Thank you all so much.

[Anonymous]

Recently, I became interested in the subject of these "teen boot camps", after seeing an article in the newspaper.  The more infomation I dug up, the more horrified I became.

When my mom called me one afternoon, I told her what I had been reading about.  She then dropped this bombshell on my head:  "Oh, we were considering sending you to one of those places when you were a teenager, but your father was strongly against it."

I went through a troubled period when I was a teen.  While I never did drugs or had an alcohol abuse problem, I  had a problem with shoplifting.  I fought with my parents constantly, and my grades were in the toilet.  I had suicidal thoughts constantly.

I made a lot of stupid choices.  Some of them were so stupid that I'm STILL trying to get my life turned around in the right direction.  But I know that if I had been sent to a WWASP facility, it would have destroyed my relationship with my family, if not my life.

So, I would like to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone that went through those nightmarish experiences and made a choice not to keep silent.  

You see, my dad isn't one to rush into a decision without doing research first.  I know that as soon as the option came up, he was on the internet, finding out everything he possibly could, both good and bad.  Maybe it wasn't this exact site that made him fight so strongly to keep me out of a program like this, but because there are people like all of you, I was spared my own suffering.

Thank you for speaking out.

[Antigen]

Wow! Glad to help! Thank you for letting us know!

I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard was not what I meant.



---Richard Nixon

[Goodtobefree]

Thanks to your Dad for making the right decision.  I wish there were more parents out there like him, willing to take the time to see all sides of the issue and make a rational and informed choice.

[001010]

That's why we do what we do.  ::cheers::  ::kiss::

[OverLordd]

How did you respond to what your mother said annon?

[Anonymous]

To be honest, I felt completely betrayed.  Even moreso when she said that I "was out of control" when I asked how she could have thought of doing it.  I was not a perfect teenager, but I don't think I was bad enough to be shipped off to a reprogramming camp.

It's strange, because about that time, I seem to remember some program (Oprah maybe?) that she had me watch about some camp for "troubled teens".  She asked me what I thought, and I said it seemed way too harsh.  She said it seemed like a good idea.  I'd forgotten about that until now...

Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and she's a great person and mother.  I know my teenage years were hard on her, but now we're super-close.  I think that's probably one of the reasons it's so hurtful to think about, that if I had been sent off, there's very little chance we would be as close as we are now.

[Goodtobefree]

On 2006-02-17 16:16:00, Anonymous wrote:

"To be honest, I felt completely betrayed.  Even moreso when she said that I "was out of control" when I asked how she could have thought of doing it.  I was not a perfect teenager, but I don't think I was bad enough to be shipped off to a reprogramming camp.



It's strange, because about that time, I seem to remember some program (Oprah maybe?) that she had me watch about some camp for "troubled teens".  She asked me what I thought, and I said it seemed way too harsh.  She said it seemed like a good idea.  I'd forgotten about that until now...



Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and she's a great person and mother.  I know my teenage years were hard on her, but now we're super-close.  I think that's probably one of the reasons it's so hurtful to think about, that if I had been sent off, there's very little chance we would be as close as we are now."

If you'd been sent off, there's very little chance you'd even be worried about that, as you'd probably be too concerned with the multitude of issues you had from your stay.