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Subscribe to RSSStudents who suffer from drug and alcohol addiction are finding help at special schools where the kids work toward common goals: education, graduation and recovery. NBC's Kate Snow reports.
By Yardena Schwartz
NBC News
Alyssa Dedrick was 15 when she began drinking and taking drugs. A year later, she found herself in her first treatment center. It wasn’t voluntary, and she missed hanging out with her friends, who were still experimenting with pot, OxyContin, Percocet and heroin. But her first treatment program didn’t work, because as soon as Dedrick went back to school, she went right back to her old ways. She received treatment four more times, with the same results.
Finally, she and her mother realized that the answer to her seemingly unstoppable problem was not the treatment she received, but where she went when it was over. After her fifth treatment program at the end of her junior year, Dedrick truly wanted to recover. This time, she and her mother decided, she wouldn’t go back to her old high school. Rather than facing the same temptations and triggers, surrounded by friends who weren’t committed to recovery, Dedrick started her senior year at Northshore Recovery High School. It was minutes away from her old high school in Massachusetts, but may as well have been on a different planet.
“I remember going in and thinking, ‘This is a place full of other kids just like me,’” said Dedrick, now 24 and a recent graduate of Clark University. Dedrick has been clean for five years now, and believes her life would be very different if she hadn’t finished high school at Northshore Recovery.
“There was a 50/50 chance of me either dying or getting better,” said Dedrick. “I think going to a recovery school really increased my odds, not only of recovery, but of survival in general.”
Recovery high schools on the rise
While teen drug use is nothing new, the proliferation of high schools designed for students in recovery is something of a 21st century phenomenon. The first recovery high school in the United States opened its doors in Minnesota in 1987, calling itself “Sobriety High.” Until recently, it was one of a handful sprinkled around the country. Today it is joined by at least 35 recovery high schools across the nation, with at least five more in development, Association of Recovery Schools founder Andrew Finch told NBC News.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, close to two million American students meet the criteria for drug or alcohol abuse. Yet less than eight percent of them receive the treatment they need. Those who do get treatment typically return to the schools they left in order to recover, and 75 percent of them relapse within their first year after treatment.
Michelle Lipinski, founder of Northshore Recovery High School in Beverly, Mass., on the importance of an environment that helps recovering students stay on track. Ian Belcher, one of her students, says that "Without this school, I really don't believe that I'd be sober right now, or maybe even alive."
“Many of these teens are offered their previous drug of choice on their first day back in school,” said Finch, a professor at Vanderbilt University who has been studying recovery schools since the first one opened in 1987. “If you've gone to treatment, you've learned the dangers of your alcohol and drug use and you've made a decision to stop,” he said. “For you to go back as a teenager and be right around those same kids again … it's going to be that much harder to stay with that decision to stop, if all of your buddies are continuing to use.”
The beginnings of Northshore Recovery High
Michelle Lipinski was working as a biology teacher at a public high school in Massachusetts when she noticed that entire rows of her classes would be missing on any given day. It didn’t take long to her to find out that many of them were skipping school to get high. But when students at her school in a suburban Massachusetts town began dying of overdoses, Lipinski knew there had to be a way to help addicted students before they disappeared.
In 2005, Lipinski opened Northshore Recovery High, in Beverly, Mass. Her students call her a superhero for helping them stay on track when they had lost hope in themselves. But Lipinski’s secret is simple: “Compassion,” she said. “You treat them with respect and kindness.”
According to Lipinski, students who stay sober at Northshore for 90 days or more have a 92 percent graduation rate. In a typical high school, Lipinski said, drug users are treated as “those bad kids,” and schools give up on helping them. Her goal is to foster an environment where they feel supported in their efforts to recover, and for her, that means no zero tolerance policies. If a student relapses, she talks to that student and the parents, helps them figure out what led them back to using, and if necessary, helps them get back into treatment. Above all, she stresses that there is no one size fits all model, and that working with the students and their families is key.
