Barry Belvins, Executive Director of High Frontier in Texas, was interviewed about using positive peer culture by Lon Woodbury and Elizabeth McGhee on Parent Choices for Struggling Teens hosted on L.A. Talk Radio. During the discussion, the guest explained how other teens are a part of the community and they are used as an important part of the healing process. Based on his experience, he believed that PPC is more effective than a residential program that relies on a wide range of rules.
The host of Parent Choices for Struggling Teens, Lon Woodbury, is an Independent Educational Consultant and publishes the highly informative Woodbury Reports. He has worked with families and struggling teens since 1984. Co-Host Elizabeth McGhee, the Director of Admissions for Sandhill Child Development Center, New Mexico, has more than 19 years of clinical, consulting and referral relations experience with adolescents.
Guest Biography
Barry Blevins is the Executive Director at High Frontier, located in West Texas. He has been with the private, co-ed residential treatment center for 27 years. Barry graduated from Sul Ross State University with a Masters of Public Administration and is a licensed child care administrator in the State of Texas.
Why Using PPC is the Way to Go
Barry Blevins talked about using Positive Peer Culture. He said it worked better than the familiar peer pressure method. He contended that behavioral rules were counterproductive. They took away the focus from the emotional healing process. These rules could easily mask erratic behavior patterns. By not hiding behind such a formal authoritarian structure, it was so much easier for everyone to begin addressing the real problems.
Through positive peer culture, students remind their fellow students about the agreements. This takes the burden off the staff, and removes the threat of a power struggle. The result is that students feel empowered. They feel as if they have chosen to do something, rather than feeling that something has been imposed upon them. Students understand their own acting-out behavior better when an intervention occurs from fellow students. In this scenario, adults play a peripheral role, as facilitators instead of authoritarian controllers. The role of staff was not to punish.
Since co-host Liz McGhee had actually worked for Barry for a number of years, she joined in the discussion on using positive peer culture by talking about students had to realize that they were there to share their concern for their peers rather than to try to control them.
The host of Parent Choices for Struggling Teens, Lon Woodbury, is an Independent Educational Consultant and publishes the highly informative Woodbury Reports. He has worked with families and struggling teens since 1984. Co-Host Elizabeth McGhee, the Director of Admissions for Sandhill Child Development Center, New Mexico, has more than 19 years of clinical, consulting and referral relations experience with adolescents.
Guest Biography
Barry Blevins is the Executive Director at High Frontier, located in West Texas. He has been with the private, co-ed residential treatment center for 27 years. Barry graduated from Sul Ross State University with a Masters of Public Administration and is a licensed child care administrator in the State of Texas.
Why Using PPC is the Way to Go
Barry Blevins talked about using Positive Peer Culture. He said it worked better than the familiar peer pressure method. He contended that behavioral rules were counterproductive. They took away the focus from the emotional healing process. These rules could easily mask erratic behavior patterns. By not hiding behind such a formal authoritarian structure, it was so much easier for everyone to begin addressing the real problems.
Through positive peer culture, students remind their fellow students about the agreements. This takes the burden off the staff, and removes the threat of a power struggle. The result is that students feel empowered. They feel as if they have chosen to do something, rather than feeling that something has been imposed upon them. Students understand their own acting-out behavior better when an intervention occurs from fellow students. In this scenario, adults play a peripheral role, as facilitators instead of authoritarian controllers. The role of staff was not to punish.
Since co-host Liz McGhee had actually worked for Barry for a number of years, she joined in the discussion on using positive peer culture by talking about students had to realize that they were there to share their concern for their peers rather than to try to control them.
About the Author:
Lon Woodbury, the founder of Struggling Teens, has recorded the entire interview on his weekly L.A. Talk Radioshow for people to at their convenience.
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