Families arrive at the Academy at Swift River so ready to get their unruly child out of the house that few ask for statistics demonstrating a successful track record.
Good thing. The school, located in a former dairy, is run by a for-profit company and DOES NOT COMPILE SUCH FIGURES.
They cry. They curse. They conspire to run away. They disclose secrets about abuses suffered. One day, a student has an apparent breakthrough in therapy. Soon after, she's having sex with a classmate in the bathroom.
One unorthodox punishment is to withhold spices ? INCLUDING SALT ? from students' food.
Swift River revolves around ritual, yet the staff struggles, and sometimes fails, to keep order. The intensity of the work leads to burnout. One beloved teacher is later spotted by a former student working in a New York deli.
Marcus shows how out-of-control teenagers have spawned a lucrative industry. Consultants advise parents on the best therapeutic boarding schools. Psychologists apply labels. Drug companies keep the pills coming.
The only misfit in this well-crafted book is the title: It's unclear what it takes to pull these kids through. Counselors acknowledge some would outgrow their problems without Swift River. And one kid who absorbs all the nurturing Swift River can provide still ends up dead of an overdose.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib ... teens.htmlAny news articles on this death?
Inquiring minds want to know....
Where are the stats that might show a successful track record? Deaths? Injuries? Assaults? PTSD?
Why do they not compile such data?
[ This Message was edited by: Deborah on 2006-06-20 11:59 ]