“What is wrong with today’s teens?” many are asking. With school shootings, bullying, teen suicides, and violent teen crimes making headlines we’re left shaking our heads and wondering how to approach the rising concerns. For those who believe that tough love is the answer to scaring troubled teens straight, the following findings may surprise you.
There are two popular reality television shows centered on troubled teens currently airing: A&E’s Beyond Scared Straight and Lifetime’s Teen Trouble. Both of these shows go to extremes to expose teens involved with drugs and criminal activities to what consequences may be in their future. For example, one episode took juvenile delinquents and placed them in an adult prison where criminals confronted them about what life was like inside prison walls. Other tactics used have included drill sergeants getting in teen’s faces trying to break them down emotionally, making a young girl spend a cold night on the streets with a homeless person, making another young girl lie down in a coffin and touch dead bodies, and recording a boy while he was intoxicated and then making him watch it after he was of clear mind.
Decades of research proves that extreme measures are ineffective and can even be harmful. Shows like the above mentioned are not conducted by professionals, and in fact, a Cochrane review concluded kids sent to Scared Straight were 68%-71% more likely to commit crimes than those who received no intervention at all.
As reality TV is reproving, if scaring teens has no positive effects yet can actually have negative ones, then what options are left?
Experts agree, teen violence and drug addiction prevention begins in the home. If a teen’s home fails them (statistics show that 3 million teens are at risk of being assaulted each year), they are more likely to be violent or battle with addictions later as an adult.
For more information about teen troubles visit at-risk.org.
Additional ISM resources of interest
ISM research center: Student Victimization in U.S. Schools
ISM research center: Monitoring the Future: National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 2010
ISM Monthly Update for School Heads Vol. 10 No. 10 Kids Pushing Too Hard? Prescription Stimulants Abuse in Private Schools
