Jail, prison therapy, whatever.... All I know is that my son came back a far better person for the experience.
I am sure there are bad programs out there and kids that should have never been put there...
You for example -- why in the world would your parents send you to a wilderness program when you were obviously functioning so well in many area's of your life... that does sound crazy! :
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Kind of like killing a fly with a sledgehammer.
Some of the stories on the board sound absolutely absurd! First time offenses of shoplifting or kids that backtalk their parents and they get sent to wilderness therapy - that is just wrong.
I think there are very few of us out there that were angels when we were teens. I did my share of drugs, drank and engaged in some pretty risky behavior -- but I was also able to function well in the other area's of my life - to me that is the difference
I guess I thought that the kids that went there were more like my son.
In fact, the four other boys that graduated with him all had similar backgrounds to his.. one boy had been repeatedly arrested and spent quite a bit of time in jail. All four were heavy drug users and had been expelled from school for arious reason from violence to selling drugs on campus.
I think if I sent my daughter or son there thinking that this was anything other than the last stop for seriously messed up kids before turning them over to the state or the street then I would be shocked.
My son was well forwarned that if he continued doing what he was doing that we would have no choice but to remove him from our home (he was violent and using drugs in our home, expelled from school,dealing drugs and stealing from family members as well as neighbors to support his habit)
When he wrestled me to the ground in a physical stuggle when I tried to take away his pipe -- that was the last straw. I no longer felt safe in my own home.
We offered him outpatient rehab, therapy, alternative school, home school and NA (he went to the meetings high -- also a great place to make more drug connections).
We did everything first -- this was a last resort. I agree with you that it is like prison in many ways.
But with all of that said -- All I know is that my son called me from boarding school this morning all excited to tell me how much he liked it and that they were having a christmas dance with the girls dorms and that one of the girls had made a big deal of asking him to be her date to the dance.
He loves the art program and actually has developed an interest in something other than drugs for the first time in his life.
He is clean and sober and dealing with his stuff on a daily basis.
They spent Sunday watching Football in the Recroom and working out in the weightroom and playing basketball...He can use the phone whenever he wants.
I don't know but that does not sound like gulog to me.
Wilderness was exactly where he needed to be. I also saw the Mike Wallace clip (actually right here on this website)
My son was restrained within 20 minutes of arriving and within the first few weeks threatened a counsler with a tree branch... these were all learning experiences for him...
One of the biggest lessons he learned was that there were people in this world who would not put up with his crap and who he could not intimidate into giving him his own way.
I have to say that my "son" is actually a man -- 6'2" and 190lbs. He was bigger than most of the leaders...
Anyway -- to each his own. I know in my heart that what I did was right for my son. He has thanked me over and over again...
Maybe it was a fluke and if it is then I am grateful for it -