A century ago, John Dewey proposed educating children through a curriculum rich in real-life problem-solving experiences. While many traditional schools have been slow to adopt such methods, experiential learning is making a significant impact in alternative education, youth development, and treatment settings. Challenge and adventure activities…

Campbell Loughmiller (1906-1993) is widely recognized as a leader in therapeutic work with troubled youngsters in outdoor settings. Rejecting punitive or institutional models of intervention, Loughmiller set out to demonstrate that every young person has strengths, desires to make positive changes, can grow in responsibility, and contribute to…

American social and educational interventions are often designed for children and youth who have risk factors or destructive behaviors. Effective strategies can be designed to assist youth to grow up to be happy, healthy, productive adults before they show negative characteristics. Restorative Practices, an emerging interdisciplinary field, offers…

After a crisis intervention has passed, what use can be made of that challenging event? This article introduces the concept of Postvention which involves debriefing following critical events to gain a deeper understanding of a young person.

Nurturing positive values with youth often involves connecting with them during times of internal struggle and relating these struggles to external influences in their lives. Care and support provided by adults is crucial in these times, even when a youth's outward expression of struggles create conflict or concern. In this article, the author…

This article describes a photo essay contest of high school students in the Turning Point Program located in Ithaca, New York. The theme of the contest was "communicating what it means to have an emotional disability." The goals were to help raise awareness in the community, in the school, and in individual students about what it means…

An expert on the sociology of video games highlights the power of this medium to popularize violence among children. But few are aware that some of the most technologically potent products are violent war games now being produced at taxpayer expense. These are provided free as a recruiting tool by the United States military. The author contends…

The author suggests that by combining the power of a supportive relationship with school-wide Character Counts! initiatives, we can reclaim youth and build positive school cultures.

Fritz Redl (1902-1988) originated the life space model of therapeutic intervention with children who display angry and defiant behavior. His methods were honed by decades of direct work with highly aggressive youth. Redl observed that the same surface behavior could spring from very different underlying problems, thus requiring different…

Educational and treatment programs for troubled youth face formidable barriers in building pro-social group climates. When a youth is loyal to deviant peers, positive adult bonds are obstructed. Fritz Redl once observed that therapeutic efforts with such a youth is akin to having a "gang under the couch." Effective ecological interventions employ…

This account is by a youth who grew up in a culture of unspeakable violence. Shuttled from one abusive environment to another, Joshua spent many years in foster placements, treatment programs, and correctional facilities. Craving to be loved, he finally found a person who believed in his potential for greatness. Here Joshua recounts his powerful…

Much troubled behavior results as youth "import" problems that originate in the family or community, thus displacing conflicts on neutral parties. Such outside stressors can overwhelm a youth and contaminate relationships with well-meaning persons. LSCI is designed to deal with such situations through a "red-flag intervention." This article shows…

Adults who are skilled in Empathic Listening are able to remove the barriers that often position elders and youth in opposing camps. The five components of Empathic Listening in the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention[R] program are highlighted.

Certain symptoms in disturbed or problematic children are believed to be the result of experiential difficulties. Other symptoms are attributed to biological factors, only to be remedied by medications. It is argued here that all psychological symptoms--even those as severe as delusions and hallucinations--have meaning and are directly related to…

To fully develop the potentials of youth, we must address not only the academic dimension but the needs of the heart and the soul. This article suggests that success is more than teaching to the intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ), but we also must attend to the soul quotient (SQ). Recognizing that many traditional practices in…