Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Facility Question and Answers
When did adoelscence become a pathology
Deborah:
Yeh, program parents hold these facilites in such high esteen when there's nothing magical about it. There's not a damn thing the program does that a parent who condones such methods couldn't do at home and save tens of thousands of dollars. Why don't they? What motivates them to 'hire it done'? The answer to that question should give a good indication as to why the kid is really at a program.
Heard a psych author on NPR recently talking about happiness...think his book is called Stumbling on Happiness. He surveyed a large number of parents on what made them happy. At the top were the expected, Spending time with partner, sex, more money and the goodies that come with it.... Parenting was way down the list, right there with house cleaning.
MightyAardvark:
and once again we come down to the shitty, selfish behaviour of the baby boomer generation.
Anonymous:
Thanks for believing me... unfortunately, I am for real. Unfortunately, we have tried the residential treatment facility already and, like many other short term programs, it worked for a while, but now (6 mos later) we're right back where we started. The irony is that he's just bad enough to be in the "not normal adolescent misbehavior" but he does not have a clear psychiatric diagnosis--and we have seen three shrinks about this and at least 4 psychologists, I'm not even exagerating.
When he was at the residential treatment program, most of the kids there were violent and dangerous, they were a much bigger threat to him and the staff than the other way around (his report). He has trouble with school work although he has a superiour intelligence, has trouble dealing with stress although he has lots of friends... it's just a huge mystery. A lock down treatment facility is not what he needs, he needs to be somewhere, away from the distractions of life, with people who can help him figure out what the HELL is going on.
We are working very closely with an educational consultant who is a clinical psychologist herself, our family therapist, and all of the professionals who have worked with him to identify the best course of action. I understand the point about telling the police, but having a criminal record that starts at the age of 15 in the state of Texas is a *really* bad idea and if there is no proof, the police can't do anything anyway--we've investigated it.
There are no easy answers with all of this--I've dealt with some shit in my life, and this is by far the hardest. You all (y'all) might want to consider cutting some of the parents some slack. Information (real information) about the pros, cons, and choices available is the way to prevent kids from being hurt in these type of places...
Thanks again for the responses.
Anonymous:
Oh and by the way - when he came back from the residential treatment, we did convert the garage into a room for him and his friends (a neighbor donated a big screen TV) and he sneaks out the back door, not his window. Is your suggestion that I make a prison cell out of his room so we can sleep at night? That would go over well with the fire chief. Or maybe you think we should stay up all night and make sure he doesn't leave - oh wait, that's right, he leaves anyway when I've caught him.
My suggestion, get off your high horse and get down in the trenches with those of us fighting this fight. Easy to make judgement, hard as shit to know what to do.
Anonymous:
I think it's time to just let him go.
Have you researched emancipated-minor statutes?
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