With all the emphasis on juvenile delinquency that you see in the news today, there are disturbingly few troubled youth programs out there to do anything about it. It really is an excellent sign of our diseased society – people bend over backward all the time to lock teenage offenders up and throw away the key – they will spend millions on incarceration. But, when asked to fund troubled youth programs which cost a fraction as much, help prevent crime before it starts, and are much more humane than locking up human beings like animals, many taxpayers would vote no 9 times out of 10.

But, increasingly there are some troubled youth programs available to help at risk youth find better alternatives to drugs and crime. Some of them are after school programs which are designed to give teenagers something to do in the afternoons to keep them out of trouble. Many of these kids have difficult family problems at home, so these troubled youth programs are an invaluable outlet. If you take a child who is suffering from poverty, missing parents, possibly abuse or neglect, and give them a few hours a day to play sports, study, and learn new skills from an adult mentor, it can do wonders for their self esteem, and even turn a life completely around.

Many troubled youth programs are designed for after the kid has already gotten into trouble. Some of these programs are nothing more than glorified work farms, but they still are a better alternative for some youngsters than going to juvenile hall where all that will happen is that they will be beat up on by older, tougher kids, and learn to indulge in even more anti-social behavior. On these troubled youth programs, they are taught discipline and obedience, and although they must work hard and live a life that can be traumatic to some, they also learn inner strength.

They must keep a strenuous schedule and do as they are told, and this teaches some valuable lessons to those on these troubled youth programs. After they finish, the kids find it much easier to direct themselves, and they can, if they chose, more effectively tune out the distractions of their home lives to pursue their education and other goals. Any troubled youth programs that can help them find a way out of the self destruction that sometimes sets in can be tremendously helpful.