“I have kids who don't have parents, who go home to a homeless shelter,” said Lipinski, a mother of three. “I have students who live in million-dollar homes, and everything in between. So to implement a policy based on drugs seems really random to me. It has to be based on the needs of the child.”
At Northshore, the day is less regimented than a typical high school, with no bells announcing the start or end of a class period. Classes seem more like all-inclusive conversations than lectures performed by a teacher in front of a quiet classroom. Instead, the day begins with a reading of student poetry and introspective writing, and in addition to the traditional curriculum of math and social studies, students have a roundtable discussion of their progress.
'They're doing everything they can'
But not every recovery school operates like Northshore. Some follow the 12-step recovery model, while others adhere to a different school of thought.
“They're doing everything they can to support the needs of mental health, and support the needs of relapse prevention,” said Finch, the director of the Association of Recovery Schools, and founder of a recovery high school in Nashville. “You’ll hear ongoing conversations about what a student needs to do to avoid alcohol and drugs, and have fun in sobriety. These are not the kinds of conversations we're hearing around the halls of typical high schools.”
Most recovery high schools are publicly funded and small, but the philosophy can vary from school to school. Northshore is funded by a grant through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. That grant, originally set up by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, allots the school $500,000 a year, and each student is tied to a tuition grant from their district. Parents at Northshore don’t pay a dime, which is true for most recovery schools, but some are privately funded.
While the characteristics of each recovery school differ, they are all connected by threads of empathy and patience. Not only do the teachers understand that every student is struggling to recover and needs their unconditional support, but the students themselves are there for each other in a way that is not possible at a traditional school.
Ian Belcher is a 17-year-old junior at Northshore who has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction since the age of 14. He has been sober for eight months now, and said he has no doubt that this would not be the case if he were still at his old high school.
“A problem feels like it's you versus the world when no one's been through it, when you don't have someone to relate to,” said Belcher. “Here they always, kind of, have the answer to what I need. And it's that community that makes me feel like, ‘Alright, this isn't impossible. It's not me versus the world.’”
Building a nurturing environment on college campuses
The growth of recovery high schools has spawned a parallel movement of recovery dorms at college campuses. The longest-running program is at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., which started in 1988. Of approximately 20 colleges and universities with official recovery programs, Rutgers is one of a handful of schools that houses dorms specifically designed for students in recovery. What sets these apart from the more common “dry” dorm is that students in recovery dorms do not want to drink or use drugs, and the recovery community helps them achieve that goal.
At Rutgers, recovery counselor Frank Greenagel hosts weekly activities that let students have fun without involving alcohol. Earlier this week, he took students to a diner after a late night recovery meeting. Later this week he’s taking 16 students tubing down the Delaware River, and next week they will be hiking the Appalachian Trail.
“People of all ages in recovery need to find fun things to do to fill their time and look forward to,” he said. “Most people in early recovery have no idea how to have fun.”
Skeptics of recovery schools criticize them for grouping addicted students together, or for being too lenient and understanding when a student relapses. But Lipinski has seen the opposite, and learned from her own experience that a welcoming, nurturing atmosphere is what recovering students need most.
“I feel like these students have been left behind by a lot of different people,” said Lipinski, who prides herself on being open and honest with her students.
She takes the time to check in on each of them every day, and usually, that involves a hug. “They're all worthwhile and they feel that.”
For more on the Association of Recovery Schools, please visit their website.
And for additional information about college recovery programs, please visit the links below.
- Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
- Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN
- William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
- Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
- University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
- The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN
- Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
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Leave a Comment:
NONE of those kids would be there if they had the spine to resist peer pressure and be decent kids. They started themselves down that road. And thanks for saddling the taxpayers with your "recovery" costs.
Indeed. And the one-third of Americans who are obese, and another third who are overweight - and the 26 million Americans who as a result have Type 2 diabetes (an additional 79 million more are pre-diabetic), NONE of these people would be where there (FAT and SICK) if they had the spine to resist __— (fill-in-the-blank - their own greed? hunger? food marketing?). And the taxpayers are saddled with the cost - $190 billion or 20.6% of the national health care expenditure - of their eating too much! Right? (But of course you wouldn't happen to be one of those overweight people...)
