Age of Majority
By Holly Hunter | June 5, 2009
Deciding on a short term wilderness program or academic therapeutic boarding school can be a daunting task for a parent with an at-risk adolescent. Not only are there hundreds of therapeutic schools and programs parents have to sift through, for older teens the taste for independence, freedom in making their own decisions when they turn eighteen can be of great concern for parents. The Age of Majority: the moment in life every teenager waits for; the time when a teenager feels the right of passage and believes they no longer have to listen to what their parents have to say or abide buy their house rules.
One of the problems States are facing is that the Age of Majority is skewed with the Age of Consent, which, in many States is not the same. For example: in North Carolina where the Age of Majority is 18, but the Age of Consent is 16, judicial principals do not seem to want to differentiate between the two statutes when it applies to a teenager who is more than 17 years old. Recently in Fayetteville, North Carolina a magistrate judge ruled that a 17 ½ year old runaway could not be required by his parents to attend a therapeutic boarding school in Georgia against the teenager’s wishes. Since the Age of Majority in Georgia is also 18, the magistrate said that the teenager would have the same few months before reaching his 18th birthday on which he would be able to choose if and where he went to school at all. Would the magistrate have felt differently if the teenager was enrolled in a therapeutic boarding school in a State where the Age of Majority is over 18? Maybe he would have. If the at-risk teen had been enrolled in a therapeutic boarding school or wilderness program in a State where Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: At-Rick Adolescents, SafePassage News, Teen Transport | No Comments »
Adolescents and Gaming-Reality
By Holly Hunter | March 5, 2009
In a recent conversation with Christy Cook, MA, LAPC we discussed the adolescents’ sense of reality. In our professions we both encounter at-risk adolescents who are, often times at their worst. So I posed the question to Cook:
Do you think that adolescents in general have a distorted sense of reality and if so, why do you think that is?
Cook indicated that through her practice she definitely sees a skewed sense of reality in adolescents. “With the flooding of movies and reality TV; and especially the obsession with video gaming an adolescents’ world becomes distorted.” With hours upon hours of artificial entertainment compounded into their brains adolescents can easily fall into a state of transference: essentially transferring gaming-fantasy to everyday life as we know it, she continued. Thus gaming-reality Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Computer Addiction, at-risk adolescents | No Comments »
Dr. Elizabeth Kohlstaedt to Speak at NATWC Conference 2009
By Holly Hunter | February 25, 2009
I posted an announcement on the NATWC blog yesterday alerting everyone to the fact that Dr. Elizabeth Kohlstaedt will present at the annual NATWC Conference in September 2009. For those of you who do not know Dr. Kohlstaedt I must encourage you to come and hear her speak. Her message is one that should not be missed. Dr. Kohlstaedt is the Clinical Director at Intermountain, which is located in the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains in Helena, Montana.
Intermountain, founded as the Montana Deaconess Preparatory School in 1909, is dedicated to caring for the needs of children. In recent years they have directed their care toward the growing need for treatment of children struggling with Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: At-Rick Adolescents, NATWC, Press Releases, SafePassage News | No Comments »
Parents With Troubled Teens - Got Questions? We’ve Got Answers.
By Holly Hunter | January 16, 2009
Where do I send my teenager? I know my teen needs help but they are already over seventeen, it’s probably too late; shouldn’t I just wait until they are legal and send them packing?
These are just some of the questions that goes through a parent’s mind when they are looking to add a therapeutic component to their teenagers education. There are several things to consider, but most importantly remember it is never too late to seek the help of professionals to get your teenager the help they need. Did you hear that? It’s never too late.
There are a couple of key things to consider:
- The age of your teen, and
- The personal issues your teen is facing.
Let’s looks at age first. Many parents give up and hold their breath once their teenager reached seventeen and a half. This is the wrong thing to do. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Teen Transport | No Comments »
Transport Luggage
By Holly Hunter | October 6, 2008
Laura Morton, Woodbury Reports recently posted an article Luggage Checks detailing the need for parents to be mindful of the personal belongings they send with their children to wilderness or emotional growth therapeutic school or program.
Since a Transport Team is often the conduit for a family to be able to move their teenager safely to the destination program the same principle applies. If a Student is required to bring clothing and personal items to their new destination we request that Parents be responsible for packing and specifically request that no items be removed from the Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Teen Transport | No Comments »
Runaways
By Holly Hunter | October 1, 2008
Tis the season for teenagers to runaway. Oh, you didn’t know there was a season? Well actually there are two seasons: spring and fall and fall is definitely in the air. Believe me when I tell you that teenagers all over the world are getting ready to run. There is no scientific study that I am aware of, but I speak from the voice of experience in tracking runaways over the past decade. We learn a lot about them during our conversations as we are in transit to their new therapeutic environment. It seems as the heat of summer passes and the crispness of fall is in the air at-risk adolescents seem to sense it’s time for a change.
Tune In
The most important thing to do is to Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Educational Consultants, SafePassage News, Teen Transport | No Comments »
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