Challenge for Wilderness Supporters

[Troll Control]

Or maybe you liked a lighter flick, like "Dodgeball"?

You're like Patches O'Houlihan only your "Five D's of Dodgeball" are your "Five D's of Debate":

"Dodge, Dip, Dive, Duck and Dodge"[/i]

 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Priceless...

[TheWho]

On 2006-06-21 11:34:00, Dysfunction Junction wrote:

"Or maybe you liked a lighter flick, like "Dodgeball"?



You're like Patches O'Houlihan only your "Five D's of Dodgeball" are your "Five D's of Debate":



"Dodge, Dip, Dive, Duck and Dodge"[/i]



 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:



Priceless...
"

Thats a low shot, I actually like him.  He has a line of clothes at Walmart which I purchased called "The Patches Collection".  If you buy a full set you get a free Volley ball.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-21 10:56:00, Anonymous wrote:

"An oldie but a goodie.



http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1224

 :eek: Wow.  


Two Sides, Same Bias

The extraordinary lack of context and fairness in media coverage of youthstems from two elemental difficulties. First, the standard media assumption is that fairness is served by quoting "both sides"--but on youth issues, "both sides" frequently harbor adult biases against teenagers.

In the much-publicized debates over school programs to reduce "teen" pregnancy, for example, the press quoted "liberal" sources favoring condom handouts balanced by "conservative" sources demanding abstinence education (e.g. USA Today, 11/19/91). However, both lobbies based their arguments on the same myth--that heedless high school boys are the main cause of "teen" pregnancy--and avoided the same disturbing fact: that even if every high school boy abstained from sex or used a condom, most "teen" pregnancies would still occur.

The second difficulty is that "teenage" behavior is not separate from "adult" behavior. Such hot topics as "teen pregnancy," "teen suicide," and "youth violence" are artificial political and media inventions. In real-world environments, teenagers usually act like the adults of their family, gender, race, class, location and era, often because their behaviors occur with adults.

For example, Vital Statistics of the United States shows that white adults are twice as likely to commit suicide as black adults, and white teens are twice as likely to commit suicide as black teens. From 1940 to 1990, unwed birth rates rose 4.7 times among teenage women and 4.6 times among adult women. The FBI's 1992 Uniform Crime Reports show that men commit 88 percent of all adult violent crime; boys commit 88 percent of all juvenile violent crime.

Why are adult contexts, common to media reports on youth prior to the 1970s, only rarely cited today? Because that would prevent adolescents from serving as the latest scapegoats for problems that affect society in general.

And there is a subtler reason: the interests circulating negative images of teens want the source of malaise located within youth, where it can be "treated" by whatever solutions the publicizing interest groups profit from, rather than in unhealthy environments whose upgrading will require billions of dollars in public spending. Thus short-term political and corporate profit lies not in fixing environments, but in fixing kids.

The treatment industry's message is clear: "Our teenagers have lost their way," declares the AMA. The press has been a key element in the campaign to persuade the public that the cause of youth pregnancy, violence, suicide and drug addiction lies within the irrational psychologies and vulnerabilities of adolescents.

A standard news and documentary feature is the "troubled teen" rescued by the teamwork of "loving parents" and "get-tough" professionals. (For an example justifying the abduction of youth by "therapeutic programs," see the Los Angeles Times, 6/2/93). Despite melodramatic media splashes advertising the "success" of this program or that therapy (often based on testimonials or the promoter's own "study"), controlled, long-term research finds efforts to "cure" troubled teenagers generally ineffective.

On the other hand, the publicity campaigns for such treatments--disguised as news--have been quite successful. During the 1980s, the number of teens forced into intensive psychiatric treatment quadrupled, while adolescent commitments to drug and alcohol treatment tripled. If institution and treatment industry claims are valid, we should have seen dramatic improvements in youth behavior.

