Not necessarily, but a certain percentage of parents (granted not all) are "swing voters" when it comes to placing their kids in programs.
You have to assume these prospective program parents are going to take the time to research the negative aspects of programs.
I wouldn't assume that, no, but who says they have to be looking for negative information on programs. My suggestion is to intercept them before they get to the program's websites, or even educational consultant's websites.
There are plenty of news stories, survivor sites, and informational websites that explain this in detail and show up in a Google search about a questionable program.
FIrst off, not all programs. Some programs (SCLA for example), if you google them you get only pro-program information on the first page (which is the only page that really matters... top far more than bottom). Secondly, the industry has almost complete control of they keyword "troubled teen" (what i'm aiming for... I like tough targets but I can reach them... just ask Sue Scheff).
How will one more website about this topic effect the equation. How do you get parents to go to a website explaining the danger of an industry if they hadn't been planning on it already?
How does the industry reach out to parents? Lots of them get sucked in through the internet when searching for help for their "troubled teen"... so if you mirror their marketing terms and
intercept parents, you might be able to get them to reconsider right then and there.
Parents choose to believe programs regardless of dissent for reasons too numerous to list here.
That "certain percentage" is better than none at all.
You got a point there. If you work hard enough, eventually you will convince a parent or two to not send their kid away.
I'm not aiming for one or two, i'm aiming at 5-10% of the market. With the economy already weakened, that could force more than few programs to close. It's the perfect time to hit them as hard as possible on every imaginable front.
But how did you know they were serious about sending them away in the first place?
A lot of them aren't even considering it until they contact industry reps who tell them the whole deadinsaininjail shtick.
I believe the number of truly ignorant program parents to be pitifully low. That's a lot of effort to save three or four kids from going to a program. It might make you feel great about yourself. "I saved a kid from the program", you might tell yourself and pat yourself on your back. But what of the 1,000(?) other kids sent away this year whose parents could care less what you have to say. They are the customers who keep programs in business, and another website isn't going to change their minds one bit.
And you might be right, but what if you're wrong? It's worth a shot. You seem like a good writer, would you be willing to write some articles? Sure you might be completely right, but humor me on this.
If a large enough percentage of parents will not place their kids in programs they won't be able to survive at all (programs need a minimum number of students to be profitable). Kill the demand and you kill the supply.
You are talking about hundreds of programs at least, and thousands of kids going through this system every year. If you can't shut down one program that you attended yourself
Give that six months. heh heh heh... Even if it's not shut down currently, the number of enrollments are down from over 60/year before the website to 13/year this year. That's how many kids/year kept out of programs? you do the math. Sure a percentage of those who didn't choose Benchmark might have chosen other facilities, but I made it clear that Benchmark was far from unique. Many parents do not know simple facts about the industry (like educational consultants and kickbacks). As I said, a certain percentage is what i'm after, and I believe that parents who care about their kids (a significant percentage) would not place if they were fully educated as to the risks inherent in this industry.
and have first hand knowledge of with a website, how do you expect to take down an entire industry?
A thousand little cuts, like Che suggested on one of this threads a while back. I'm not the only one working, though. I can't do it alone. You can help if you choose to.
Parents know the risk of sending a kid away to a private institution that claims they will accomplish what the parent could not; changing them "for the better" to keep them docile and obedient. The strategy behind this industry is inherently dangerous, and that is obvious to everyone involved, top to bottom. If a parent fails to understand this, then they are probably not intelligent enough to find their way online and do an appropriate search, let alone comprehend the enormity of what they read.
My experience suggests parents aren't dumb. They just get conned in their desperation and fear. That can happen to anybody. Emotion always trumps reason. Even if parents are "dumb" as you suggest, it's still possible to educate them.
If you have a better suggestion, by all means, go ahead and make your own website.
Because everyone on fornits is required to be working against the placement of children in programs? This is just a discussion forum, on which you posted a website you created. If you didn't expect conversation, criticism and questions then why post it in a forum? Should of just posted it as an announcement on the front page. If I really believed a website would make a significant difference, I might. But then again, I feel no obligation, and I harbor no shame in not doing anything.
Well. I welcome your criticism, but I still don't see the point in complaining about something you obviously care about if you're not willing to do anything about it. Maybe a website isn't your thing. But what is? If you're sitting here taking the time to type a response criticizing my website, you might as well take some time to write something up that maybe.... just maybe... might influence a few parents. A few + a few + a few + a few = a lot.
