Hard Work as a Catalyst for Change: Teens Learn Lessons From Life on the Ranch

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It's a common theme in movies and the media: A rebellious teen who is brimming with anger and entitlement skips school, experiments with drugs and alcohol, and gets escorted home by the city police. Exasperated parents get fed up and send their wild child to an aunt, uncle, or grandparent's ranch to learn respect, honor, integrity, and service through good, old-fashioned hard work.

While some families are fortunate enough to have a family member who lives on a ranch or farm and is willing and able to take on an unruly teen, many families are left with a variety of less desirable alternatives. That is, until parents discover Turn-About Ranch, a truly unique and life-changing residential treatment center for adolescents ages 13 to 17 who are struggling with defiance, depression, substance abuse, personality disorders, and other behavioral and emotional issues.

Located in Escalante, Utah, Turn-About Ranch is a real working horse phone number data cattle ranch that offers young people the opportunity to get an up-close look at the real-life benefits of living and working on a ranch. Unlike many adolescent residential treatment centers, Turn-About students learn the value of hard work, honesty, teamwork, and cooperation through hands-on experience, while at the same time receiving intensive individual and group therapy and attending school.

A Day in the Life
The day at Turn-About Ranch begins early in the morning with breakfast, morning chores, and an activity that may include school, a group hike, a horsemanship lesson, or a work project. Work projects may include chopping wood, building a new fence or enclosure, bucking hay, or feeding and cleaning up after the pigs, sheep, horses, and cows. After lunch, the kids may be asked to do any number of other ranch chores like cleaning the kitchen, hauling wood, or milking cows.

"Here at the ranch, we do real life stuff," says Myron Carter, barn program director at Turn-About. "It's real living on a real ranch with real things that need to get done. The kids have to be responsible or the ranch, the animals, and everyone else will suffer."

Hard work and the sense of purpose that are integral to ranch life are only one small part of what makes Turn-About Ranch so effective with troubled teens. But hard work is a great way to capture a young person's attention and ignite the process of change.

"All of our students are searching for a sense of identity," explains Carter. "Rather than identifying with material things, sex, or other things, they learn to identify themselves through hard work and the cowboy way of life."

Serving a Greater Purpose
According to Dayna Rust, LMFT, the clinical director at Turn-About, there are a lot of young people who don't know the value of hard work, and are being robbed of the sense of pride, accomplishment, and confidence that goes along with setting and reaching goals.

"Some of our students tell us they would sit and watch TV while they texted their demands for food, drinks, or entertainment to their parents in the other room," she says. "By mid-way through the program, most of these kids are sincerely embarrassed and ashamed of how they used to act, and have begun to see themselves as strong, capable young adults."

Hard work gives adolescents a sense of success and self-mastery, and the pride of contributing to a larger purpose - in this case, the functioning of the ranch. There are roughly 40 students, dozens of animals, and a team of caring staff that depend on the contribution of each student.

"Because this is a working ranch, there's always something to do," explains Dave Treanor, program supervisor at Turn-About. "If a student feels sick one day, we all feel it. That fact requires the kids to become part of something bigger than themselves and shows them that they are needed and appreciated. The amazing part is that the kids actually want to give back. They want to take on new projects and take ownership for their work.