Author Topic: Gratitude  (Read 2855 times)

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Offline katfish

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Gratitude
« on: August 17, 2005, 01:27:00 AM »
In 2001 i began speaking out against MMS methods, and there were a few girls, who have since disappeared, with whom I shared diaglogue with on this topic. This was done on a strugglingteens.com forum.  They stopped allowing discussions that mentioned specific schools and criticisms, so for the longest open dialogue ceased. Despite the fact that I dislike how heated things get sometimes on this site, i am so grateful that Ginger has created this forum where girls like me can  share and have open diaglogue.  So, thank you Ginger.

Secondly, thank you to all the girls who share.  its such a relief to have such a  strong sense of commaradre among so many.  I really felt very alone until recently.  I have so much respect for all of you for being  being so strong and great advocates for yourselves- it seems it's a rarity to find such an alliance.  I think that this is a big reason why places like MMS have gotten away with this kind of thing for so long.  

So- i just have to say I'm grateful...and exhausted.  Since this whole thing started I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and, as I'm sure most of you know that revisiting the past is tiresome anyway without feeling like you have to contend with people who want to dismiss your points by resorting to the very same ways MMS made us submit- by calling us crazy or fucked up.  Given that most of us have been called that for many years, it probably feels like a low blow that's somehow legitimate if only in it familiarity- at least at first that's what I felt- and those were the emotions I had to deal with.  In some ways this turned out to be a good thing if only b/c of all the things I've realized that I'm talking about now.  

I just hope that no one decides that this is true and they have no right to speak b/c of it.  MMS was supposed to be there to help us, many of us not only were not helped, but we had to deal with the additional problems MMS caused us after we left (in addition to the original ones the got us there in the first place).  I'm lucky i made i out alive...i came very close many times to not making it.

No matter where any of us are in our lives, no matter our struggles, we had a right to be helped in ways that were promised to our parents.  We were not.  Each one of us, fucked up or not, has a right to point this out and attempt to figure out why and examine what went wrong.
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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
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Offline Anonymous

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Gratitude
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2005, 12:16:00 PM »
i hear ya, this whole things has been really hard...i'm happy to have some support
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Antigen

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Gratitude
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2005, 12:41:00 PM »
Quote
On 2005-08-16 22:27:00, katfish wrote:

Despite the fact that I dislike how heated things get sometimes on this site, i am so grateful that Ginger has created this forum where girls like me can share and have open diaglogue. So, thank you Ginger.


Well thanks for saying so. It's good to hear something nice once in awhile. And you're very welcome. Thank you for having the guts to put yourself out there as you have. I honestly believe that this kind of blunt honesty is the natural remedy to the kind of polly-raz-ma-taz on which the industry thrives.

If you believe that people cannot be trusted to govern themselves,
then can they be trusted to govern others?
 
--Thomas Jefferson

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"Don\'t let the past remind us of what we are not now."
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Offline Antigen

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Gratitude
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2005, 12:44:00 PM »
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On 2005-08-18 09:03:00, Three Springs Waygookin wrote:

When I first posted my experiences as a youth counselor on Fornits I was expecting to get roasted alive. I had spent a few days pondering the wisdom of pretty much hurling myself at the feet of a group of people who by all means do have reasonable justification to intensely dislike staff.


Well, you did get a li'll dose. But then, it's not asif you continue to blindly support these places or attack the integrity of those who were hurt by them.

Thanks for hanging around. I, for one, am very interested in finding out more of what you know.

Neither in my private life nor in my writings, have I ever made a secret of being an out-and-out unbeliever.
--Sigmund Freud, Austrian-born psychologist

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
"Don\'t let the past remind us of what we are not now."
~ Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes

Offline Anonymous

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« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2005, 06:18:00 PM »
I feel that it is most difficult to be in our position because people are quick to judge our opinions. It is easy to "move on" and ignore what happened, but that is why this world has turned to be as it has. The world is easier to be left destroying itself- and others- exept there are those, like many of us, who will not tolerate things that we instinctively see as wrong. Honestly I would rather not even put up a fight it takes much of my energy protesting in all of this, it even appears in my dreams when I am supposed be resting.
Thoughts often wonder in my mind when I observe 14 year old girls playing and ponder in my mind how young they are...and how young I was when I was sent away hardly knowing about sex and yet being forced to tell all my sexual experinces. I say to myself "those girls don't even know anything about life barely in their teens.,just passed the 8th grade. They are so innocent playing
and me at 14 being corrupted by this system forced to believe all these complications about life. sex addict, drug addict, alcohilic,OCd , ADD, Narssasistic, CRAZY. Life is so simple and people make everything so complicated. Anything can be analyzed, but...I'd rather not let this world move on so humbly and beutiful.Let the 14 year old girls play their jump rope and have their sweet little crushes and they will do their experimenting and they will make their mistakes. Let's try understanding instead of diagnosing. Let's not step in the way and analyze their every actions and cause more problems for them. I think that there is a better way to help children become healhty adults, and MMS's way is not the right way.

Some people are blind to see but we should always be as insightful as we are and never let anyone tell us other wise.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Nonconformistlaw

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Gratitude
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2005, 11:39:00 AM »
I look forward to your forthcoming post to the Good Program Experience thread, TSW...its nice to TRY to look on the bright side in the middle of sadness, despair, frustrastion, anger, outrage etc., even though good program experiences were nonexistant for some of us(including myself).

And on another note, I too am very grateful for an outlet to openly discuss the harms the troubled teen industry has and is still causing for many...I agree, Thanks Ginger!

Although, I will add, that I also fear being attacked, especially when I mention anything connected to legal system aspects, for that in itself evokes strong feeelings and controversy, but understandably so.

Funny, this board, for me anyway, I see it as therapy sometimes, an aid to unlocking the fortress around my own program memories. Other times it feels like a war zone that fluctuates between heated debate and nasty mudslinging. But often times, even in the heat of "battle," its very educational. Sometimes I feel the welcome sense of actually belonging somewhere, where I actually have similar life experiences....and other times my legal training evokes a completely different perspective where I fall right back into being an outsider...And then again...this forum may just change the course I take in my legal career...time will tell...but I see discussions and information here influencing decisions I am making now.

So I guess, I am saying, I have many reasons I feel so grateful for an outlet that is, in my opinion, very productive for me and others, and hopefully will beome increasingly instrumental in "spreading awareness," more so than it is now, of the institutional child abuse that rages on unabated, without consequences to the perpetrators....

 ::rainbow:: [ This Message was edited by: nonconformistlaw on 2005-08-23 08:42 ]
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quot;In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.\" George Orwell

Offline granny19

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Gratitude
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2005, 09:30:00 PM »
This forum has been of great help to me since my granddaughter was taken away to a program more than a year ago. I have met a lot of good people and learned much about this abusive and horrible industry. I believe that when she is free, she will be able to find comfort and useful information here that will help her heal. So, thanks from me too, Ginger!,
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Offline Antigen

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Gratitude
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2005, 06:54:00 PM »
Well, I'm glad ya'll are finding some value in all this.

You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.
--Albert Einstein

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
"Don\'t let the past remind us of what we are not now."
~ Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes