Anon, I read the entire piece, twice.
While I don't agree with everything, I do think they had some important things to say about the need of teens:
IdealBeing 12.5-17.5 yrs: Strive for freedom and individuality, autonomy. Assertion.
Awareness of ability to procreate- critical agent for life itself.
Needs: Sensitive respect- it is cruel to ridicule a child asserting new identities as it is to slap a baby who falls down while learning to walk. Tolerance, gentle humor. Non judgmental communication, inquiry. Acceptance of identity explorations- part of individuation. Personal space to manifest new individuation. Peer contact-understanding the beliefs of others. To explore the ?shadow? of family/community. Relating in a healthy manner to the shadow lets natural energy flow unobstructed by secrecy, sexual repression or dogma. Curriculums designed around the teens ideas and interests.
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Are you saying that WWASP, or any other programs provides these needs? Tolerance, gentle humor, non judgmental feedback, space to manifest individuation? By their very nature, they absolutely do not.
I read nothing about rigid rules and severe consequences. And if you are suggesting that this is not part of BM facilities, we will never agree and have nothing to debate.
Further, I believe the majority of teens who are incarecerated probably didn't get the needs of Body and FeelingBeing met, to use their terminology. You can not expect or teach or enforce the behaviors of the IdealBeing, if the previous needs were not met. Best case scenerio, they can be made to "act" a certain way out of fear of consequences.
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Crux of the problem as stated by Luvmour:
Enormous social pressures force them to compete against their peers at a time in their development when their gift is cooperation, to individuate at a time in their development when their gift is community building, to conform at a time in their development when their gift is to express uniqueness. Cut off from the fulfillment of their innate capacities, their natural expression of self, the children turn to conflict and dysfunction as a cry for help. Parents and teachers become managers of children?s behaviors, rather than co-creators in an evolutionary process.
Parent?s attitude: "It?s her problem, not mine, " "I don?t have time"
The question we ask is not what do we need to do to "fix" her, but how did she get bumped from her natural connection to health and wholeness? And, most importantly, how can we help her reconnect to her own inherent, natural well-being? And we know how to help her reconnect: Supply those natural needs as an everyday diet wherever possible.
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This is where I believe we, as a society, need to putting our attention. If all of us were focused on creating a rational society in which kids real needs were met, we wouldn't be having this debate about warehousing facilities for teens and what they may or may not provide.
Please tell me one facility that would allow a student to have a guitar, much less lessons or a cirriculum designed around that interest.
Program supporters should heed Luvmour's warning:
If we dishonor the natural rhythm of IdealBeing (12-17 years) then we run the risk of destroying the species.
Why do you have to post an article by someone who is not affiliated with WWASP/RR to describe their process? Is it not spelled out in their own literature?
