Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Kathy on January 10, 2008, 07:52:27 PM
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http://ficanetwork.blogspot.com/ (http://ficanetwork.blogspot.com/)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Just one more reason why teen residential programs are dangerous!
I came across this journal entry from a very young girl who had been in the Wilderness Quest program. She is an example of the types of people who are employed by these programs to be what they called field staff. They are generally very young and generally newly out of the program themselves. As you can see in this journal entry, this girl barely has herself under control when she becomes staff and one of the "students triggered her insanely."
Also she writes about wanting to talk about her excitement for going back to the program as a staff member but "no one would get it." This is troubling yet typical. No one 'gets it' because it is not a normal thing. When this troubled kids get involved in one of the programs it's like getting involved in a cult. This journal entry brings to light the troubles many young people have when they are trying to readjust to the outside world (after being cut off from it for so long). Rather than try to really adjust to the outside world, they often decide it would be easier to just go back into the program in one capacity or another. This is not healthy, but it does explain how some people become "true believers" or followers of the program. It much like the Scientologists are true believers in their "religion." However, just because there are some devout followers does not mean it is a healthy way of living.
I hope this child can one day find her own way in the real world.
Here is another link to her entire journal. :(
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:cry: is right.. Poor kid.
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They did the same thing to a girl named Meghan at Benchmark. Turned her into a deployable agent of the cult:
One year ago this past September, Meghan arrived at Benchmark. “The first thing I did when I got here was to lie straight to Jaynie and Richard, by telling them that I absolutely did NOT have an addiction. I was scared to be here. I had no self esteem, no coping mechanisms and major anger issues,â€
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One of the English kids on Brat Camp expressed a desire to go back there and work as well. Apparently they would let her as soon as she turned 18!
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They did the same thing to a girl named Meghan at Benchmark. Turned her into a deployable agent of the cult:
One year ago this past September, Meghan arrived at Benchmark. “The first thing I did when I got here was to lie straight to Jaynie and Richard, by telling them that I absolutely did NOT have an addiction. I was scared to be here. I had no self esteem, no coping mechanisms and major anger issues,â€
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It must be noted that for some kids (maybe alot) the attention they get (however negative or unhealthy) from staff is something they crave from their parents but didn't get for a variety of reasons. Kids that end up working for a program often do so because they have psychologically bonded with the program OR their critical skills are so impaired, they can't function in the "real world". Others just need a job after returning home and finding out their parents don't want them around and they can't afford to support themselves on $6-7 bucks an hour.
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It must be noted that for some kids (maybe alot) the attention they get (however negative or unhealthy) from staff is something they crave from their parents but didn't get for a variety of reasons. Kids that end up working for a program often do so because they have psychologically bonded with the program OR their critical THINKING skills are so impaired, they can't function in the "real world". Others just need a job after returning home and finding out their parents don't want them around and they can't afford to support themselves on $6-7 bucks an hour
Edited to add word
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I absolutely agree!
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Stockholm syndrome.
Nice find! Hi Kathy.
:wave:
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We should create a sticky with all the terms in them so we can all follow along!! There was a girl next to me in high school English who hated school but by the time we finished reading theâ€
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We should create a sticky with all the terms in them so we can all follow along!! There was a girl next to me in high school English who hated school but by the time we finished reading theâ€
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It must be noted that for some kids (maybe alot) the attention they get (however negative or unhealthy) from staff is something they crave from their parents but didn't get for a variety of reasons.
Yeah. It's called transference. The program replaces the role of the family. It's designed to do that. The program becomes the surrogate family. They turn the parents against the kids and vice versa. It's not designed to bring them closer together, but to take a crack in a relationship and make it an impassable chasm. Why? In my opinion it's to make sure that there is never a reunion through which the kids and parents could potentially pose a legal threat.