It's not about "spine", it's mainly about family influence along with a genetic predisposition to addiction. You obviously don't know much about addiction if you think it's mearly from "peer pressure". And it is in the best interest of taxpayers to get these kids on the road to recovery now or else we can look forward to them committing crimes and/or costing us much more money paying for their incarceration rather than turning into productive, tax-paying citizens themselves.
Jake your comment speaks volumes about your level of ignorance. It isn't just about peer pressure, especially for those that become addicts. There are always underlying emotional issues that cause a person to abuse alcohol and drugs. I think it is fantastic that there are schools that these kids can go to and feel "normal" while they are in their recovery process. They need to be with other kids who are going through what they are going through. Try and educate yourself before you give a flip answer like you did. You only make yourself look foolish.
Stop making excuses for losers.
You're right. And then the rest of that funding goes to special education, etc. So unless you are one of the elitest who believe you're not fat, dumb, or stoned enough to receive any help, you shouldn't have to pay for it?
Ignorance at its best. What these people (Jake) fail to understand is (a) you don't get such granular choices of how your taxes are spent, and (b) these social programs contribute to bettering society as a whole. Think of the impact of one of these kids hitting you while driving drunk and killing your friend or relative - and then imagine something like that was actually averted because of these programs. Like so many of our society today, they are so short-sighted, they cannot see beyond their next paycheck and act like it. Go live in a neighborhood corrupted by gangs, lack of social programs, and live there - THEN come talk to us about wasted taxpayer money.
Thought so.
Obviously, Jake2247, you have never hit a rough patch in your life because most people succumb to some kind of temptation. So let us all praise your for how "perfect" you are and use you as an example on how to be a "decent" human. Please tell your mother Mrs. June Cleaver that she raised a good boy. /sarcasm
I'm glad that this is going on. Giving these kids a second chance to become who they are meant to be is a brilliant idea. I think that the adults realizing that they need good guidance and support testifies to the kind of people they are. There are still "decent" people making a difference. Thank you if you are one of them.
The next generation of drug addicted prostitutes. Once you start, the need is with you forever.
I have no sympathy for any coward that feels the need to start doing drugs.
I have great respect for anyone with the strength to get off of them and never start again.
I know some of these young people will read these comments. Focus on the positives, remember to be grateful where you are at, page 417 Acceptance, and that the 9th Promises do come true :) Enjoy the new ride of life..........
j70141? Even those addicts that were started down thire path by rape and sexual bondage, or some other equally tragic incident in their lives? I hope you don't call yourself a Christian. What is so sad about your attitude is the ignorance. Ignorance of the realization that addiction is, in fact, a physiological and chemical imbalances within the brain.
Sad to be you. Or at least, I pity those near you.
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j70141 in ColoradoThe next generation of drug addicted prostitutes. Once you start, the need is with you forever.
I have no sympathy for any coward that feels the need to start doing drugs.
Sooo many excusers posting. They had a hard life, some emotional problems, etc., so taking drugs is understandable and just fine in your eyes. Or they thought it would just be fun. The poor unsuspecting babies <eyes tear up>. B_llcrap. There is not a smidgen of the United States where people don't know that drugs are bad and will mess up your life. Then these kids (and parents, by the way) come begging with tissues in hand to the taxpayers to fund programs for their recovery. Boo Hoo. You made your bed, now sleep in it. You had money for drugs that you wanted, now you pay for the recovery you want. Those of us with respectable families want nothing to do with you.
Jake2247, please give it up already. This ain't about politics. Go back and hide under your troll bridge. I live in a very rural community where everyone here is a member of the NRA, kids get their hunters safety cards at seven, we hunt for our meat, 90% of the town is republican and we raise the cattle you eat.(no i'm not from TX) 98% of the townsfolk you would call respectable. Even some of these kids get on drugs as sad as that is. There is not much for them to do other than rodeo, ride horses, hunt, fish or do your chores and feed your animals. So even boredom will cause kids to be kids and make dumb choices. Please keep your pathetic rhetoric to yourself and understand that even good kids make bad choices sometimes. It literal takes one time to become addicted to some of the hardcore drugs like meth, heroine and some narcotic pills. I and people in my town would rather our taxes go and pay for these kids to get help and get clean than be having to hold another memorial rodeo for a suicide murder due to drug abuse. These kids Want to be clean.. These adults are giving them the chance. Don't be so narrow minded to think this can't happen in your family. But God forbid that you would have to be the one to deal with it. Being stubborn only causes grief.
