The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

88 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT Is Distance Learning Right for Troubled Teens? We all know that the teen years can be tumultuous. For Foreign Service families, helping students who have gotten off track can be a very frightening challenge. When students are failing classes, making bad choices in terms of friends, drugs or alcohol, or becoming depressed or anorexic, their futures are at stake. In these worst-case scenarios, signing up for distance learning classes, hoping the student will catch up with their requirements, probably should not be a first response. Instead, experts recommend that parents first seek professional help, sooner rather than later. Intervene before the situation reaches a crisis point. “The one mistake I see parents make is waiting too long to reach out for help and take definitive actions to assist their student,” says Rebecca Grappo, a certified educational planner and founder of RNG International Educational Consultants, LLC. Make an early call to the Family Liaison Office or the Employee Consultation Services (www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c23134.htm) and ask for a list of educational consultants who work with struggling teens. “Keeping up with school while struggling with serious problems requires a great deal of commitment and professional expertise,” says Grappo. While distance learning may well be part of a therapeutic plan, she adds, don’t try to go it alone. — Kristi Streiffert