Benchmark... Systematically... and i mean systematically, destroyed people's lives. There were three... three graduations during the entire year I was there. The rest... usually ended up on the streets. By the time the parents were running out of money they had by that point been totally convinced that if they were to provide support for their kids it would do them more harm than good, that they needed to hit "rock bottom" etc... that they had "ruined every chance" etc... They never realized that it was the program that was engineering this. Program tried to convince my parents to abandon me. They didn't. My feeling is a lot of it had to do with the fact that:
A: I was never sent there for any dire reason in my parent's minds (well.. I don't really know what they were thinking). Yes, there were circumstances that lead to a situation where we both decided to part ways, but as far as we were both concerned, and the way it was represented to us, the place was simply a boarding school. On my admissions sheet, I wrote my purpose of being there was to finish high school. When I went in on the first day into group and introduced myself, saying I was there to finish high school, it simply wasn't accepted, and I was told that I would have to find some issue to work on. I said I didn't feel like I wanted to change anything, that I was fine the way I was... I was accused of being in denial bla bla bla and a few months later I was convinced I was an alcoholic (revision of past history is something I understand very well).
B: They never participated in the program. They may have wanted me to get some therapy, or grow emotionally, but they were not exactly the most compliant with the program's implication that there was something wrong with them. They reacted in a very hostile manner, refused to go to any parent seminars. As a result, I feel they were far less affected than the average parent. What I was told, however, was that they didn't really care about me enough to participate in my recovery. I felt abandoned. I was encouraged to coach them into going to the seminars. I was also told that they knew that Benchmark was not a boarding school (they only claim to be to the outside world) and that I was tricked. Mike Martin, a resident counselor, told the students that our parents didn't care about us and knew full well what the place was about.
C: They weren't financially invested in it. My dad's work was footing the bill for education. It wasn't a big deal, where otherwise it might have been. It was supposed to be a boarding school...
My parents, and the situation
Kids that end up working for a program often do so because they have psychologically bonded with the program
And they foster this bond through the workshops and the exercises and the methods of "counseling" and the disclosures, etc... It wasn't an accident. Even after leaving program, it took me a long time to realize that the reason for the disclosures, for example, or the hypnotic regression and guided imagery, was not to deal with some trauma or to help us to feel again, but to make us miserable for the express purpose of comforting us and building up a bond... almost as if you had a friend beat your dog so you could nurse it back to health. I thought it was to help me... I thought I was discovering the "real me". Even after i realized the program was a total bullshit scam I truly believed that I was wearing a mask and didn't know who I was. It was great for the confessions, though, since I believed at the time that I was simply a master manipulator who had lied for so long he had forgotten his identity. They convince you that you were lying when you were telling the truth (you were just in denial). I confessed to anything and everything under the sun and believed it. I thought I was everything they told me. How long...
OR their critical skills are so impaired, they can't function in the "real world". Others just need a job after returning home and finding out their parents don't want them around and they can't afford to support themselves on $6-7 bucks an hour.
Not to mention they're convinced of inevitable failure since they didn't complete the program (which was systematic, as i've said). It's hard to believe somebody could operate such a system, but it existed then, and still exists now. They are just very very successful at completely and utterly demolishing a person, from their beliefs to identity, to what they believe their sickness is. Who doubts you when you tell them you're an alcoholic... who doubts you? What was even messier was the delusion of grandieur they gave me, the belief that I could identify others who were sick as well, and "help" them... LOL... so I came out totally overconfident. I believed I was a god, almost. I dated this girl when I first came out, told her that she didn't know who she was, and what's really messed is that I think I convinced her. Soon afterward, however, I realized that these pseudo-supernatural insights I thought I had were just snap judgements. I realized how ... totally socially fucked up I was... Since then... nope... no more overconfidence in social situations.. Not even close. Where I had been mostly extroverted before program, now... hah.. things are a bit different.
