Ten Top Mistakes Parents Make When Choosing a Residential Camp for their Teen
Mistake number 4: Choosing a school because it helped a friend's child
There is absolutely nothing wrong in friends telling you about the wonderful school that helped their defiant teen; but that was their child, not yours! Recommendations are very important when considering a residential camp for troubled teens. They do have to be appropriate to your teens' needs and that can be more difficult to track down.
How to find good recommendations for a teen camp - doing your research!
- Your friends' endorsement is valid for their child, but may not suit yours.
- Sift out the key factors your friend thought were good about the school
- List those factors on your research sheet
- Subscribe to parents networks, and read their reviews
- On review sites, do several searches using different parameters, they should come up with different suggestions, if not, write that site off your list!
- Read the articles on the Internet carefully, poor grammar and spelling errors suggest a lack of professionalism, look for other sites!
- Consider employing an educational consultant, but you will have to research those too! (See mistake number 9)
- Only consider teen camps that have telephone numbers that are answered by someone knowledgeable
- Prepare a list of questions for your shortlisted schools (about 10 at least) and cross off any schools that will not answer them
- Ask for brochures from your preferred schools and read them, then write down questions you still want to ask
- Check newspaper archives for positive or negative stories about the schools you are considering
- Check for registered independent education consultants who are members of the IECA the nation's leading professional organization for independent educational consultants
- Ask your child's school counselor or therapist if they have recommendations, but do the same research on those as any other
- Check out The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), for their member schools and more information
- Ask the education services of the states in which the schools on your list are located, what their regulations and licenses are for residential camps; these vary across states
Your friends' was the first recommendation, but finding the right boarding school or treatment center for your teen is more than just going for one that sounds good, it requires some careful thought on your part. Whilst you may be anxious to find help for your troubled teenager as soon as possible, time wisely spent researching the options available will save heartache later. The last thing you want is for your decision to be made in haste and your teen to end up somewhere unsuitable that makes no difference to their life.