Teenage is one of the most critical phases of life. The transition from a child to an adult can be overwhelming. Adolescents experience physical, social, and emotional changes that leave them perturbed. Things get worse in the case of troubled teens who carry emotional baggage such as belonging to a broken family, being subject to racial or religious discrimination, or anything else.
Educational institutions have a critical role to play in dealing with troubled teens. It begins with efforts such as developing a customized strategy for your admission needs. Sometimes the students develop a rebellious attitude. The traditional approach to admission may not suffice. To extract the real self out of the student you have to curate a specific admission strategy, paying attention to emotional needs. One-to-one conversation at a personal level without being judgemental can help build the comfort zone. Such teens need assurance and empathy. They need someone to understand them without raising eyebrows. Once you let them get out of their cocoon, then you can get the best out of time.
After the first stage, the institution must also pay careful attention to how to place these students with special needs. Based on their personal history, academic level, and expected future inclination, you must place them accordingly in different sections. By having a customized strategy for your admission needs, you can ensure a positive and healthy interaction of troubled teens with their peers, instructors, coaches, and other staff members.
Once you have a customized strategy for your admission needs, devise a curriculum for troubled teens that address their educational, psychological, social, and emotional needs. Special programs are even more relevant in boarding schools where teens spend their entire time. Primarily the courses must be by the local state’s core competencies in disciplines such as science, mathematics, history, geography, etc. Apart from this, special programs that boost emotional intelligence shall help these troubled teens cope with their anxiety and social issues. They may possess unique natural abilities and competencies they may not even realize. They need a push or urge to explore themselves from within. Such programs will give that encouragement and confidence. In boarding schools, unpleasant events are common when troubled teens get together. Special coaches and staff to manage such situations shall also help boost tolerance for each other.
A unique grading system is an integral part of the customized strategy for your admission needs. Likely, some of these students may not demonstrate a keen interest in studying or taking up exams. However, they might incline towards any other hobby such as music, sports, learning languages, art, or anything else. Some students might have an exceptionally inquisitive nature. They identify happenings in the surrounding environment that other people might ignore. They might have a gifted talent for discovering and exploring different phenomena. The institution must encourage such students to ask questions and probe into matters. They might turn out to be future scientists.
To encourage troubled teens, the traditional grading mechanism might render ineffective, focusing merely on written exam ability. Rather, a relative grading system that encourages students to focus on their interests and unique abilities, be they related to education or not shall allow them to become the best of themselves.
Along with giving encouragement and counseling, the school must also develop workable plans to discipline troubled teens. The school must have the plan to deal with matters such as anger management, absenteeism, incomplete assignments, and other behavioral issues. Before these students enter their professional educational life, where they must demonstrate a certain level of maturity and stability. Educational therapists, career and emotional counselors, and professional teachers must work together to ensure good conduct from these teens.
A schedule of daily activities, monthly or quarterly targets, and regular behavioral assessments shall help identify the lacking areas. It will also motivate the students to grow to their potential. The state accredits many boarding schools that have specialized programs to facilitate troubled teens. A professional human resource to deal with these children coupled with specialized infrastructure, including clinical and medical facilities help provide an environment conducive to healthy growth and development. Parents or guardians of such children can look into the state directory or yellow pages for contact information for such boarding schools.
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