Why choose a boarding school for your defiant teen?

Is your teenager angry all the time? Are they staying out late, refusing to do what you ask, swearing at you and arguing back whenever you try to talk to them, and have their grades started to drop? You are probably exhausted by the rows, trying really hard to keep your own temper, possibly failing, and terribly upset that your child has turned on you this way. Maybe you have tried counseling and it does not seem to work, perhaps your next step is to find a therapist, if you can persuade your teenager to attend the appointment.

If there are times when your teenager is calm and listens to you, try talking to them about how worried you are, and how sad that they seem so unhappy. Do not yell at them or go on about what they have done wrong; the aim here is to see if you can get your teen to accept therapy, and acknowledge that there is something wrong. This may or may not work, and your teenager may outright refuse to go to therapy.

Even if they agree, they may be doing it simply to stop you talking to them, and they are not going to take therapy seriously. Some teens go to therapy having decided it will not work, they shouldn't be there and stubbornly refuse to act on the therapist's advice; at this point they do not want to change their behavior.

Now you have to up the stakes; your teenager cannot keep behaving in this way and if they will not accept help, they will find themselves heading down a self destructive road that ends in being arrested for some type of delinquency. You may already suspect your teen has taken part in some petty crime, but your ability to control them no longer exists. They have lost the right to stay in your home if this is the case, but you want them to get help, and they will not accept it from you. Your only choice is some sort of residential care, where they receive both schooling and therapy.

One option is a teenage boarding school; there are many types and there will be one suited to your teenager. The professionals at a boarding school are not just academically trained; they will be specifically trained to deal with emotional, behavioral psychological problems and qualified to offer counseling and therapeutic programs. The focus is on increasing a teens self esteem, establishing a structured routine, developing self discipline and enabling them to connect positively with the community. Sometimes a teenager has to be away from home to realize how much they need home. Sometimes parents have to send their child away, in order for them to return, positively and willingly.