Who's paying for these little idiots? Send the little bast*rds to live in Siberia. I am tired of these dumba$$ programs. Heres a program for you, put all of em on a ship, send it out to sea, and sink it like the titanic. Theres your fu*kin taxpayer funded recovery.
Addiction is genetic and lifestyle. It has nothing to do with willpower. If you're born with the bad genes you're going to be predisposed.
Shortsighted people like Jake. Yeah, your plan makes GREAT fiscal sense. Let's let them become criminals so we can incarcerate them at 50,000 a year. 500,000 grand contribution for an entire school is a great deal for the state of Massachusetts and it's taxpayers.
But don't let actual economic sanity get in the way of a Cranky Conservative. They're the people that never did drugs, got a woman pregnant or did any petty crime whatsoever.
i am the opposite. i can't even stand eating ice cream although i love it because it has all types of "chemicals" (monoglycerides, diglycerides, waxes, glazes, etc.) in it. one day i was forced to take a sip of alcohol on a date. i hated the buzz i got from about two drops of that garbage. this is how my body is programmed. it hates anything that changes the way it feels artificially (not through exercise of course - those serotonins, or sex, those dopamine levels). i cannot imagine being predisposed. i would have no control over that as i can imagine those body urges are so strong.
I am a student at recovery high school and i just wanna say to this person jake that you have no idea what we struggle with on a day by day basis just to survive. you think its just that easy to wake up and say ok im done using? NO and you wouldnt know that because like i said you have no idea what we struggle with and whats it like to be a struggling addict. Use your brain will ya, if it was that easy NONE OF US WOULD BE IN THIS SCHOOL. you need to get a grip and realize what your saying before you go adding your two cents into something you clearly know nothing about.
Haley: You are awesome and good for you for standing up for yourself and all the other kids! Please tell the kids at your school that there are so many of us who are rooting for all of you! Be proud, be very very proud!
This is great!!! Any links for the high school programs as well, or information on a way to help, contribute, or donate?
How about spending money on gifted kids instead of spineless losers. The USA spend more money on problem kid than a gifted kid. I guess a gifted kid is worth less than a druggie.
You have no understanding of how social programs are meant to work. They keep a 'baseline' effect on society, to prevent society from dipping to certain levels and outcomes. Think of the worst neighborhoods you can think of, then find out how they got that way.
As a gifted child, I never felt 'cheated' out of school funds that went for such programs. Gifted children are adept at finding their own course through life with less help than others - and that is ok. If you want to borrow a religious and/or farming metaphor, going after the one lost sheep is time consuming and costly, but that is possible because the others are huddled together and doing just fine.
Or have you never witnesses sheep do this? Maybe after a mutton-busting event at a rodeo even? So why do farmers go after that single sheep? Because they know the others will be fine, and they value that sheep. Attrition and loss are different than to a farmer than say a wall street broker, who is accustomed to a certain amount of loss. Personally, I'd rather side with the farmer than the broker when it comes to the lives of humans ...
Wow, Robbie, have you no human compassion for anyone? So, I guess we should just turn a blind eye to kids with mental disorders as well? What is that saying? Survival of the fittest? You and those like you are exactly why this country is eroding. I will say that you must not have received a very good education yourself based on your very ignorant comment. Or, do you consider yourself a gifted individual?
The country is eroding because of losers in this school. Survival the most unfit is what is happening. Stupid animals must produce many offsprings so that a few can survive and reach maturity meanwhile, smart and strong animals only need to produce a few offsprings. In human, stupid human produces many offsprings and other human help them survive meanwhile, smart and strong human only produces a few offsprings. In a few generation, the world will be full of stupid humans. Soon this country will be full of fat, lazy and drug addicted people waiting for their disability check.