It's like realizing all those things you thought you learned... Those good things you thought you might have taken away from a bad experience, did you far, far more harm than good. What is real after that? what is normal after that? What is me and what is the program, and what the hell did they do to my head? Figuring that out is half of why I do a lot of the work and research I do. Nobody knows for certain but the program and even then i'm not even sure if they fully realize what they are doing. They've borrowed, cut and pasted so much cult nonsense from here and there that I've had to basically reverse engineer the program to figure out what was done... I want to know the philosophy behind it, that drives, it, the lynchpin to destroy it... Why just me, though? Why aren't so many others trying to do the same? Granted it's a small program, but were the streets that traumatic that they'd rather forget? Do they not realize what they forgot? Maybe i'm just too naturally curious. I'd rather remember to disassemble the past, and re-assemble myself, regardless of how painful.
Well... blah...
Back to work on the documentary
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It is interesting reading all the different accounts (very well written, by the way, psy) and stories of each person. I use to mainly focus on how similar the accounts were but I have been noticing lately how different each person’s experience was and the approach the schools took.
At ASR they worked extremely hard on resolving the problems between the child and his/her family with the primary goal of bringing everyone closer together (not driving them apart).
I wonder if the reason Benchmark did this was because the kids were so much older and they were trying to make the kids more independent from their families. I am not saying I agree with Benchmarks tactics nor claim to understand the process, but merely from a philosophical stand point this may have been their goal.
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It is interesting reading all the different accounts (very well written, by the way, psy) and stories of each person. I use to mainly focus on how similar the accounts were but I have been noticing lately how different each person’s experience was and the approach the schools took.
At ASR they worked extremely hard on resolving the problems between the child and his/her family with the primary goal of bringing everyone closer together (not driving them apart).
I wonder if the reason Benchmark did this was because the kids were so much older and they were trying to make the kids more independent from their families. I am not saying I agree with Benchmarks tactics nor claim to understand the process, but merely from a philosophical stand point this may have been their goal.
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(http://http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c80/FreakinWindows/bullshit.jpg)
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The above post is exactly why I keep saying you can’t make a decision based solely on the advice of people here (myself included) you need to be careful. They don’t like opposing views here only negative program posts. So you won’t get a balanced view.
Contact the individual schools for details on their approaches to education and this will help you to determine if your child will fit in or not. I suggest visiting the schools and speaking with some of the students and staff. Every school has a different program and they all may not be right for your child. I would also speak to some parents who had been thru the programs.
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I remember TheWho Vol.1 as being more middle of the road and not nearly as short on diplomacy as the post-ban Who.
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The above post is exactly why I keep saying you can’t make a decision based solely on the advice of people here (myself included) you need to be careful. They don’t like opposing views here only negative program posts. So you won’t get a balanced view.
Contact the individual schools for details on their approaches to education and this will help you to determine if your child will fit in or not. I suggest visiting the schools and speaking with some of the students and staff. Every school has a different program and they all may not be right for your child. I would also speak to some parents who had been thru the programs.
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SINCE WHEN do parents "go thru the programs? :roll: :roll: :roll:
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It is interesting reading all the different accounts (very well written, by the way, psy) and stories of each person. I use to mainly focus on how similar the accounts were but I have been noticing lately how different each person’s experience was and the approach the schools took.
At ASR they worked extremely hard on resolving the problems between the child and his/her family with the primary goal of bringing everyone closer together (not driving them apart).
I wonder if the reason Benchmark did this was because the kids were so much older and they were trying to make the kids more independent from their families. I am not saying I agree with Benchmarks tactics nor claim to understand the process, but merely from a philosophical stand point this may have been their goal.
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Extremely well put, Psy I don't think you could have stated it any more clearly. That is exactly what many of us are here doing. And I have to say, it is well worth it. I realized that I've inadvertently healed from my program experience through the the work that I've done (and continue to do) just like what you described above. :exclaim:
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Crap, I keep pushing the wrong Quote button, my previous response was a reply to psy's post, not the whos....
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The above post is exactly why I keep saying you can’t make a decision based solely on the advice of people here (myself included) you need to be careful. They don’t like opposing views here only negative program posts. So you won’t get a balanced view.
Contact the individual schools for details on their approaches to education and this will help you to determine if your child will fit in or not. I suggest visiting the schools and speaking with some of the students and staff. Every school has a different program and they all may not be right for your child. I would also speak to some parents who had been thru the programs.
