I would just like to respond to what you have written about Whitmore. My granddaughter spent 15 months there, and I visited several times. It was not until the last couple of visits did I observe and hear things that just didn't set well with me. I understand that the kids that are there have a varity of issues. Usually, sending a child there is a last resort decision that is made with great difficulty and a lot of hope. I don't believe that several kids that have left the Whitmore and have had no contact with one another would somehow coincidently be telling the same stories about what goes on there. Why are the kids that have left unbelievable -- if the "program" works, then why would they not be telling the truth. Most of them have completed the program. The kids still there or just new there, it would seem, still have not worked through the issues that got them there to begin with -- or so a certain amout of logic should tell us. So why are they belivable? All of the name-calling, foul language and threats are evidence of a lot of anger -- not one big happy family with angels sent from heaven as parents.
Do you help kids by belittling them? Do you help kids by calling them names? Filthy ones at that?
Do you keep growing teenages up until all hours of the night for "group counseling," and expect them to get up the next morning at 5:00 a.m.? This is just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on. Just remember, everything that comes in or goes out of Whitmore, either by mail, e-mail or phone is monitored. The things that the kids from the Whitmore have posted have been approved by Cheryl. One last question: Would you approve of your child using that kind of language, making those types of theats, speaking disrespectfully to adults?
I certainly would question the authority who approved it -- and question the professionalism of that authority. Is that what you paid for?
