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The John Dewey Academy Philosophy |
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Philosophy |
The John Dewey Academy is a residential, college preparatory, therapeutic, year-round high school. JDA is voluntary: in order to enroll and to remain at JDA, students must make a commitment to change their lives. JDA is unique in its strong emphasis on academic excellence in the midst of an intense (and intensely ambitious) therapeutic program. We do not believe in warehousing dysfunctional adolescents; rather, we wish to provide the setting and caring community (positive peer culture) which facilitate change. An important element of this demanding and ambitious program is the rejection of the use of psychotropic medications. In our society, dysfunctional adolescents are often inappropriately medicated in a misguided attempt to help them. The vast majority of students arrive at the John Dewey Academy either on psychotropics or with a history of psychotropic use; we discontinue such medications in consultation with a psychiatrist (to prevent the side effects which may result from abrupt discontinuation). We find that students do much better OFF these medications. Instead of trying to medicate a student's feelings of shame, despair, and anxiety, we address the underlying causes of these emotions. Parents are often reluctant to discontinue medications because they fear their child's condition will worsen, and because medical professionals often insist on continuing the drugs. One valuable way to approach this issue is to consider the following: on medication, has your child moved in a good direction? If not, a fresh approach is in order. At JDA, we know there is no quick fix, although we recognize how tempting such a belief is to desperate parents. |