"Moreover the scare campaigns of these places are marketed directly to the easily offended sensibilities of middle america."
Do easily offended sensibilities include being upset about your daughter prostituting herself for meth or other drugs? If your kid is on meth and you aren't scared, God help you--and your kid. Most kids at the Montana programs are there because of meth and other hard drugs, not an occasional beer, or their parents' easily offended sensibilities. And many, many of them are girls whose drug habits made them vulnerable to molestation, rape, and beatings. The programs are where they finally feel safe.
"Are you suggesting that the evangelical bible belt or rural montana(which along with Utah seems to house a lot of these places) is perfectly down with the idea of their kids being lesbians or into wikka? Who dont ovrreact to their kids having the odd beer? "
Hard to tell which of these questions shows more ignorance of the local intellect and culture, at least in regard to rural Montana. First of all, very few of the students at Montana programs are from Montana, so it's hardly a matter of friendly neighborhood rednecks out on a witch hunt, carrying off mildly rebellious teens. Second, it's hard to guess which would be more common in western Montana--lesbians, or kids having a few beers. The parents and the cops tend to encourage kids to camp for the evening rather than drive home when there's a kegger, and to please use condoms.
Western Montana is pretty integrated; the local ranchers and loggers live it up of a Friday with visiting bikers, hippies, academic types, tourists, and singles and couples of every stripe and combination. As long as they're "chill," they're welcome.