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This site is not intending to provide a balanced view. This site is providing the proverbial "other side" of the story.
So people visiting this site ought to figure the truth is some where between our extreme disgust with the program and the program's extreme delight with itself. The truth is PARENTS ought to start PARENTING their children, instead of OUTSOURCING that job as they do with everything else. What could be more important that raising the next generation with love and encouragement???? NOTHING, in my opinion.
But obviously that is not the consensus or children wouldn't be consistently being institutionalized from the moment they hit 6 weeks old! First they are in DayCare, then in after school day care, then they are left alone when they get to high school, and to the parents surprise, they get in trouble, so what do they do??? They put them in residential care for teens!!! What's up with that? Who?? Anybody???
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It is interesting reading all the different accounts (very well written, by the way, psy) and stories of each person. I use to mainly focus on how similar the accounts were but I have been noticing lately how different each person’s experience was and the approach the schools took.
At ASR they worked extremely hard on resolving the problems between the child and his/her family with the primary goal of bringing everyone closer together (not driving them apart).
I wonder if the reason Benchmark did this was because the kids were so much older and they were trying to make the kids more independent from their families. I am not saying I agree with Benchmarks tactics nor claim to understand the process, but merely from a philosophical stand point this may have been their goal.
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ASR- Academy at Swift River?? an Aspen Program? Is this one of the programs you are associated with? Aspen tries so hard to come across as the "Nice Guy" of the industry... their tactics are exposed in this article http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... grams.html (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/300288/what_sets_aspen_education_programs.html)
AND....
they even call themselves "people who care about helping people" in the following job advertisement...
WRITER/CONTENT EDITOR
Description
Aspen Education Group is recognized nationwide as the leading provider of education and therapeutic programs for adolescents. Aspen Education Group is a private organization based in Cerritos and was voted as one of LA’s “Best Places to Workâ€
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The above post is exactly why I keep saying you can’t make a decision based solely on the advice of people here (myself included) you need to be careful. They don’t like opposing views here only negative program posts. So you won’t get a balanced view.
Contact the individual schools for details on their approaches to education and this will help you to determine if your child will fit in or not.
Did that. The fed us a load of BS.
I suggest visiting the schools and speaking with some of the students and staff.
Ditto. The students were cherry-picked.
But if you're going to do it anyway, interview one at a time (who you, not they, pick) and compare their stories. Make sure to bring a notepad so you can write questions such as "can the staff hear us talking?" Then make sure NOT to tell the staff what you were told.
Every school has a different program
Yes. Cults are not all alike.
and they all may not be right for your child.
Probably
I would also speak to some parents who had been thru the programs.
Well. Good luck finding any since I haven't yet seen a program for parents. If ya find one, please let me know. I think somebody needs a little treatment :D.
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If that's what you call therapy....then something is very wrong with you. Both of those recordings took place in an Aspen Facility on two separate occasions.
What you failed to mention is that this is footage from a television show. When Hollywood decided to call the show "Brat Camp" and were going over the actors eerrrrr… I mean kids to participate I am sure the script didn’t call for 14 hours of kids sitting around the camp fire singing…. “I am a rock. I am an islandâ€
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Did that. The fed us a load of BS.
If you feel it is BS, what I typically tell the parents is to move on and keep trying to find a school you are comfortable with.
Ditto. The students were cherry-picked.
What we did was walk around the campus ourselves and spoke to kids at random, individually. We had lunch in the main cafeteria and sat where chose and spoke to a group of kids.
Yes. Cults are not all alike.
No their not, good point. What we did was ask to speak with parents who have been thru the program and speak with them and find out how they are doing and how their kids are doing.
Well. Good luck finding any since I haven't yet seen a program for parents. If ya find one, please let me know. I think somebody needs a little treatment
Ha,Ha,Ha, I get it!!
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There is no "we". TheWho works for them, and posts here full time. It's part of his job. Aspen Education Group is hiring more people to do just this.
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If that's what you call therapy....then something is very wrong with you. Both of those recordings took place in an Aspen Facility on two separate occasions.
What you failed to mention is that this is footage from a television show. When Hollywood decided to call the show "Brat Camp" and were going over the actors eerrrrr… I mean kids to participate I am sure the script didn’t call for 14 hours of kids sitting around the camp fire singing…. “I am a rock. I am an islandâ€
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If you feel it is BS, what I typically tell the parents is to move on and keep trying to find a school you are comfortable with.
Are you an educational consultant? Why would you be telling parents what to do? Especially if you were once a parent in trouble yourself?
Are there kickbacks or commissions involved?
What we did was walk around the campus ourselves and spoke to kids at random, individually. We had lunch in the main cafeteria and sat where chose and spoke to a group of kids.
I'm sure all of that group of kids had been there long enough to know the drill.... of course :roll: It doesn't take very long to know that if you tell the truth to outsiders you will soon be having your bones bent like in the above video clips.
What we did was ask to speak with parents who have been thru the program and speak with them and find out how they are doing and how their kids are doing.
Why not ask to speak to the other half of the parents who pulled their children out, and find out their viewpoints? Thereby giving yourself a more BALANCED view of the program.
I am shocked that you were once banned from this board. I don't think that has ever happened (besides you, obviously) in the last 10 years! What in the hell did you do???? WOW, it must have been bad! :question:
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Why not ask to speak to the other half of the parents who pulled their children out, and find out their viewpoints? Thereby giving yourself a more BALANCED view of the program.
I try to keep in touch the best I can to see how others are doing.
There were 4 parents I know of that pulled there kids. 2 of them them their kids got pregnant, single moms, within a year of leaving without even a GED ages 16 and 15 (?). A boy who was replaced into another program within 6 months of leaving (lost touch), up in Maine somewhere. The 4th I never heard from again.
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Wow. He must be getting DESPERATE. If any of this shit was in any way true he would have said it a LOT fucking earlier. :lol:
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Why not ask to speak to the other half of the parents who pulled their children out, and find out their viewpoints? Thereby giving yourself a more BALANCED view of the program.
I try to keep in touch the best I can to see how others are doing.
There were 4 parents I know of that pulled there kids. 2 of them them their kids got pregnant, single moms, within a year of leaving without even a GED ages 16 and 15 (?). A boy who was replaced into another program within 6 months of leaving (lost touch), up in Maine somewhere. The 4th I never heard from again.
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Can you attempt to answer the other 6 questions too please?
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Why not ask to speak to the other half of the parents who pulled their children out, and find out their viewpoints? Thereby giving yourself a more BALANCED view of the program.
I try to keep in touch the best I can to see how others are doing.
There were 4 parents I know of that pulled there kids. 2 of them them their kids got pregnant, single moms, within a year of leaving without even a GED ages 16 and 15 (?). A boy who was replaced into another program within 6 months of leaving (lost touch), up in Maine somewhere. The 4th I never heard from again.
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Many girls who get out of the program do get pregnant as soon as possible as a way to avoid ever having to go back to the program. They know they have a policy against taking in pregnant girls. Of course they wouldn't even have a GED, I'm sure they were not allowed an education while in the program. But the question was, why did the parents pull the children? What kind of abuse had those children and or parents suffered?
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Many girls who get out of the program do get pregnant as soon as possible as a way to avoid ever having to go back to the program. They know they have a policy against taking in pregnant girls. Of course they wouldn't even have a GED, I'm sure they were not allowed an education while in the program. But the question was, why did the parents pull the children? What kind of abuse had those children and or parents suffered?
This is a boarding school the kids are in so they were getting an education. As far as why they left, I dont have the specific reasons why. I do know that it is very hard work for some of the kids and some would rather opt out then to finish the program. Some of them plead with their parents and they give in and remove them. As far as abuse, I have never been aware of a staff member abusing a child there, this never occurred during the time my daughter attended. I am sure if it did occur the families would be notified of the action taken.
