For Parents of Teens

The story that I am sharing with you is about a young lady that is in our program now who has been in six different programs before coming to New Creations. At the age of three she was taken away from her parents, and, at the age of four, she was adopted into her family, but she just would not adjust into the family. The family loved her and wanted her, but she just wouldn’t cooperate in any way.

After they had placed her into five additional places and she had been kicked out of all of them, the parents were exhausted and had no idea what to do. So they got on the internet praying, asking God to please show them what to do. As they were looking through the internet they came across New Creations Boarding School, a ministry to youth ages 12-18, and as the mother was looking at the internet page she saw: “This is the place for your child”. She told her daughter about this and she felt this was a sign to her to place her daughter here. continue

When I first met “John,” he was struggling with his faith, and his expectations of the future. I was brand new to New Creations, but he had already been in the program for a period of time. I understand the discouragement kids go through. My prior years of ministry had shown me the brutality, and the nature of the enemy.

I believe with every fiber of my being, that John has been called by God. I know that God has a plan for John’s life. But I also know the devil desires to derail the life of an individual that God has chosen for His purpose. I have seen it again and again. Not just in ministry, but in my own life. continue

A young man came to me who said he had felt unloved by nearly everyone in his life. Many had said they loved him, but due to their actions, their words were cheap. He was brought back to I Corinthians 13, and we studied the meaning of the word love. It was not helpful at the time to engage in an argument of who does and does not love this young man. Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will reveal His Truth in every situation. As love is consistently walked out before him in his life, his heart is breaking and being molded back into the form of child-likeness. continue

New Creations impacts students lives as we endeavor to live out what Christ has done in our lives.  One of the greatest (and unbiblical) mistakes that people make when dealing with teens is in judging them.  The students very well may test all the boundaries set in place, but, when they cross the line, there is no need to judge or take it personally.

If you do judge, you will greatly hinder your ability to be of any real help to the student.  Judging is essentially condemnation, and, when you condemn someone for their behavior, you are certainly not acting like Christ. On top of this, our current generation does not typically respond to judging or condemnation.  During the baby boomer generation, that seemed to be the way that kids were expected to be brought up. continue

Making the decision to send your student to a boarding school can be stressful.  Let’s face it – you are preparing to send your prize possession to a strange place, with people you don’t know, and are not sure you can trust.

I always suggest that parents visit our school if feasible prior to bringing their student to reside here.  I also suggest this in the event you decide against sending your student to any boarding school.  You will get a great understanding what boarding school is all about along with a view from insiders.  continue

Several weeks ago we received a letter from a parent of a student who had attended New Creations almost 10 years ago.  I remember the student and the trouble that caused his parents to search out boarding schools and choose New Creations.

The student had wreaked havoc in their local community as an impulsive vandal.   He was above average intelligence, as are most of the students who attend our boarding school; however, he had been in trouble with the law, and, I am guessing, was expelled from school, so the family needed help.  continue

New Creations is indeed a Christian boarding school that strives to keep first and foremost Christ in all that we do. By the grace of God, we’ve been able to serve students for 41 years, and we trust in the Lord each and every day to see the students that He brings to us transformed from the inside out.

Our approach in some aspects resembles a behavior modification program. While we operate a very structured and disciplined boarding school program, we know that in order to truly modify a student’s behavior, it must be internalized. Our program thus deals with the matter of external behavior with stringent expectation yet in a non judgmental way. continue

One piece of advice I always give parents who are considering sending their student to a boarding school is to remain positive. If you are sending your student to boarding school for punishment, you should not send them at all.

Boarding School should be viewed as a place to help them get their lives straight, so put a positive spin on it as much as possible. If you are looking for a positive result, then remain positive, and you’ll find that this is going to be hard enough. I compare it to disciplining a child out of anger versus disciplining them out of necessity in order to help them correct their behavior. continue

One of the common questions parents ask when they call for help is related to the subject of a coed facility. Why would a good parent who has a daughter or son who has trouble with the opposite sex send them to a Christian boarding school that has the opposite sex attending. continue

Parents of “at-risk” teens can find themselves in a place where they are exhausted due to being challenged on every front. Not only do parents find themselves being challenged in almost every conversation with their teen but they also find themselves compromising in situations that allow potentially dangerous behaviors for their teen.

I had a teen just today, on his first day with us, say that he wished his dad would do what he said he was going to do. He said his dad would say “I am not going to give you anymore money,” but the next day do just the opposite, giving him some spending money to go to a fast food restaurant after school. The father is a very caring father and wanted to do right by his son, but maybe guilt for not being able to trust the boy got the best of him. continue