Exactly the opposite is the case. In the last five to 10 years, intense media and government attacks on various behaviors--chiefly drug abuse, violence and pregnancy--have been followed by rapidly rising problems among teenagers. Stable violence rates and rapidly declining birth rates and drug eath levels prior to 1985 have suddenly reversed: All three rose rapidly from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The media's unwillingness to question official policy and its failures helped make these reverses possible.

[Troll Control]

OK, now we blew off some steam.  Back to the subject.

A partial list of those who have position statements identical to, or nearly identical to my own:  

A START

American Psychological Association
American Association of
Community Psychiatrists

American Orthopsychiatric
Association

Child Welfare League of America

Federation of Families for Children?s
Mental Health

National Youth Advocate
Program, Inc.

Tsila Abush-Kirsh, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Private Practice
Tampa Palms, FL

Neal Adams, M.D.
Los Angeles, California

Neal Adams, M.D., M.P.H.
Director of Special Projects
California Institute for Mental
Health
Sacramento, CA

C. Kimo Alameda, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Multicultural
Service
Hawaii Department of Health
Honolulu, HI

Mudita A. Bahadur, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Early Intervention Specialist
Saint John?s Health Center
Santa Monica, CA

Susan Bailey, M.D.
John Hopkins University School of
Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Larry S. Baker, M.Div.
Manager?Community Education
Comprehensive Mental Health
Center
Tacoma, WA

Anne C. Bauer, M.D.

Beth Baumeister, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Pediatric Psychology
Children?s Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Robert F. Baxter, M.D.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
Bonita Springs, FL

Stacy Becker, Psy.D.
Licensed Psychologist & Clinical
Supervisor
Valley Coordinated Children?s
Services
Los Angeles County Department of
Mental Health
Reseda, CA

Lenore Behar, Ph.D.
Director
Child & Family Program Strategies
Durham, NC

Marilyn Benoit, M.D.
Immediate Past President
American Academy of Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry
Washington, DC

Catherine Bergstrom, Psy.D.
Lisa Bertaccini, L.C.S.W.
Chief, Sacramento County Child
and Family Mental Health
Sacramento, CA

Jim Braun
President & CEO
Youth in Need
St. Charles, MO

Eric J. Bruns, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry and
Biobehavioral Sciences
Division of Public Behavioral Health
& Justice Policy
University of Washington School of
Medicine
Seattle, WA

Nicki Bush, M.S.
Doctoral Student
Child Clinical Psychology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA

William Buzogany, M.D.
Medical Director
Lad Lake, Inc.
Dousman, WI

Kellye M. Campbell, M.N.,
A.R.N.P.
Department of Rehabilitative
Medicine
Harborview Medical Center
Seattle, WA

Glorisa Canino, Ph.D.
Director
Behavioral Sciences Research
Institute
University of Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico

Bill Carter, L.C.S.W.
Deputy Director
California Institute for Mental
Health
Sacramento, CA
Deborah Carter, M.D.
Denver, CO

Sharon Chandler, R.N.
Behavioral Health
Bellingham, WA

Andrew Christensen, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA

Lance Clark
Assistant to the Director
Oak Ranch
Broadway, NC

Michelle Clark, M.D.
Los Angeles, CA

Chris Cline, M.D.
Los Angeles, CA

Kathy Cole-Kelly, M.S., M.S.W.
Professor, Family Medicine
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH

Linda Coleman, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Tampa, FL

Paul Conti, M.D.
Instructor
Harvard Medical School
Cambridge, MA

Margaret Copi, M.D.
Honolulu, HI

Jerry Costley, L.C.S.W.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Salt Lake City, UT

Benjamin Crocker, M.D.
Portland, ME

Mario Cruz, M.D.
Pittsburgh, PA

Susan Cycyk, M.Ed., CRC
Director, Division of Child Mental
Health Services
Wilmington, DE

J. Michael Daly, L.C.S.W.
Executive Director, CEO
Kids Oneida
Utica, NY

Max Dertke, Ph.D.
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental
Health Institute
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL

Douglas C. Dicharry, M.D.
Bellevue, WA

Gina Frajola Doyle
Clinical Director, Dawn Project
Choices, Inc.
Indianapolis, IN

Elizabeth Dunlap, M.N., A.R.N.P.,
C.S.
Harborview Medical Center
Seattle, WA

John E. Dunne, M.D.
University of Washington
Seattle, WA

Jim Efstation, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Kamuela, HI
Michael H. Epstein

William Barkley Professor
Dept. of Special Education &
Communication Disorders
University of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE

Monica Epstein, Ph.D.
Assistant in Research
Mental Health Law & Policy
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental
Health Institute
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL

Clarissa Escobar, Ph.D.
Waivered Clinical Psychologist
Valley Coordinated Children?s
Services
Los Angeles County Department of
Mental Health
Reseda, CA

Warachel Faison, M.D.
Durham, NC

Robert Fathman, Ph.D
Child Clinical Psychologist;
President, National Coalition to
Abolish Corporal Punishment in
Schools
Co-Chair, EPOCH-USA: End
Physical Punishment of Children
Dublin, OH

Joel Feiner, M.D.
Dallas, TX
Jacqueline Feldman, M.D.
Birmingham, AL

Robert Friedman, Ph.D.
Professor/Chair
Department of Child & Family
Studies
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental
Health Institute
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL

Reta Floyd, M.D.
Los Angeles, California

Jacquie Fritts
Executive Director, Crime Victims
Center of Fayette County
Uniontown, PA

C.R. Gallistel, Ph.D.
Co-Director
Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science
Professor, Cognitive Science and
Behavioral Neuroscience
Rutgers University
Piscataway, NJ

Gladys Garcia, M.S.W.
Portland, ME

Michael P. Golden, M.D.,
F.A.A.C.A.P.
Interlake Psychiatric Associates
PLLC
Bellevue, WA

Elena Gonzalez, L.C.S.W.
Private Practice
Santa Monica, CA

Elaine Childs Gowell, Ph.D.,
A.R.N.P.
Seattle, WA

Sonia Greaven, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Valley Coordinated Children?s
Services
Los Angeles County Department of
Mental Health
Reseda, CA

Amy Green
Doctoral Student
Clinical Psychology
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL

Jack Haggerty, M.D.
Chapel Hill, NC

Scott W. Henggeler, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Director, Family Services Research
Center
Medical University of SC
Charleston, SC

Mario Hernandez, Ph.D.
Director, Div. of Training, Research,
Evaluation & Demonstration
Department of Child and Family
Studies
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental
Health Institute
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL

John M. Hitchcock, L.C.S.W.
Executive Director
Hillsides Home for Children
Pasadena, CA

Kay Hodges, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Psychology
Eastern Michigan University

Laura Hoeman
Psychiatric ARNP
Washington State

Charley Huffine, M.D.
Child Psychiatrist
Former President
American Association of
Community Psychiatrists
Seattle, WA

Mandy Ighani, M.S.W.
Psychiatric Social Worker
Valley Coordinated Children?s
Services
Los Angeles County Department of
Mental Health
Reseda, CA

Nathaniel Israel
Visiting Assistant in Research
Department of Child and Family
Studies
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental
Health Institute
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL

Dennis Jacobson, L.I.S.W.
Faculty, Siouxland Medical
Education Foundation
Sioux City, IA

Courtney Kasinger
Communications Director
on behalf of Choices, Inc.
Indianapolis, IN

Kelly Kelleher, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor of Pediatrics and Public
Health
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH

James Krag, M.D.
Medical Director
Valley Community Services Board
Staunton, VA

Anna Lau, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA

Harriet P. Lefley, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Psychiatry &
Behavioral Sciences
University of Miami School of
Medicine
Miami, FL

Melanie Leland, Ph.D.
Program Director
Valley Coordinated Children?s
Services
Los Angeles County Department of
Mental Health
Reseda, CA