It's not just the kids in high school who promotethe acceptability of drug use; whenever the question of random searches and locker inspections comes up, it is the parents who scream the loudest. I do have a problem as well with the large number of teens who know who is dealing the poison and who is bringing it into the schools yet say nothing.
Oh, Robbie, you really don't have a clue. What is really ironic about your latest comment is that I had to read it several times just in order to try and decipher what it is you were trying to articulate (very poor articulation by the way). How is it that you do not see that these kids are smart? They are trying to make a life for themselves. They are brave and they are strong, and with the help they are getting at this alternative high school, they will all hopefully become productive members of society. Sadly, I think you missed that boat.
Robbie, the country is eroding because of people in your gene pool keep on mutating. Stop chasin you cousin Eliie or maybe Bobby??
Robbie the robot ,talk about the gifted, Steve Jobs, Sigmund Freud, Winston Churchill, Richard Branson and many more... these guys were not of spineless losers, they made your world possible. Get the facts not the myth. I am not a liberal but understand a problem when I see it.
I was simultaneously in the talented and gifted section of my high school. I graduated a year early by challenging my senior year. I also smoked tons of pot and drank myself into oblivion.
You ignore the many great historical figures who were also addicts. Your list includes some of them. Steve Jobs did acid, Sigmund Freud did lots of coke, and Thomas Jefferson smoked pot. Guess ya better cross them off your list Pee-Dro.
I'm not a fan of their activity. Frankly I wish I'd had a recovery High like this but parsing everything into black and white categories then making easily disprovable assumptions about them makes you, not stoners look stupid.
Sorry Jake and Robbie, you do not have a clue. The USA is the #1 Addict Nation in the world. More programs are needed not only to cure the kids but the parents, grand parents, preachers, lawyers, doctors and everyone in between.
Maybe, you f*cks didn't get the memo, we are fuken broke. No more taxpayer funded programs.
Right on!
Yeah Shamrock!! No more compassion! Lock 'em up!! That'll fix the problem.
What's this? A bill for 50,000.00 a year per inmate? Shamrock'll pay it. He's the genius that thought up this plan.
The amount of... soft news on the nbc nightly news is disturbing. Yes, we all loved Andy Griffith (and indeed after watching the news I watched a few episodes on netflix with my kids - delightful), who was a wonderful actor and human being. But - of the less than 20 minutes of news on the newscast (minus ads) - to devote what... 5 minutes? (or more?) to coverage of his death is overdoing it a little. Did the tribute by Ron Howard, as sweet as it was, did it really belong on the newscast? Mr. Griffith would probably have preferred you devoted at least half the broadcast time dedicated to his death to matters of graver concern - such as the July 2 New York Times (Poor Land in Jail as Companies Add Huge Fees for Probation) story about Americans being jailed for up to two years because they cannot pay traffic tickets! The fact that being poor has become a crime, the abuses of the private prison industry - these are indeed some of the most ignored important stories in American media.
Good Evening Kate, a fine broadcast this evening. Nice to see you filling in for Mr.Williams and again for Rock Center later at 10pm.
Good piece tonight about the Recovery School and how this high school is helping students stay clean from drugs and other addictions. These counselors are really helping these high school students have a better future and working hard toward a common goal of success in life. Looking forward to seeing more of the report on Rock Center.
On another note the report by Mr.Yang from Chicago told of how the high temperatures have been relentless in the Mid Section of the nation. Another day of triple digit temperatures in the city as well as many other States. One truly hopes the people in the Washington, D.C. area have their power restored as soon as possible.
The report by Anne Thompson concerning the wildfires in the Western States showed how the aftermath of the fires has left the land a barren wasteland. It appears climate change may have something to do with the fires being hotter and heavier with the burning of coal, oil and gas helpling to fuel them. A disturbing situation.
