Perhaps you have skipped lightly over one of my phrases. I do not believe sending your troubled child off to a secluded place, outside the dynamics of the family in turmoil, is a viable option. I said exactly that in my post. The only difference I make with a "real RTC" from WWASPS is that eventually, more sooner than later, direct communication is allowed between parent and child. On strugglingteens.com, most parents gain access by telephone within about 10 days of confinement. Also, most families are allowed and encouraged to make a site visit (siblings, too) within the first month or so. Now, you can talk to Deborah about how easy it is to hide the abusive-restrictive nature of a "real RTC".
There is opportunity for a "problem child" to be removed from the family...sort of a Giant Time-Out...that may give vital breathing room to an explosive situation. This is what happened with Mrs. D VA. Her child had attempted suicide more than once, and she and her husband were desperate for *immediate* protection for him. Their enrollment of their son was not done because he was "acting disrespectful" or dabbling with pot while missing Saturday curfew. While there are public options for help with a dangerously wild child, they certainly can be convoluted and not immediate enough to keep a kid safe. If parents can afford it, private placement is an answer. That said, if you follow the strugglingteens parents' board, it is still rare to find this situation. More often, it is parents "at their wit's end" with defiant teens, and there is the standard Extra-Large representation of adoptive parents. [About 20% of WWASPS kids are adopted, a larger percentage by far than adoptive families of teenagers in this country.]
No matter, the kid pulled from his family will always live with his "stigma", as the one who gave his parents so much grief, as the one who "ruined everything". WWASPS just makes it a sacred duty to grind that feeling of shame into a kid. Why? Because it works! Kids eventually buckle to the shame aspect, and most will do anything to regain a place in their family. Quick fix...lifelong pain.
