Hide Article Text (OCR)
By PATRICIA BYCRAFT When young men who fed a life of drugs, alcohol and crime walk into the Teen Challenge Center of Syracuse they most likely are what its director, David Pilch, calls “spiritual dead.” Once through the doors of the cen ter at 124 Furman St., the young men will find Christ, the love of God and will leave “spiritually alive” ready to live a Christian way of life, says Pilch. Teen Challenge is a nationwide rehabilitative program relying solely on the concept of the power of God as the source of inner strength to change. Those who enter the pro gram, and stay with it for the pre scribed amount of time, emerge as what's commonly referred to as “Born Again” Christians 31x in state The center in Syracuse, which takes in men between the ages of 17 and 30, is one of six in New York state. There are Teen Challenge centers in Buffalo and Rochester. Since the program’s inception in 1958 by a Pennsylvania country preacher who felt compelled to go to New York City to reform youths there, it now has grown to in clude more than 60 centers through out the U.S. Most are for males, though there are a few female centers. The preacher, David Wilkenson, eventually wrote a book about his ex periences in New York City called “The Cross and the Switchblade,” which was made into a movie in the mid-1960s starring Pat Boone as Wilk erson. For many of the young men who come to the center here to live for about five months, “it is usually their last chance in life,” said Pilch. “They are at a point of desperation.” Little faith The majority of those who enter the program have little, if any, faith in God, said Pilch. “Most of them aren't strong believers,” he said. “When they first come in, they’re down on God. But when they enter Teen Chal lenge, God becomes real to them for the first time.” Those who decide the program is what they need, said Pilch, develop “a personal relationship with God” through “a fundamental emotional de cision.” While “receiving the love, help and encouragement they need, and the self-discipline they never had,” said Pilch, students at the center are “ask ing God to come into their lives and give them the power to change and to overcome their problems.” The students live at the center and attend classes during the day. “We do not emphasize doctrine,” said Pilch, “The emphasis is on practical Chris tian living.” 40% drop out Last year, about 60 young men en tered the program here. Pilch said of all those who begin the program, about 40 percent leave before comple tion and the rest accept “the basic be lief of salvation through Christ.” One man from Buffalo who was in the Syracuse program had been an al coholic and had been in trouble with the law. After being unsuccessful in several programs for alcoholism, said Pilch, he came to Teen Challenge. He stayed at the center five months and left to start a new way of living, said Pilch. In a letter recently received from the man, he told Pilch, “TLis not easy to face all the emotions, thoughts and feelings which before I simply dragged away. It is not easy to take risks and reach out to other peo ple. But, praise the Lord, I can now begin to do that which is not easy.” Classes at Teen Challenge deal with faith and personal development. Some of the classes deal with Bible study, developing a personal relationship with God, dealing with problems, and developing the “right attitude” toward dating, authority, anger and failure.” Work duties Along with attending classes, stu dents have specific work duties at the center. This is an important aspect of the program, says Pilch, because the majority of the young men “have poor work attitudes, they're lazy, and could never keep a job.” Before entering the program, en trants are given a thorough rundown of what to expect, indicated Pitch, and must sign an agreement to follow some very strict rules governing their lifestyle while they live at the center. Those rules include expected items such as not fighting, not drinking or using drugs, not smoking cigarettes, and not using foul language. However, some of the other rules likely are somewhat drastic to the out sider, such as not leaving the center unless with a staff member, not talk ing to strangers when out on group activities, not carrying on “excessive” conversations with females, not hav ing a radio, stereo or tape recorder at the center, and conforming to a dress code. One phone call Also, only one phone call can be made during the first four weeks at the center. only letters from the im mediate family can be received for the first six weeks, and after four weeks in the program only immediate family members can visit. Pilch says the rules really aren't as bad as they may sound at first. The purpose is to isolate the students from reminders of the life they are trying to leave behind. “We want them to devote their en ergies and activities in the right direc tion. They have to concentrate on re building their lives,” said Pilch. “To do that, we have to eliminate some dis tractions.” For those students who are married, said Pilch, “we believe in trying to strengthen the marriage.” However, all in all, he said, when it comes to outside contacts, each stu dent is treated as an individual case. Two phases The four or five months at the Syracuse Teen Challenge and other centers like it actually is the first of two phases in the program. After stu dents “graduate” from the centers, they spend about eight months in vo cational training at the Regional Training Center in Rehrersburg, Pa., 35 miles east of Harrisburg. That is the hometown of the founder of Teen Challenge. As to the overall success of Teen Challenge as a rehabilitative program, a study done a few years ago by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare concludes those interviewed who completed the program “did show significant behavioral change.” That report, which concentrated on previous drug abusers, also said, “the use of non-opiate durgs including alco hol is markedly lower for Training Center graduates than for Training Center drop-outs, and graduates are more likely to obtain further school ing and report fewer arrests than drop-outs.” The director of the Syracuse Teen Challenge Center, David Pilch, left, talks with Karl Spears, one of the students at the Christian rehabilitative center.
Newspaper Details
Syracuse Herald American
Syracuse, New York, US
Sun, Mar 22, 1981
Page 102
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 10 Sep 2026
Other Publications Near Syracuse, New York
Syracuse Post Standard
Syracuse Herald Journal
Syracuse Herald
Syracuse Herald American
Syracuse Evening Herald
