Talk:Global Teen Challenge

message: BubbaJoe123456 (talk) 16:57, 9 May 2019 (UTC)

message: *Somebody commented in the edit history a while ago that the page read like a press release. Actually, it read more like a scientific survey, which would be fine in a section devoted to studies conducted on Teen Challenge, but not as the body of the main article. I addressed this problem by formatting the research data into a section entitled 'Studies of Teen Challenge Effectiveness'. However, this section alone is not sufficient for a full encyclopedia article, and I would like to propose that the article be expanded with the following sections after the introduction (which is fine the way it currently is):
:*History
:*Methods
:*Studies of Teen Challenge Effectiveness
:*External Links
:*Notes
:It is almost inevitable that editors will introduce criticism and controversy in the article, in which case the standard proceedure will be to add a Controversy section for these items, probably before or after the Studies of Teen Challenge Effectiveness section. 
:Whoever would like to help by collecting data for the suggested sections, please feel free to create the sections and add your work. The existing section on studies could also use a little stylistic polishing, if anybody would like to brush it up. Projection70 13:50, 21 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Expansion and Formatting of Teen Challenge Article

message: Nothing in this article is cit  ed.  This entryreads as a very biased arguement for why a treatment approach is effective.  Teen challenge is definately a program that has a lot of controversy surrounding it, and this needs to be addressed.  It rejects many of the mainstream treatment approaches embraced by other facilities and programs like AA.  The 1 to 15% "cure rate" has no cite and I suspect that it was fabricated until that statistic is cited by a reliable source.  Actually nothing in this article is properly cited, and as you are relying on academic documentation you need to have those documents named in this entry.  CelticLabyrinth 07:45, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Citation Please?

message: The article reads like a press release because it is a press release. The "information" on the studies was originally added as a 1,240 word text dump from here and here.
Nonsense. Total nonsense.
.s
X ile 07:16, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Feel free to slap a copyvio tag on it then.  Shot info 23:36, 19 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Copyvio 

message: Obviously, somebody wants to keep this Teen Challenge article VERY one-sided because I have tried countless times to include this information but they keep un-doing the changes I make! Despite that fact, I am going to put information that is relevant to the article here so others can see that I am only trying to show the proof that this information needs to be included in the article.
First of all- Teen Challenge is a Mission of the Assemblies of God http://usmissions.ag.org/
As quoted from the website- "Assemblies of God U.S. Missions exists to equip, empower and encourage the Assemblies of God to evangelize America." http://usmissions.ag.org/top/aboutus.cfm
The Assemblies of God U.S. Missions is comprised of six departments, which includes TEEN CHALLENGE!
http://usmissions.ag.org/top/faqs.cfm
ALSO: 'Excerpts' of the particular studies that are posted regarding the Effectiveness of Teen Challenge appear only on the Teen Challenge websites. They do not include any actual links to the actual reports that prove those reports really exist from the National Institute on Drug Abuse Report or the University of Tennessee Report.
ALSO: Regarding the treatment effectiveness- Nationally known drug treatment program, Teen Challenge, has encouraged this notion by claiming success rates ranging from seventy to eighty-six percent. But these figures dramatically distort the truth, as they represent the successful treatment rate of only those participants who do not drop out of the program before completion, which includes less than one-fifth (18%) of the total number of students who actually participated. - Statement of Samantha Smoot, Executive Director, Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, Austin, Texas http://waysandmeans.house.gov/legacy/humres/107cong/6-14-01/6-14smoo.htm
Two websites that are trying to prove that the Teen Challenge program needs to be investigated include: 
Teen Challenge Exposed http://www.teenchallengeexposed.com/
Investigating Teen Challenge http://teenchallengecult.blogspot.com/
These two websites need to addressed so as to show that there are "two-sides" to the Teen Challenge facilities. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JustTellingThe Truth (talk • contribs) 
:No comment on the first few links, but Teen Challenge Exposed and Investing Teen Challenge do not appear to be what would be considered reliable sources. --Onorem♠Dil 14:31, 27 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: VERY BIASED & IMPOSSIBLE TO ADD ANY MORE INFO TO THE ARTICLE

message: I really think this is a great section.  It does cross boundaries far beyond Teen Challenge, but it also applied to Teen Challenge.  It may not need to be so much as expanded here as it should link to a bigger article based on the public policy effects of the faith based initiative.  In fact, such an article already exists.  It might be better to place this under a "Controversy" section that links to this larger article.  I did clean up the article a bit to clarify John Castellani's former position.  The current president of Teen Challenge USA is Michael Hodges .  I also cleared up the "Completed Jew" language.  The original language made the term seem as if it was a prejorative to all those who use it.  However, Messianic Jews and Christians use it as a compliment even if it is not taken as one by Jewish groups.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ahumanbean (talk • contribs) 01:08, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text:  FYI I'm avoiding a division of everything into "for" or "against" (or "controversy"). Some things are just facts, just "interesting". The section should, i agree, be limited only to that which is directly related to TC. More general stuff, you are right, should go to that article.WotherspoonSmith (talk) 02:02, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Public Policy Effects