An inspirational piece by Mara Schiavocampo about teenager Judy Bluhm petitioning "Seventeen" magazine and their photo spreads. It seems she has made quite an impact on the magazine and collecting signatures for a good cause.
Thank You for the broadcast Kate. Peace to You and to All!
Be Well Everyone!
Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard!
Take Extra,Extra Good Care Richard and Crew!
Lisa
Countries that execute drug dealers are doing a great job.
I completely agree.
Robbie, seen you out on the vine a few times. Always negative and likes to put others down to feel good. Hope you don't kick the dog later.....
Seven2Seven, you are an idiot who just like to criticize others. All your posts are the same. criticizing other posters who disagree with you. I would bet you are a ultra conservative republic and are now in tears because of Obamacare.
Robbie, read what garbage you wrote over and over again and there lies the miserable person you must be.
No Robby, I don't believe in Obamacare and have rational points of view that do differ form others. And it is heathly that others disagree with my views. You comments here simply stink.......
Bag em and gag em Robbie.
Like Iran? They execute their dope dealers, yet have more junkies than the US, with a population half ours at best.
Obama and Holder need to redirect their DEA and other drug problem resources away from marijuana and towards these drugs plus heroin and cocaine that are killing our youth!!!!!! He wants to get another presidency 4 years, he better realize his daughters are going to smoke pot some day and they won't like him much along with hundreds of millions of other Americans if he does not decriminalize marijuana!!!!!!!!
Kids I am so proud dont be discouraged by ignorance!!! You are breaking the cycle Keep it up!
I guess you won't be reading about this on Fox
I hope you ignorant people dont have children! Heaven help them and how you would warp them and throw them away for being an addict. Dont judge until you have walked a mile in their shoes!!!
I would like to get into contact with the school and find out how to go about starting an amazing school like this in my area... Please get in contact with me or send me in the right direction to get started. I believe this would have an amazing impact on our city!!!
Good job! Finally a poster with common sense and compassion.
When I read the title "Recovery High", I thought it was about people turning to drugs because of the dismal job outlook. Just last week, a contractor who did work for me for the last year and a half killed himself overdosing on drugs. His wife thinks it was suicide. They were going through tough times before he met me when they lost their house and owed numerous people. I kept him afloat for 18 months. Once he was done with my work, he was unemployed again. We need serious change in November.
As Pedro Diez partially pointed out above, the roots of addiction in this country run far deeper than what's addressed in this article. We have a society that breeds addicted individuals, consumers who are programmed by the media and sponsors to over-consume constantly. I could go on at length here but I know from personal experience that the problem doesn't really fit the sort of propaganda being presented here. Additionally I've known many who are professionals and indulge occasionally and exhibit no such addictive problems. Thus there's more to the story that isn't being presented here to appease the cut and dried Partnership For A Drug Free America types.
Just fine as long as your daddy G RW Bush can buy his son ouy of a Houston Texas drug bust
Bush was arrested for cocaine possession in Houston in 1972, and had the record expunged by a judge who was “a fellow Republican and elected official” who helped Bush get off “with a little community service at a minority youth center instead of having to pick cotton on a Texas prison farm.”
Wow - some tough comments in here - as usual - from ignorant people who don't understand the disease of addiction. As a recovering alcoholic myself - I am "qualified" to speak on the topic as few are. This disease has nothing to do with being "weak" - but everything to do with certain biochemical predilections that exist in a certain subset of the population. Not everyone who drinks becomes an alcoholic, Not everyone who does drugs becomes an addict, so what is the delineating factor ??? Biochemistry. In a certain percentage of people, the brain once exposed to the opiate (dopamine inducing) drug of choice - basically short-circuits the frontal lobe of the brain, which is the cognitive and rational (decision making) part of the brain. This results in the person doing more and more of the drugs without the person even being aware of their condition. That's why it's so critical not to start down that slippery path. I can only speak for my experience...but I thought (erroneously like many) that I could "control" my behavior - after all I have a MENSA level IQ of 148. Intelligence also has nothing to do with addiction. Socio-economic background also has nothing to do with addiction. I was in treatment with kids from all walks of life - from high school dropouts to the descendants of upper class Boston "blue bloods" who literally founded and settled America and who attended the finest schools. So to reiterate, addiction has NOTHING to do with being a "weak" individual - and EVERYTHING to do with certain people with a "biochemical" makeup that makes them (us) more prone to drug abuse - whether that drug, is pot, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, Oxycontin, percocet etc etc. It doesn't matter.