Russell Lim, M.D.
Davis, CA
Deborah Litberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Social Work Fellow
Children?s Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Pamela Marks
Administrator, Clinical Psychology
Training Program
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA

Steven C. Martaus, M.S.
Project Director
Children?s Future Hillsborough
Achieve Management, Inc.
Tampa, FL

Kenneth J. Martinez, Psy.D.
Children?s Behavioral Health
Director, Children, Youth and
Families Department
Santa Fe, NM

Neal Mazer, M.D.
CEO, Alisos Institute
Santa Barbara, CA

Jan McCarthy, M.S.W.
Director of Child Welfare Policy
Georgetown University Center for
Child and Human Development
Washington, DC

Hunter McQuistion, M.D.
New York, NY

Cynthia Meyers, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Tampa, FL

Joan Mikula
Assistant Commissioner
Child and Adolescent Services
Department of Mental Health
Boston, MA

Kenneth Minkoff, M.D.
Los Angeles, CA

Wanda B. Mohr, Ph.D., R.N.
Professor
School of Nursing
University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey
Newark, NJ

Mary Mohrhauser
Mental Health Specialist
Children and Adolescents
Iowa Department of Human
Services
Des Moines, IA

David Moltz, M.D.
Portland, ME
Richard Munger, Ph.D.
Director of Services Management
Western Highlands Network
Asheville, NC

Zev Nathan, M.D., Ph.D.
Santa Barbara, CA
Dennis J. Neuenfeldt, L.C.S.W.
Director of Residential Services
Lad Lake, Inc.
Dousman, WI

Adrian Novit, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist;
Coordinator
Clinic for Learning and Attention
Disorders
Saint John?s Child and Family
Development Center
Santa Monica, CA

Fred Osher, M.D.
Baltimore, MD

Robert Paulson, Ph.D.
Research Professor
Department of Child and Family
Studies
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental
Health Institute
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL

Tom Pavkov, Ph.D.
Purdue University Calumet
Hammond, IN

Joyce Pearson
Mental Health Coordinator
Whatcom County Jail
Bellingham, WA

Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
The Child Trauma Academy
Houston, TX

Amy Petrila
Children?s Board of Hillsborough
County
Tampa, FL

Allison Pinto, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Assistant Professor
Department of Child and Family
Studies
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental
Health Institute
Tampa, FL

Kathy Poe
Family Support Provider
Wraparound Tulsa
Tulsa, OK

David Pollack, M.D.
Salem, OR

Clara Reynolds, L.C.S.W.
SED Network Project Manager &
Community Facilitator Hillsborough
County
Tampa, FL

Cindy Robison
NATIVE Health
Spokane, WA
Walter Rush, M.D.
Psychiatrist
St. Paul, MN

Walter Rush, M.D.
Minneapolis, MN

Sonja K. Schoenwald, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Family Services Research Center
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Medical University of South
Carolina
Charleston, SC

Kristine J. Schwartz, M.A.
Alisos Institute
Santa Barbara, CA

Danielle Schwartz, M.S.
Director of Clinical Operations
Families First of Florida
Tampa, FL

David Shaffer, F.R.C.P. (Lond),
F.R.C.psych (Lond)
Philips Professor of Psychiatry and
Pediatrics
Department of Child Psychiatry
Columbia Univ. & New York State
Psychiatric Institute
New York, NY

Sarah Spain, Ph.D.
Cleveland, OH

Shelley Spear, Ph.D.
Senior Writer/Editor
Statewide Family Networks
Technical Assistance Center
United Advocates for Children of
California
Santa Barbara, CA

Nada Stotland, M.D.
Vice President of the American
Psychiatric Association
Chicago, IL

Jennifer Gregory Strope, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Stanford, CA

W. Carl Sumi, Ph.D.
Educational Researcher
SRI International

Marcia P. Taborga, Ph.D.
Mental Health Coordinator
Child Health Works
Los Angeles Department of Mental
Health
Los Angeles, CA

Jennifer Taub, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Center for Mental Health Services
Research
University of Massachusetts Medical
School
Worcester, MA

Tammy L. Taylor, M.S.
Program Coordinator
Sexual Abuse Intervention Network
Tampa, FL

Linda Teplin, Ph.D.