message: Can someone please provide some more information about Bicknese's report ("Teen Challenge's Proven Answer to the Drug Problem")?  I know there is a copy at http://www.acadc.org/page/page/2495014.htm but I'd like to know more about it.  Where was it originally published?  Was this article ever peer reviewed?  Who is Dr. Bicknese and what are his qualifications?  Why is it cited in this article as having been published by Northwestern University?  --ElKevbo (talk) 21:29, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Nevermind.  Found what I was looking for here: http://teenchallengeusa.com/studies3.php. :)  --ElKevbo (talk) 21:32, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Bicknese Report

message: This "report", previously labeled the "University of Tennessee report, is clearly a study commissioned by Teen Challenge of Chattanooga, Inc. ("We express our thanks and appreciation to Dr. Roger Thompson for conducting this independent survey for Teen Challenge of Chattanooga, Inc.").  Not that being a commissioned study necessarily damages or detracts from its credibility but it's misleading to describe it as a "University of Tennessee report".  Moreover, simply having been conducted by a faculty member at a university does not mean it was "done by" that university.  With all of that in mind, I retitled the section.
I also greatly shortened the section as it was way too long, not at all informative, and full of copyright violations.  The copyvios alone were reason enough to change the section but the undue weight and lack of clarity also greatly contributed.  --ElKevbo (talk) 22:21, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Chattanooga report

message: I have just reverted edit | Revision as of 06:30, 16 November 2008, which the edit "According to an unverifiable 2001 New York Times item...".
The news article itself is verifiable- there is no dispute that the article exists.
It has the edit comment "The NYT article contains opinion - Teen Challenge does not select clients and no program counts drop outs in its success rate". This assertion has been made above, but I will address it again here;
The full quote is that social scientists state that Teen Challenge ("like many voluntary NGO's") selects its clients. This is a direct quote from a social scientist, and is supported by a direct quote from the Rev. John D. Castellani, (then) president of Teen Challenge International U.S.A. that many participants have already been through detox. Unless we can show that Teen Challenge accepts all applicants, then, yes, the social scientists are correct, it selects its clients (and this affects their success rate).
Many programs count their drop out rates. I teach welfare/social workers. The texts that I use suggest that this is best practice, especially if the rates are particularly high. The assertion that no program does so seems common to me amongst Teen Challenge fans, but your experience may vary.WotherspoonSmith (talk) 11:47, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  verifiable? yes. 

message: I'm a little confused by the following sentence: "A sustained Great Commission life-style, including soul winning is a key component of discipleship and should be taught and practiced by all Teen Challenge students."
Is it fair to simplify it by saying that "all Teen Challenge students should be taught, and should practice, an evangelistic lifestyle", or is there something I am missing? Is there a better way of saying this? i don't think the average wikipedia reader will understand what is meant by "a sustained Great Commission lifestyle, including soul winning"- especially the last few words. Is it saying that students are expected to win souls amongst their co- students? WotherspoonSmith (talk) 08:15, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  clarifying Structure and Identity sections 

message: I see the word "our" is in this article. editors from the organization should at least change such words. This article is way, way too detailed. the only details that should be reported are those commented on by OTHERS, and completely noncontroversial facts: foundation date, address, website, founder, basic structure. stats on how great they are dont belong here unless published by nonchristian, professional recovery agencies/studies.(mercurywoodrose)99.39.149.154 (talk) 02:39, 10 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: POV

message: I used to attend an assembly of God Church in southwest Detroit. 
My youth pastor, at the time, used to refer to a "Challenge House". 
They would refer to that and say it's now called Teen Challenge. Anyone know anything about that?
Thinkingamericanist (talk) 17:05, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  original name 

message: This article reads almost like an advertisement, and there is no mention of controversies including the widespread problem of child abuse in Teen Challenge facilities. FiredanceThroughTheNight (talk) 05:28, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reads like an advertisement 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/10/12/the-troubling-truth-about-the-christian-organization-teen-challenge/  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A01:C22:A971:C201:55AC:B02C:CBC5:FD1D (talk) 19:48, 12 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Some more information about abuse 

message: Pardon me, I'm not an experienced editor so I'm not sure about the best way to go about including some of these details in the article. Some of the below is my interpretation and obviously should not be included, but I think at least the article would benefit from including some of the cited, objective facts I've drawn attention to. Perhaps a more experienced Wikipedian could guide me or make an appropriate edit themselves. 
The Adult & Teen Challenge website has a section listing three studies about their program, including one titled 2019 National Outcomes Study . According to the PDF, the study was commissioned by the CEO of ATC and conducted at Evangel University. I believe the study is problematic and misleading for many reasons, most notably that:
1.) The Evangel website describes the university as "the national university of the Assemblies of God". According to the Assemblies of God website, Adult & Teen Challenge is a US Mission of that same organization, and that the current CEO of ATC previously served as Vice President of Evangel. Additionally, Evangel offers discounts to ATC employees on tuition and certificates. Neither the study nor the ATC website mention this clear conflict of interest, nor do they say whether ATC funded the study, which would be another conflict of interest. 
2.) Among other methodological issues, the survey suffered from severe sampling bias. Notably, 56% of the included respondents were current ATC staff, and 31% currently utilized ATC housing. The authors admit that "the results are likely skewed towards success due to roles, responsibilities, and values of those individuals, as well as the rules associated with ATC housing", and "bias may have played a role in the high rates of positive outcomes". These limitations are not mentioned on the ATC website.  Cerebral monkey (talk) 18:01, 15 November 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  2019 National Outcomes Study - Poor quality and conflict of interest