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Many girls who get out of the program do get pregnant as soon as possible as a way to avoid ever having to go back to the program. They know they have a policy against taking in pregnant girls. Of course they wouldn't even have a GED, I'm sure they were not allowed an education while in the program. But the question was, why did the parents pull the children? What kind of abuse had those children and or parents suffered?
This is a boarding school the kids are in so they were getting an education. As far as why they left, I dont have the specific reasons why. I do know that it is very hard work for some of the kids and some would rather opt out then to finish the program. Some of them plead with their parents and they give in and remove them. As far as abuse, I have never been aware of a staff member abusing a child there, this never occurred during the time my daughter attended. I am sure if it did occur the families would be notified of the action taken.
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Um, what kind of curriculum is in place there? These so-called schools are usually, not really like any legitimate educational institutions.
Why on earth would families be notified of the abuse administered at the school?
That's like the pedophile teachers in public schools notifying the families of the abuse and taking action.... it just doesn't happen... it has to be caught by a 3rd party or on tape to be found out.
I'm not getting your logic. :-?
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Many girls who get out of the program do get pregnant as soon as possible as a way to avoid ever having to go back to the program. They know they have a policy against taking in pregnant girls. Of course they wouldn't even have a GED, I'm sure they were not allowed an education while in the program. But the question was, why did the parents pull the children? What kind of abuse had those children and or parents suffered?
This is a boarding school the kids are in so they were getting an education. As far as why they left, I dont have the specific reasons why. I do know that it is very hard work for some of the kids and some would rather opt out then to finish the program. Some of them plead with their parents and they give in and remove them. As far as abuse, I have never been aware of a staff member abusing a child there, this never occurred during the time my daughter attended. I am sure if it did occur the families would be notified of the action taken.
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Um, what kind of curriculum is in place there? These so-called schools are usually, not really like any legitimate educational institutions.
Why on earth would families be notified of the abuse administered at the school?
That's like the pedophile teachers in public schools notifying the families of the abuse and taking action.... it just doesn't happen... it has to be caught by a 3rd party or on tape to be found out.
I'm not getting your logic. :-?
Highschool, grades 9 thru 12.
If abuse occurs in our school district the kid tells the parent. The parent tells the principle/police and the principle sends letters out to all the parents updating them on what has occurred and action taken. Most private schools follow the same procedures. The staff member or teacher themselves who committed the offense isnt going to notify anyone except from jail.
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one of the Girls in the dave marcus book got pregnant in her first year of university. She did complete the program and was supposed to be one of it's all stars her therapy group were nicknamed the "guru" group. Ironically she was sent because her dad feared she would end up pregnant.
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one of the Girls in the dave marcus book got pregnant in her first year of university. She did complete the program and was supposed to be one of it's all stars her therapy group were nicknamed the "guru" group. Ironically she was sent because her dad feared she would end up pregnant.
A lot of girls get pregnant becase they think that is the next thing to do in life.
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I doubt this girl named her child "Rudy" though.
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I doubt this girl named her child "Rudy" though.
Ha,Ha,Ha
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Highschool, grades 9 thru 12.
If abuse occurs in our school district the kid tells the parent. The parent tells the principle/police and the principle sends letters out to all the parents updating them on what has occurred and action taken. Most private schools follow the same procedures. The staff member or teacher themselves who committed the offense isnt going to notify anyone except from jail.
I figured they would call themselves grades 9-12... I was asking more specifically about the actual curriculum....
As far as in your public school district.... you said the kid tells the parent. See, this is my point. In day-only schools, the kids are free to come home and tell a parent. In residential treatment, they are NOT free to go home and they are in every case I've ever heard of NOT free to tell their parents anything they want to, due to repercussions, that will follow the so-called "telling." Not to mention, the staff have already told the parents in advanced not to believe anything the kid says because it is "manipulation" on the part of the kid to try to get out of the program. So the child is stuck any way you look at it, there are NO checks and balances in place at all at these crazy programs. :(
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My guess is they give "the who" the weekends off????
