This is an exchange I initiated on voyforums. I really wanted an answer, and not for the sole purpose of knowing what to fight. I really wanted an answer. Every so often, I am exhausted by the fight, and every so often, I wonder if there could be any goodness in WWASPS's treatment.
[> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: WWASP Love
Author:
rivergait
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Date Posted: 12:17:40 08/14/03 Thu
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I hear continually from parents (not kids) in WWASPS about how the program "loves" the kids, how the staffers surround them with "love".
This is not a flippant request. Can you give me some examples of what love is from a stranger? What happens to change an employee of a firm into a lover of his charges? Somehow I can't see even a devoted mentor teacher in a university setting "loving" a student. Is this a variation of Tough Love?
As I said, this is not a flippant request. I'd really like to know why some parents feel this way.
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[> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: WWASP Love
Author:
Gail
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Date Posted: 13:17:55 08/15/03 Fri
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Rivergait - what is love from a "stranger." The staff are not "strangers." The love comes not from the outside, but from the inside, the heart. They see the good in our kids even when they don't see it themselves. They listen, they encourage, they're never too busy to stop what they're doing and take time for whatever they need. They say, "YOU CAN" - They see when they are making good decisions and acknowledge them for it, not just with points, but with their words. They use their own time, and often money, to take them on off campus activities. They have a spirit of "we", not "us and them." Some are not texbook teachers, but life experience teachers and role models. Talk to any grad and they will tell you more.
I was around them enough to know they truly do love each one even when the kids don't love themselves. It's not the "program" that loves them, it's the person in ways that I can't properly explain. You'd only need to experience it yourself to understand.
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I was surprised by the "truthfulness" of Gail in her response. I believe she really believes. To the survivors who post here, what do you think? [and I expect an explosion of hate] ...but were there ever times, or staffers, who were nice to you? Was there *ever* a time when you were allowed off-campus time, i.e., paid for by a loving staffers own money, etc.?
Signed, Sue Kolbo, "Woodbury Groupie (not PURE) by way of reading strugglingteens more than PURE.