Personally I think alcohol is the most "dangerous" drug because it is both legal and ubiquitous.
Further - this disease is much more common that people realize. I recommend an excellent book entitled
"HIGH SOCIETY: How substance abuse ravages America" by Joseph Califano, Jr.
A little known and very disturbing fact is this : that while American comprises only 5% of the world's population,
we consume appx. 67% of the world's illegal drugs. That is mind-blowing both rhetorically and literally.
What does that say about our society in general ? Perhaps that we aren't living in reality and trying to numb the pain rather than face certain unpleasant truths head on ??? Perhaps.
The book is definitely worth downloading to to your Nook or Kindle or iPad !
Anyway - that's my two cents for what it's worth.
Hopefully this will help someone else - which is ultimately what it's all about !
Love, Humility, and Helping other people.
I want to thank Texas Liberal for a very thorough comment. The nature of addiction is what we need to be looking at. These teens can move on to great things once they realize that they cannot use anything "safely." Once you give up the addiction, you must find things to replace the behavior. Therefore, discovering new passions, new ways to spend time, learning that they can go to a concert and not have to smoke pot or drink, and living by the principles of the 12 steps make them a better citizen and give them freedom from the chains of addiction. With so many teens dropping out of high school and going in and out of re-habs costing taxpayers and parents hundreds of thousands of dollars, isn't it better to invest in these teens early on so that they can be productive and live with integrity. Addiction does not discriminate - but the ravages of the disease of addiction cross from the projects to the McMansions. The most important thing is that there is hope. In the early days of AA they had a 98% success rate. If we follow the path that was laid out for us by the founders of AA and stop accepting "relapse" as "part of recovery" then the success rate will again rise. As taught to me - "make a decision every day that no matter what occurs, you cannot use." And in the first page of the Big Book it states, "We who have RECOVERED". There is no cure, but we can RECOVER. I am proud of these teens and would love to be involved in bringing their message of hope to other teens - Recover, finish school, go to college, live life and carry the message to others who are suffering from the disease of addiction.
What interests me is what the school feeds its students. I'd hope the school isn't sticking the student body with the typical US junk food diet, since what you eat can also affect your moods and cravings. It can also reduce the likelihood you'll indulge in criminal activity if you eat junk-free.
Hey,Im not even from the USA but im from this small south Asian country (Nepal) and we have the same problem. I am 19 and I got out of my 2nd treatment about one year back...sadly Im not clean anymore but to all the people who were negative on these fellow recoverin brothers you should understand that life dont favor everyone so well like you...its good to know that you all are and have been doing good and are winners...but dont forget time brings it all...its the situations that brings sudden changes, so dont underestimate the weak and the loosers ...if you dont feel good about them then please dont write bad to make them feel bad...everyone is human and addiction is a disease and we need care and support...your hatred will just bring about bad results in society through us... I wish there was any such schools here I would do so nice...May be im just unlucky...anyways...to all the mighty hearted people helping these fellow using as well as recovering brothers and sisters, its a great job you're doing and you're living a really meaning ful life... keep up the great work and results speak not the side walkers...cheers
Dear Confused Kid,
Your comments have truly touched my heart. Your kindness and concern for others' well-being shines though. I have been reading through these comments since the program aired yesterday (which I know I should not have done). I agreed to be a part of this opportunity to show the resiliency and strength children can experience when in the "right" environment, free from stigma and judgement. The producers of this show, did exactly that. They were able to capture the essence of how we work with children in my school. Thank you for this.
As a taxpaying, married, mother of three I, too, understand the importance of fiscal responsibility. By watching as my students (in traditional schools) cycled through multiple treatment systems, became involved in the judicial system and remained a detriment to society, I searched for ways to break the cycle.
