Skip to main content

Troubled Teens "Fish" for solutions!

By Stephen C. Schultz
The sky was blue and a gentle breeze fluttered through the aspens in a wave like motion. The truck strained a bit as it wound its way up the mountain pass at 9000 feet above sea level. Shawn Brooks and I were headed to the annual camp out for the students at Oxbow Academy. Each year, the students and staff head to the mountains for week of camping, hiking and fishing. While group and individual therapy still takes place throughout the week, it provides a more relaxed atmosphere for students and staff to interact.


 We pulled off the highway onto a dirt road that wound up the hillside to where the camp was set up. As we approached, there was a group of students and staff playing a game of “horse shoes”. I got out of the truck and walked towards the big tarp that covered the cooking/food area. As I approached, four or five students came running towards me with a stringer of fish. They were so excited and a couple of boys started cleaning the fish while a couple more stoked the fire. They were going to have their fish for lunch.


The look on these boys’ faces and the excitement they demonstrated wasn’t due to the fact they were having fun, and they certainly were, but it was due to the fact that they had attempted something difficult, mastered it, and were successful. There is a sense of accomplishment and joy when you develop competency in a difficult task. The other thing that was fun to see is that these kids were simply being kids having kid experiences.  It’s sad to think that there needs to be a place like Oxbow Academy, but to the parents of these boys who have struggled with sexual trauma, sexual abuse, NLD, attachment and aspergers issues at such a young age, it has been a relief and an opportunity to redirect the lives of these young impressionable teens.
Labels:

Comments

Louise Slater said…
Fishing is a really fun pastime that I have done many times with my dad. It is a wonderful way to be outdoors, near water, and learn about both patience and nature.
November 18, 2011 at 5:52 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Recommended Books for Parents, Families, and Personal Growth

 By Stephen C. Schultz Parenting has never come with an instruction manual. As children grow, families encounter new challenges involving communication, relationships, anxiety, technology, independence, emotional regulation, and simply figuring out how to help a child navigate an increasingly complicated world. Over the years, I have spoken with many parents who were looking for more than a quick answer to a difficult parenting problem. Sometimes they wanted to better understand their child's behavior. Other times they wanted to improve communication, establish healthier boundaries, or simply find a different way of looking at a situation. One of the resources I have found particularly helpful is a good book. The right book cannot solve a family's problems, but it can provide a new perspective, introduce a useful skill, or reassure a parent that they are not alone. With that in mind, I have compiled the following list of books that parents, families, and others may find helpful...
5 comments
Read more

Personal Fulfillment – a byproduct of kindness, caring and service

By Stphen C. Schultz As I watch the news and listen to discussions on the daily topics of interest, I find myself disheartened by the selfish, shallow and selective reasoning that seems to be so pervasive throughout our great country. Selfishness creates an attitude of self-pity, which over rides any attempt at empathy for others, compassion or thoughts of service. Chronic self-concern means that the emotional "No Vacancy" sign will always be sputtering. I find myself asking; what ever happened to civility brought about by kindness, tact and tolerance? Where is the courage to be caring, honest, faithful and friendly with one another? If we as a people hope for unity, we must embrace patience, peacefulness, respect, idealism, courtesy and honor. My next thought was that these principles seem to be foreign to whole generations. Many seem to be caught up in a “scarcity” mentality where there are only winners and losers with no opportunity for a “win-win” situation to b...
4 comments
Read more

Treat People Like They’re Under Construction

By Stephen C. Schultz Five Ways to Support Others as They Grow I find it interesting that when someone is remodeling their home, visitors are very tolerant of improvements that are obviously underway. They understand that dust, mess, and exposed beams are part of the process. You might even hear comments like, “It’s going to be beautiful when it’s done!” or “I love seeing the progress!” Yet when someone is remodeling their character , we often don’t extend the same grace. Instead of supporting the process, we sometimes call attention to the “mess” in progress or worse, we remind them of what their “house” used to look like, as if they’re not allowed to change the floorplan. But here’s the truth: our lives are all Design/Build projects. We learn as we go. We draft blueprints based on what we think will work, and then we tweak them in real time. There’s no perfect plan from the start, only vision, intention, and a whole lot of revision. So how do we show up for others in the middle o...
4 comments
Read more