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I figured they would call themselves grades 9-12... I was asking more specifically about the actual curriculum....
Math, History, English etc.. my recollection would do them justice since it has been awhile and they have expanded their academics since then.
As far as in your public school district.... you said the kid tells the parent. See, this is my point. In day-only schools, the kids are free to come home and tell a parent. In residential treatment, they are NOT free to go home and they are in every case I've ever heard of NOT free to tell their parents anything they want to, due to repercussions, that will follow the so-called "telling." Not to mention, the staff have already told the parents in advanced not to believe anything the kid says because it is "manipulation" on the part of the kid to try to get out of the program. So the child is stuck any way you look at it, there are NO checks and balances in place at all at these crazy programs.
Yes, different levels depending on how your child is schooled. Homeschoolers have immediate feedback, public school kids can talk to their parents each evening when they get home from school. Boarding school kids have a slower line of communication. My daughter had some immediate issues and needed to talk to me and it took them 5-6 hours before they could contact me and then get her to the phone so we could talk. If this had been a public school the communication would had been quicker but a parent needs to expect this in schools which are designed to keep them insulated from the outside world.
I have read about those schools which try to tell the parents not to believe the kids or threaten them on what they can or cannot say. That is an awful way to foster communication between family members and facilitate healing. If a school called me and told me not to believe what my kid told me over the phone she would be yanked out of the school in a heartbeat.
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so you are saying Academy at Swift River gives the kids complete freedom to say anything to you without repercussions??? very very very hard to believe... of course, you being a parent wouldn't know because you are there in the program.... My parents never knew about the threats either... until recently (which is over 20 years after the experience)
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so you are saying Academy at Swift River gives the kids complete freedom to say anything to you without repercussions??? very very very hard to believe... of course, you being a parent wouldn't know because you are there in the program.... My parents never knew about the threats either... until recently (which is over 20 years after the experience)
I have heard a lot about straight (which I believe you attended) and I can see after attending a place like that it may be difficult to understand that other programs give kids a lot more freedoms. If you threaten kids about speaking out you are doing just the opposite of what they need to do to heal. Speaking openly is healthy and fosters growth and understanding of ones self, builds self esteem...if I was threatened with reprisals every time I opened my mouth I may suppress things for 20 years also.
At ASR the kids can go white water rafting, play sports, go to movies in town, they have a nice in ground pool off the main dining area, cross country skiing in the winter time. They are insulated from the outside world for the most part but there are plenty of phones for emergencies.
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The reason we speak of STRAIGHT still is because it is the same core program. Sure, eventually we were allowed to do some things in the real world too after we had been deemed "trustworthy" which in reality means we were trusted not to say anything. I'm speaking of the new clients in the program, the ones that haven't been deemed trustworthy. And from everything I have read from the ASPEN literature, there is NOT free access to phones for any reason. There is always a staff listening in or standing near by, monitoring calls. If this is different at ASR, I'd love to see the proof....
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The reason we speak of STRAIGHT still is because it is the same core program. Sure, eventually we were allowed to do some things in the real world too after we had been deemed "trustworthy" which in reality means we were trusted not to say anything. I'm speaking of the new clients in the program, the ones that haven't been deemed trustworthy. And from everything I have read from the ASPEN literature, there is NOT free access to phones for any reason. There is always a staff listening in or standing near by, monitoring calls. If this is different at ASR, I'd love to see the proof....
No, the kids cant just use the phone whenever they like. They each have an allotted time each week to call home, unlss there is an emergency or a problem.
The room where phone calls are made (when I was there) is a fairly big room. There was a table like they have in the library with partitions with a phone in each cubby area. The kids pick a cubby and can use the phone to call home. There is a staff person in the room but there isn’t an easy way for them to listen to conversations with the partitions and 4-6 people talking at once. There are a couple of desks at the other end for staff to do work at….The staff is there in case a problem occurs.
I called from there because I could not get reception on my cell phone so I used the phones the kids use.
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Bullshit.