Starting this school with the help of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Northshore Education Consortium has been life-changing. I no longer see these children as broken and living in the shadows of our society. When I enroll a new student, we see hope. Our students graduate, go to college, workforce or the military and become taxpaying , country protecting, and productive members of society who have taken the resonsibility they have learned to help others who may be struggling. We have former students who have made multiple tours of duty to the Middle East, have made a commitment to protect our country..are you saying we made a 'bad' investment?
For those who believe this is a waste of taxpayers money. I invite you to think about the price of a child's life. Dr. Paul Molberg and many other researchers, medical professionals and public health officials have made it thier life's work to measure just this. There are models of cost-benefit analysis which show the cost to taxpayers and society if we do not invest in them during their adolescence and beyond. I encourage you to do your medical, public health and prevention reseach before you discuss the financial impact.
It is not fair to those children and families I serve to burden them with the consequences I have chosen to highlight. My personal email is lipinskimichelle@gmail.com. I would be more than happy to have a balanced discussion about the impact of these schools on society without bringing any negative attention to my students. They do not deserve to feel as though they have done something wrong by agreeing to share their personal stories so others have the opportunity to heal.
Peace to you, all of you..
Wow, Michelle, thank you so much for your service to our children. I have been telling everyone I know about these schools and the hope that you are giving to so many kids in recovery. My daughter is 22 years old and she is currently in treatment for drugs and alcohol. She is less than two weeks away from completing her 7th month of recovery and she lives a new life now without drugs or alcohol. I would like to think that my daughter really would have benefited from a recovery school but alas she was excellent at hiding her addictions from me for very many years. She began using when she was 13 years old and it wasn't until a year and a half ago that I truly knew what was going on. It took me almost 7 months of patience and positive reinforcement before she was ready to save her life and made the decision to seek help. Please tell all your kids that my daughter is truly inspired by the kids at Recovery High who are making a difference in their lives and the future lives of other kids.
Fyi I am famiar with kids in this school and other local "programs" They come from all walks of life. Thier parents are nurses, police officers, teachers parole officers, Upper end managment ECT.. Some have spent thier life in fostercare and some have parents that are addicts! The more I talk to people it seems everone seems to have an addict or druck uncle in the family! It is time to understan this is an illness like many other. Some will be able to manage and and some will die from it but addiction is part of our society and to all the ignorant people, watch out a "drug addict" or "drunk" is closer to you than you think! ( they are just hiding because of your ignorance)! Not my family or friends, that is what all these kids familys said Toooo!
I'm an actress, author, and recovering addict. I'm appalled at the reprehensible stupidity of some of the above comments. I'm the founder and executive director of SLAM, NYC, a board committed to seeing that NYC gets its first (and DESPERATELY needed) sober high school.
We are working so hard to make sure it's a public school, and available to any kid that wants it. However, we plan to fund most of it privately.
How on earth can it be the year 1012, and people STILL have such a completely incorrect view of addiction?
It's people like you, the people who think all addicts are spineless brats, that keep addiction in the dark ages. I can assure you, addiction has nothing to do with willpower, and it is DECIMATING an entire generation of young people.
I've met many of them-they're good, decent kids who need help.
And I wonder...what is it that incites such rage in people? One would think you're "protesting too much."
Respectfully,
Kristen Johnston
Addiction is a chronic, progressive brain disease. Addicts, whether teens or adults, need treatment. But there are a lot of outmoded ideas about addiction (as witnessed by the many posts here that attribute addiction to a character failure rather than a brain disease).
Education is key. For a not-for-profit website that discusses the science of substance use and abuse in accessible English (how alcohol and drugs work in the brain; how addiction develops; why addiction is a chronic, progressive brain disease; what parts of the brain malfunction as a result of substance abuse; how that malfunction skews decision-making and motivation, resulting in addict behaviors; why some get addicted while others don't; how treatment works; how well treatment works; why relapse is common; what family and friends can do; etc.) please click on www.AddictScience.com.