The Family Foundation School

In my life before The Family School I was extremely self-centered. I hurt everyone around me to get what I wanted and got a lot of negative attention by acting like a psycho. I had no interest in God because he probably didn't want me to steal, lie, cheat, or use substances.

My life became unmanageable early on. I was kicked out of 8th grade for drinking and drugging, and a year later was thrown out of 9th grade for the same reasons. I also owed thousands of dollars in gambling debt and spent my life running from those I owed money to.

Before FFS, my life was unmanageable and out of control. I was shooting heroin, selling drugs, stealing, and lying to my parents. I did anything to blind me from reality because I hated who I had become.

At home I was an overeater and extremely overweight. Going to school was the last thing on my mind. I stayed home and slept all day, then got up and stayed out all night. I was rude and disrespectful and had fits of temper.

At home I perfected the art of quitting. My attempts at sports, school, and relationships amounted to nothing but pathetic stories because I never followed through. I did not like myself and wanted to escape the judgment of others.

My life at home was full of lies and deceit. I became part of the tough crowd in middle school, and in high school I was in and out of detention, got into bad relationships, ran away and was sent to a psych ward.

To put it bluntly, I was a drunk. I didn't care about my family, or God, just drinking and smoking. I was drug-tested for the first time at 12, at 13 I was in outpatient rehab, and at 15 I was sent to wilderness and then to The Family School.

I was 15 and my mother was driving me to the hospital. She was crying, but all I could think of was what a good job I had done not eating. I felt no remorse, only the desire to leave and continue killing myself.

I am an alcoholic and a drug addict who couldn't live life on life's terms, so I drank. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I was introduced to heavier drugs and started stealing and selling his pain medication.

I was empty, angry, miserable, and lonely at home, and used any means possible to numb my feelings. I dropped out of school. Nothing really mattered, and I was quickly using up my friends and family.

The 12 Steps

The Family Foundation School adheres to the principles of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, viewed by some as a sophisticated stress management program. We use the Steps to address not only alcoholism and drug abuse, but the full range of teen problems.

When faced with the pressures of growing up, teenagers have always been prone to escape, and in today's society, the escape routes are endless: alcohol, drugs, sex, food, power, anger, violence, destructive relationships, fantasy, depression, money, gambling, the Internet and more. For many, what begins as an escape from the stresses of adolescence quickly becomes a pattern of destructive behavior with many of the same characteristics of alcohol addiction-which the 12 Steps were originally designed to treat.

The 12 Steps incorporate spirituality and reliance on a Higher Power, teaching students responsibility, accountability, and how to live life on life's terms with honesty, unselfishness and love. The program addresses the issues troubling these teens, and offers them a new way of coping with conflict in their lives.

At The Family Foundation School, the spiritual work called for by the 12 Steps is not tied to any particular religion. Indeed, the spirituality at the heart of Alcoholics Anonymous and all other 12-Step recovery programs is strictly non-sectarian, invoking "God as we understand him." To encourage students in their 11th Step ("Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God..."), organized prayer time and multi-denominational chapel services are part of daily life at the school. The services are a way of exposing students to a variety of religious traditions while helping them develop or strengthen the spiritual awareness that can assist them in their healing.

In this healing environment, more than 150 troubled teens are maximizing their academic potential . . . growing and maturing emotionally and psychologically . . . developing themselves physically and spiritually.