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These past few years have seen many changes in terms of identifying a class of teenagers called "at risk teens", a classification that was not officially recognized before. Because of the rising awareness on the involvement of young people in gangs, vandalism, substance abuse and petty crimes, the interest in helping identify troubled teens has increased. According to studies conducted by the National Dropout Prevention report, the rising dropout rate is the greatest challenge that education in the country faces in this decade. According to the study, approximately 8.7% of 16 to 24 year olds in 2007 dropped out of high school. These people are not currently enrolled in high schools, have nor have they earned credits in alternative fields. This study also indicates that there are more male dropouts than female dropouts (9.8% against 7.7%). Another risk factor is coming from a low-income family. According to the study, young people from low-income families are 10 times more likely to drop out of school than those in high income families. People who have a delayed high school education (started studying high school at a later age) are also more likely to drop out than students who started studying on time. Dealing with the dropout rate in high school is very important because according to studies, dropping out of schools is a major starter of crime. When young people drop out of school, they become more likely to engage in small crimes first and progress to more serious crimes. The sad fact is that the U.S. used to be the first in the world in terms of graduation rate. Now it has dropped out of the top 15 and is quickly dropping off the top 20 list. Counseling at-risk teenagers is an important part of helping them recover and get back on the right track. It's equally important, though, to identify an at-risk youth early in order to be able to give the appropriate help and intervention early, before bad habits take deeper roots and the consequences become too high. To know if your teen is an at-risk youth, here are a few questions to ask yourself: - Do you suspect your teen of beginning to experiment with tobacco or alcohol? - Has your teen's old friends stopped visiting at home? - Does your teen have a new set of friends that you are not comfortable with? - Is your teen becoming more defiant recently? - Has your teen quit school activities that he used to enjoy? - Does your teen show difficulty in controlling his anger? - Has your teen become withdrawn and unwilling to socialize even with family? - Do you often catch your teen lying more frequently? - Has your teen's grades been gradually getting worse? There are many other indicators of having a troubled teen at home, but these questions can most definitely point to an emerging problem. Many programs that help at-risk young people get the help and involvement of parents and other family members. Oftentimes, this is because poor family ties and undesirable family patterns reinforce bad behavior knowingly or unknowingly. Helping your child may mean taking a good, close look at the atmosphere you have at home. Different levels of being an at-risk youth may require different kinds of intervention (residential or non-residential) but one thing's for certain, it's a lot easier if they have family members rallying behind them and supporting them. To learn more about At-Risk youth and its programs do check out our site,At-Risk Youth Programs. To inquire about the different programs fill out this online form.
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counseling, at-risk, teenagers,
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