New Reality Show Gives Troubled Teens a Glimpse of Their Crappy Futures

"I wonder if I'll meet any of the 16 & Pregnant girls in here?"

Before the Maury Povich Show became all about paternity tests and “You Are NOT the Father” statements, Maury used to do these episodes where parents would bring on their teenagers that were doing crappy things–stealing, drinking, getting freaky with every guy in their high school, etc.– and send them off to jail for the night to try to make them curb their wild ways. (Admit it, you loved watching those little punks break down in tears after being in the jail for five minutes!)

Now that Maury is busy trying to figure out which deadbeat is Shaneqwa’s baby-daddy, a new reality show is stepping in to set these troubled teens straight!

Teen Trouble, which premieres on December 28 on Lifetime is a “gritty new docu-series from the creator of Intervention [that] is out to save a few untethered teens with a taste of jail, a night among the homeless and a mingle with some prostitutes,” according to the New York Post.

“It is not about scaring them straight. It is about bringing them face to face with both options,” the show’s host and teen behavior specialist Josh Shipp told the New York Post. “The intent is to give the kid a genuine wake-up call.”

The first episode will focus on a little tart named Samm, who likes to smoke pot and then steal her dad’s pickup truck for frequent joyrides. Don’t worry–  Samm says “I think I am a good driver when I am high.”

The show follows Samm as she’s arrested and escorted to the jail for a night. Another episode focuses on a kid who is fond of running away. Josh puts him out on the streets of Eugene, Oregon, to show him how good he has it living with Mommy and Daddy.

The Ashley will certainly be tuning in! Those “Scared Straight” Maury episodes were her favorite thing to watch when she was home sick from school! To read about all of the upcoming episodes, click here.

Will you be watching?

(Photo: MyLifetime.com)

5 Comments

  1. The real story here is that on Teen Trouble, Josh Shipp sends kids to ‘troubled teen’ residential programs owned by Aspen Education Group. Six kids have died in Aspen programs, some of their deaths were gruesome and preventable. Their facilities have repeatedly been the subject of investigations, closure & lawsuits due to child abuse and neglect. Josh sent Chelsea to Aspen’s Copper Canyon Academy, this is what kids who went there had to say about the lack of medical attention and physical abuse: http://www.reddit.com/r/troubledteens/comments/13gugu/what_kids_who_went_to_copper_canyon_academy_had/. No matter what a child has done, they do not deserve to be abused. Josh Shipp and Lifetime should have done their due diligence, and in my opinion, are not acting responsibly. Contact me for more info: reddittroubledteens@gmail.com.


    1. Larry, thank you for your comment. The miiossn and vision of Progress for Pawling is in complete agreement with you concerning not re-inventing the wheel. P4P rejoices, celebrates, and supports the Town Teen Center and its programs. I, personally, have been very pleased with recent developments and programs at the Teen Center and I hope to become more informed so that P4P can more fully support the Teen Center and communicate its services and programs as one of the key spokes of Pawling’s wheel of services.The Teen Center that has been discussed by P4P has, first of all, been on the coalition’s wish list since its inception, but second, was aimed at youth who cannot or will not go to Lakeside Park and / or fall outside the scope of programs provided by the Town Teen Center. There are youth in our community who are actively engaged in risky behaviors as well as many others who are experimenting or who associate with those who are. P4P desires to see our community provide services to this group of youth as well as those who will participate in more traditional sorts of extra-curricular activities such as are well provided by the Town Recreation Department and Teen Center. P4P desires precisely NOT to re-invent the wheel or to duplicate services and programs already active in our community. This is where Communication, Coordination, and Cooperation are of key importance. P4P would like to see some sort of drop-in service, perhaps closer to the center of the Village, that would be a safe place to hang out and where youth counselors might be available to provide help, in the form of talking, to youth who desire it.The short of it, Larry, is that P4P does support the Town Teen Center and does not seek to duplicate its programs or services. Perhaps in August or September 2011 the P4P Steering Committee could meet with you and the Teen Advisory Board and discuss the youth community of Pawling in total and see just what it is that our community offers and what it does not that perhaps it could.Thank you for your comment. And, thank you for your selfless service to the youth of Pawling and to our community as a whole.+ Jon M. Ellingworth

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.