Lawmakers Fight for Recovery Student’s

Lawmakers Fight for Recovery  Student’s

By Dr.Fourkan Ali

When Kristen was 14, she started drinking alcohol alone at night in her room. She suffered from anxiety and depression after her mother, a longtime alcoholic and anorexic, committed suicide when Kristen was 11. Over the next few years, Kristen also smoked marijuana, took pills, used LSD and experimented with crystal meth.

At her public high school outside of Philadelphia, she was a partier, one of the "cool kids" and "a badass who used [drugs] all the time," she recalls.

At 15, Kristen entered her first treatment center, which she ran away from the first day and left for good after less than a month. After returning to school, she began using again and was seated next to a drug dealer in a class meant to help students suffering from mental health issues.

Eventually, Kristen returned to treatment for six months, but it was a bumpy ride. She broke a coffee pot at a treatment center to cut herself with a glass shard and spent a brief period of time at an inpatient psychiatric unit.

Now, at 19 and with two-plus years of sobriety, Kristen is set to attend Pennsylvania State University's Brandywine campus in the fall after graduating from The Bridge Way School – the high school that she says saved her life.

The Bridge Way School, which opened in 2011 and is housed in a Philadelphia synagogue, is one of 38 "recovery high schools" around the country. The schools have an average of 30 students and provide academic and therapeutic services to students working toward recovery from substance abuse or dependence.

At Bridge Way, students participate in group and individual counseling sessions, have an individualized program including structured events and meetings after school, and undergo random drug testing. Unlike at their old schools, where Bridge Way students say they were often offered drugs, students rely on a strong culture of support to stay sober and hold each other accountable if they suspect someone has returned to using.

For students like Kristen, returning to the same school after treatment wasn't an option. She needed a completely new environment where she wouldn't be tempted to return to her old habits.

The writer Teacher &  Columnist

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