- Image by Ozan Ozan via Flickr
“Unfortunately and uniquely to our time, teenage girls face serious problems today. By junior high, girls have already moved into a dangerous, media-glutted, and sexualized culture that presents them with unattainable goals of perfection: be beautiful, smart, flawless, athletic, well-dressed, cool, sexy, in a good mood and, most importantly, thin. Media images emphasize the importance of appearance in defining social acceptability. Overwhelmed and confused, these about-to-be-women manifest a number of serious symptoms with depression as a baseline.” (an article on troubled teen girls from the Family Foundation School)
The advantages of a therapeutic boarding school are many. The therapeutic milieu provides troubled teen girls an environment that limits the barrage of imagery that attacks their self-esteem. It is a place that puts self development first, breaking through the challenges of cultural expectations. And in many cases, peers and staff act as role models that have walked through the same challenges and can share their experience, strength and hope.
