens with addictions or severe emotional problems. It’s important to diagnose your child’s particular problem before making the choice about what course of action would be the best to take. You need to be aware of the warning signs of substance abuse, depression, ADD and ADHD and it’s always best to consult professionals before selecting or pursuing these types of treatment programs and specialty schools to ensure that your troubled teen doesn’t come out of an expensive program more troubled than he or she was when going in.

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