Owen L. Coon
Professor of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences
Director, Psycho-Legal Studies
Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
Chicago, IL

Deborah Tharinger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Licensed Psychologist
School Psychology Program
Department of Educational
Psychology
University of Texas
Austin, TX

Jean Thomas, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences
Children?s National Medical Center
The George Washington University
School of Medicine
Washington, DC

Kenneth Thompson, M.D.
Pittsburgh, PA

Jane Timmons-Mitchell, Ph.D.
Associate Clinical Professor of
Psychology
Department of Psychiatry
Case Western Reserve University
School of Medicine
Center for Innovative Practices
Cleveland, OH

Alanna Gelbwasser Updegraff, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Private Practice & Oak Adoptive
Health Center
Akron Children?s Hospital
Akron, OH

Adena Vanderwielen, Ph.D.
Valley Coordinated Children?s
Services
Los Angeles County Department of
Mental Health
Reseda, CA

Marian E. Williams, Ph.D.
Early Childhood Mental Health
Programs
USC-University Affiliated Program
Children?s Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Amy Winans
Executive Director
Association for Children?s Mental
Health
Okemos, MI

Michelle W. Woodbridge, Ph.D.
Education Researcher
SRI International
Menlo Park, CA

Jim Wotring, M.S.W.

Penny Wyman
on behalf of
The Ohio Association of Child
Caring Agencies
Columbus, OH

Sally D. Yeatman, L.C.S.W.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Saint John?s Child and Family
Development Center
Santa Monica, CA

Susan W. Yelton, M.S.W.
Child Advocate

Alex Vojick
Child Advocate
Greenfield Township, PA

M. Grace Walters, M.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA

Irene Ward
Executive Vice President
Catholic Community Services of
Western Washington
Seattle, WA

Jill Waterman, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Psychology
Coordinator, UCLA Psychology
Clinic
Los Angeles, CA

Al Way
Director of Children?s Services
Mental Health Authority of Clinton-
Eaton-Ingham Counties
Lansing, MI

Richard B. Weinberg, Ph.D., ABPP
Diplomate in Clinical Psychology
American Board of Professional
Psychology
Clinical Associate Professor
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental
Health Institute
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL

Every single one of the aforementioned people/organizations are signators of a formal request to Congress to initiate a GAO investigation into the unlicensed, unregulated private "treatment centers" you so proudly promote.

Now, Who, you aren't going to tell me this is some out-of-touch, fringe society of crazies, are you?

This is the mainstream.

[Troll Control]

The letter to Congress:


October 18, 2005
Honorable Members of Congress
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Members of Congress,
As mental health professionals and leaders in the children?s mental health field, we
join together to express our serious concern about the large number of youth with mental
disorders now housed in unregulated and unlicensed residential treatment facilities
frequently referred to as therapeutic boarding schools, emotional growth schools and
behavior modification programs. Many of us are individual clinicians, and as such we
usually refrain from entering the public policy arena, yet the threat posed by this new
institutionalization of children is so serious that we feel we can no longer remain silent.
In the last fifteen years, unlicensed privately run residential programs for youth with
mental and emotional problems have proliferated. Hundreds of new programs now
market aggressively over the Internet preying upon desperate families who seek help for
their children. These worried families pay enormous sums?facilities cost up to $100,000
per year?to obtain ?treatment? for their troubled children. The programs are located
around the country, and even outside the country, and often times children are transported
hundreds, if not thousands, of miles across state lines to these programs.
The reality of what occurs in some of these unregulated programs is often quite different
from the highly individualized, highly structured programs advertised to parents. These
programs are troubling for a number of reasons:
? Children are often prohibited from speaking with their own families for months, in some
cases for up to a year, a practice which has been shown to have significant negative clinical
outcomes for children and adverse consequences for families.
? Seclusion and restraint procedures are significantly more restrictive than what is generally
accepted by mental health licensing and accrediting bodies. These practices have resulted
in several documented deaths.
? Even though the needs of the children housed in these facilities are great, unqualified staff
is charged with implementing treatment plans and supervising children.
? The educational services provided to the children often fail to meet even minimum
standards.
? No research has demonstrated that these programs have long-term clinical effectiveness.
Even more alarming is that abuse and neglect are all too common within these facilities.
There have been many highly public media accounts of atrocious examples of sexual and
physical abuse and medical neglect in these facilities. Yet, there is still little to no public
oversight, leaving these already emotionally fragile children even more vulnerable. The lack
of oversight in these facilities also means that the full scope of the crisis is unknown."


