A central theme which became dominant today was “takedowns”. I found this interesting because we are seeing less and less of these used, at least in the therapeutic portion of the industry (TBS’s). Most of these types of kids, that would act out to the point of needing restraint, are not being accepted into the better programs today. Schools like ASR are scrambling to find open beds, often have a long waiting list and are not accepting kids who have any history of violence, use of knives etc. Many of the products (models) being developed and marketed today cater to kids who are heading for college and are in need of a little help to get thru a rough patch.
A good example was the show “Brat Camp”. They struggled week to week to find enough footage to keep the Jerry Springer mentality audience interested and even failed at that.
Bottom line is if your kid acts out to the point where they need restrain, they run away, are physically or verbally abusive towards staff then the schools don’t want them and they cut them loose back to their families or recommend other residential treatment options.
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