How about giving teenagers who come from poor backrounds community service,reward them with weekend trips?
The problem is, teens who come from poor backgrounds lack the motivation to benefit from “weekend trips.” In general, the teens are so lacking in experience and skills that they do not take enough of value away from such weekends. They see a lot of nice stuff, see other teens having a great time in their nice clothes and nice cars and adults indulging themselves in whatever seems to hit their fancy. Therefore, the time and money spent on the weekend does not reap any quantifiable benefits at the end of a given year. The poor teens merely return to their neighborhood and pick up where they left off. If anything, the average teen has learned that life beyond the ‘hood is unfamiliar and therefore uncomfortable and stress inducing. Hanging with familiarity in the neighborhood becomes even more attractive. Community service is always appropriate for any teenager, but it must be relevant to the needs of the teen in order for it to be a motivator to change behaviors. Too often, it is menial l