More crazy-talk?

Who, I'd like you to call some of these people and ask them about their beliefs about this subject.  Certainly you won't accuse all of them as being graduates of "Dysfunction Junction University," would you?

Seriously, your position on this subject is pure bunk, plain and simple, and you've been de-bunked again.

The Who wrote:

"Nice shot at deflecting, I really didnt expect you had any proof, as usual, but thought I would give you a chance."

Ooops!  You stepped in shit again, Who.  Time to clean your shoes off, admit your mistakes and move forward.

_________________
"Compassion is the basis of morality."

-Arnold Schopenhauer[ This Message was edited by: Dysfunction Junction on 2006-06-21 12:58 ]

[Anonymous]

I hadn't seen that before.  Thanks DJ.  Damn, there's all kinds of good info flowing through here today.

[TheWho]

So 130 or so signed a request (many of whom are assistants) out of maybe 10,000 professionals who were presented with the paper but  refused to sign because they know the effectiveness of the industry.  But I do agree the 130 probably did not refer any of the kids to TBS?s.

If I wrote a letter to congress and got 1-2% of my peers to back me do you think I would make an effect?  That means 98% abstained or disagreed.

If they were my numbers, DJ, I would have kept them on my hard drive.

[Anonymous]

It's a start.  I don't think as many support the programs as you think and probably not as many condemn them as DJ thinks.  I admit it's pervasive in the mental health industry (not as much as you think) but I see that as part of the problem. I'm glad to see some professionals really beginning to take a critical look at what's been blindly accepted for so many years now.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-21 13:20:00, Anonymous wrote:

"It's a start.  I don't think as many support the programs as you think and probably not as many condemn them as DJ thinks.  I admit it's pervasive in the mental health industry (not as much as you think) but I see that as part of the problem. I'm glad to see some professionals really beginning to take a critical look at what's been blindly accepted for so many years now."

Damn.  You think, I think, he thinks.  I'm sick, I'm tired and my brain has apparently ceased to function. :silly:  :silly:

[Anonymous]

The Who is an absolute idiot.

[TheWho]

Actually even though the majority didn?t sign the petition it will result in further improvements within the industry and maybe regulation which is what I am for.  If the paper came across my desk (and I was qualified) I would sign it, so don?t take it as I am against the movement.  It looks like it will be beneficial to the kids.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-21 12:28:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-06-21 10:56:00, Anonymous wrote:


"An oldie but a goodie.





http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1224

 :eek: Wow.  





Two Sides, Same Bias



The extraordinary lack of context and fairness in media coverage of youthstems from two elemental difficulties. First, the standard media assumption is that fairness is served by quoting "both sides"--but on youth issues, "both sides" frequently harbor adult biases against teenagers.



In the much-publicized debates over school programs to reduce "teen" pregnancy, for example, the press quoted "liberal" sources favoring condom handouts balanced by "conservative" sources demanding abstinence education (e.g. USA Today, 11/19/91). However, both lobbies based their arguments on the same myth--that heedless high school boys are the main cause of "teen" pregnancy--and avoided the same disturbing fact: that even if every high school boy abstained from sex or used a condom, most "teen" pregnancies would still occur.



The second difficulty is that "teenage" behavior is not separate from "adult" behavior. Such hot topics as "teen pregnancy," "teen suicide," and "youth violence" are artificial political and media inventions. In real-world environments, teenagers usually act like the adults of their family, gender, race, class, location and era, often because their behaviors occur with adults.



For example, Vital Statistics of the United States shows that white adults are twice as likely to commit suicide as black adults, and white teens are twice as likely to commit suicide as black teens. From 1940 to 1990, unwed birth rates rose 4.7 times among teenage women and 4.6 times among adult women. The FBI's 1992 Uniform Crime Reports show that men commit 88 percent of all adult violent crime; boys commit 88 percent of all juvenile violent crime.



Why are adult contexts, common to media reports on youth prior to the 1970s, only rarely cited today? Because that would prevent adolescents from serving as the latest scapegoats for problems that affect society in general.



And there is a subtler reason: the interests circulating negative images of teens want the source of malaise located within youth, where it can be "treated" by whatever solutions the publicizing interest groups profit from, rather than in unhealthy environments whose upgrading will require billions of dollars in public spending. Thus short-term political and corporate profit lies not in fixing environments, but in fixing kids.



The treatment industry's message is clear: "Our teenagers have lost their way," declares the AMA. The press has been a key element in the campaign to persuade the public that the cause of youth pregnancy, violence, suicide and drug addiction lies within the irrational psychologies and vulnerabilities of adolescents.



A standard news and documentary feature is the "troubled teen" rescued by the teamwork of "loving parents" and "get-tough" professionals. (For an example justifying the abduction of youth by "therapeutic programs," see the Los Angeles Times, 6/2/93). Despite melodramatic media splashes advertising the "success" of this program or that therapy (often based on testimonials or the promoter's own "study"), controlled, long-term research finds efforts to "cure" troubled teenagers generally ineffective.



On the other hand, the publicity campaigns for such treatments--disguised as news--have been quite successful. During the 1980s, the number of teens forced into intensive psychiatric treatment quadrupled, while adolescent commitments to drug and alcohol treatment tripled. If institution and treatment industry claims are valid, we should have seen dramatic improvements in youth behavior.



Exactly the opposite is the case. In the last five to 10 years, intense media and government attacks on various behaviors--chiefly drug abuse, violence and pregnancy--have been followed by rapidly rising problems among teenagers. Stable violence rates and rapidly declining birth rates and drug eath levels prior to 1985 have suddenly reversed: All three rose rapidly from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The media's unwillingness to question official policy and its failures helped make these reverses possible.



"

Who, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-06-21 13:31:00, TheWho wrote:

"Actually even though the majority didn?t sign the petition it will result in further improvements within the industry and maybe regulation which is what I am for.  If the paper came across my desk (and I was qualified) I would sign it, so don?t take it as I am against the movement.  It looks like it will be beneficial to the kids."

They state that there are no studies to show the effectiveness of the programs.  Are you agreeing with that?

[TheWho]

On 2006-06-21 13:35:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-06-21 13:31:00, TheWho wrote:


"Actually even though the majority didn?t sign the petition it will result in further improvements within the industry and maybe regulation which is what I am for.  If the paper came across my desk (and I was qualified) I would sign it, so don?t take it as I am against the movement.  It looks like it will be beneficial to the kids."

They state that there are no studies to show the effectiveness of the programs.  Are you agreeing with that?"

There are no studies to show that they are ineffective either.

I may not agree with all that is written.  I know it doesnt apply to all schools, but it may force more more studies to be performed and focus which will benifit the kids in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Who would the burden of proof, so to speak, fall on?  If these people are claiming what a success their program is and how effective it is wouldn't it be their responsibility to back that up with something?  Why is it that whenever we ask you to back up your claim that they're effective all you can do is turn it around on us instead of actually answering the question?