Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Ridge Creek School / Hidden Lake Academy

Drugs on Campus

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Anonymous:
hla did not help me with any of my drug problems, whenever i questioned thier addictions program, the reply from the counselors was "do the work or go to restrictions" or "if you don't complete your firtst/second/ect step(s) then you will lose your break". these scare tactics are not effective, and further decrease the students' willingness to follow through with the program, and will soon resort to bullshitting the work. and besides, even if they completely isolated the campus from drugs, the students would resort to more creative means to get high, like siphoning gas from cars!!! that actually happened at a different therapudic school, but not hla. hla spreads itself too thin, dealing with issues such as eating disorders, drug addiction, family issues, emotional problems, suicidal kids, and whatever other issues of children upon which they can further capitalize. a drug rehab that deals with only addicts will probably do more good. or you could try keeping him at home and drug test him randomly and get him into a private therapist and monitor who he spends time with. let him experience the growth and development a teenager needs by giving him responsibilities like a job, managing a bank account,anything to keep him occupied and keep him on the right track. these things  have helped me more than coersive therapy, restrictions, and fallout (tattle-tale sessions, narc-fest, ect.) all of these are cheaper and more effective alternitives to abusive programs i wish my mom had done that for me, there would have been more results with less time and money. these are my opinions, i am not a doctor, therapist, or counselor. i am only a college student who struggled in the same aspects of life as your son. the ultimate desicion is with you, and may it be the best.

Antigen:
Though I hold w/ Stanton Peele and some others that addiction is a choice, not a disease, I have my `pinions about what often causes people to have trouble with drugs. It's real simple most of the time. Psychotropic drugs make you feel good. They work really well and that's why people use them; to treat emotional pain in various ways. The Synanon method is built on inducing stress and various kinds of emotional and physical discomfort. A good many program vets have mentioned some similarities between their Program and the fucked up things we do to inmates at places like Guantanimo Bay and Abu Grhaib. Here's a nice run down on how therapeutic that can be.

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=20144

I don't think it's coincidence at all that so many of my friends from 20 odd years ago have had such severe problems w/ substance abuse. Not only is the Synanon method unhelpful, I think it induces the perfect conditions to foster substance abuse problems.

Anonymous:

--- Quote from: ""panther1258"" ---I am the parent of a current HLA student who has a serious addiction problem.  We tried everything we knew about---multiple therapists, local programs, meetings, various consequences, discipline,etc., but still he managed to use whatever he could get his hands on---we just could not get him to stop using, so since he is a minor I felt it was our responsibility as parents (we are divorced and have not always agreed on appropriate action) to keep him safe and try to stop his substance abuse even though he was not a willing participant.  Over the last two years he has been at two wilderness programs (both fabulous I thought---the therapists and staff far superior from what I've seen at therapeutic schools) another school,  which I was not very impressed with, but he came home at Christmas last year (against his therapist's recommendation), ran away to miss the plane back and then managed to convince his father to let him stay home.  He hated this other school and when I visited HLA I thought it would be much better (both were recommended by a consultant who seemed to be ethical and knowledgable).  Well, he hates HLA even more than the other school he says, and he tells us all sorts of negative things, including that he obtains and sells various substances there.  What makes this more difficult is that my child often lies and it is hard to discern what is truth and what is said in an effort to get back home.  We have told him he is not coming home until we feel that he has addressed hid substance abuse issues and we feel he isn't a danger to himself and others.  I asked him if there is another school he thinks would be better and he suggested Hyde.  I looked briefly at some of the Hyde postings and got the impresion that there are serious issues there---it didn't strike me as a good alternative.  So my question to those of you have knowledge about these things---is there another place that would be a good alternative for a 17 year old (just had  his bday) who needs serious substance abuse help.  He says the only place he really felt good about and supported by peole who really wanted to stop using was a local 30+ day program for adults which he ran away from and was eventually kicked out of for multiple instances of using.  We don't know if they would take him back and aren't sure it makes sense since we already tried it and failed.   He needs a place where he really can't get drugs and alcohol.  Is it in fact possible that he has such easy access at HLA?  Its very hard to know what to believe.  I have been reading the postings on this site and others for some time (I didn't know about them before we sent him to HLA) and a lot of what I read worries me, as well as the allegations in the law suit.  But I know that allegations are just that, they may or may not be true and some of them and the other issues dissected here and elsewhere  pale in comparison to the issues and concerns I have as the parent of a son who would surely self destruct if we let him (let me just say he has taken huge risks with his health and safety for himself and his family.  I think I understand some of the issues the people on this site complain about---certainly there is a lot to complain about at most of the schools and programs and I'm sure there are parents who overreact and send there kids away when they don't need to, but I really believe that the majority of them only do it when they have tried everything else and failed. I don't believe that most parents want to get rid of their troublesome teenagers, most of them, like us, would give most anything to be able to have their kids home with them. If you are at a point where you believe your child's health and safety are at risk then sending them away can be an act of love, not bad parenting.  Sorry to have rambled so long, I would appreciate feedback as to the liklihood of truth of access of drugs at HLA and better alternatives, if there are any. Thank you all very much in advance.
--- End quote ---


THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO BEING A PARENT.

Re-read that a few times.

There is no magic answer, no easy button, no "program" that can replace being a parent. Period. IT DOES NOT EXIST.

There is no evidence, anywhere, that any program that has ever existed has ever done any good to anyone put in them or has lowered recidivism regarding drug ABUSE, crime, treating psychological conditions, depression, ADD, ADHD, or whatnot.

Go look if you want, you won't find any. All they have are unscientific SURVEYS of parents of program-graduate students. Thats not proof, thats not evidence, its nonsense.

What you really should do, is pull your kid out, and be a parent, and try to repair the damage HLA (just like any other program) has done to your child. Get a real shrink. Let him be free and have volition and human rights and a normal adolescence again. Its a VERY important time in life and taking that away from someone, stealing the last part of their childhood, is a horrible, horrible, horrible thing to do.

You were fooled by the industry. ED-cons are not professionals, they just get paid for each referral. They are not equipped to diagnose a god damned thing, did you know that? I doubt they told you...

Programs are also completely unable to treat anything! When pressed they admit they don't! All they do is something that is unmeasurable, (and nonsensical...) which is "Emotional Growth" - which is basically their excuse to do quackery and call it useful. Or, they just say they're a behavior modification school. And you know what that is, right?

"Do what we want, say what we want, act like you think and believe as we want you to, or we will hurt you and keep you here even longer, and your parents won't believe what you tell them we do, because we told them not to!".

You wanna help your kid? Start being a parent again. Thats the only answer... there is no alternative to that.

Panther:
Cassandra, former HLA student "guest" and Niles,
     Thank you for your responses. I  appreciate what you have to say and have been mulling it all over. Yes, as a parent I have definately screwed up and my son is the victim. However, I'm still not convinced that the answer is to bring him home and try again. He has had many, many opportunities, but he either cannot/will not stop abusing drugs and alcohol if it is available. I'm not sure I can agree that substance abuse is not a disease---I think its part of the problem for some people, but it is also caused by emotional pain for sure. The first time I observed my son drinking alcohol ( his father allowed it at a family party) I knew we were going to have a problem (plus, it runs in the family). His reaction was scary-- he loved it way too much and just wanted more. I actually have a fairly liberal attitude towards drugs and alcohol-- I have done my share of indulging, support legalization, donate to Drug Policy Alliance, and don't have an issue with my other kids reasonable consumption as long as they don't drive impaired, but this kid is different. We have to lock up all alcohol when he is around. We also have to hide money--I walk around with my purse when he is with me. And yes, when he can't get his substances of choice he will take whatever--mouthwash, cough syrup, huffing cans of Axe--I constantly find out about new things that can be abused (gas was a new one to me) and we try to clear out these things when he is around. He almost died of alcohol poisoning when he downed a large quantity of vodka he snagged at a relative's house-- it only took about 15 minutes--the doctor said one more shot could have been fatal. He was smoking weed before school most days (and sees nothing wrong with this ---"everyone wakes and bakes"), admits to trying/abusing various other illegal substances, crack,heroin and crystal meth are the only ones he says he hasn't done, and if so, it was just a matter of time.His predisposition to addiction made these especially scary. He admitted to shooting up coke (once). He regularly sold to others and associated with several  very frightening dealers, brought them home (!), stole lots of money from lots of people, stole expensive jewelry and pawned it, and probably more that I don't know about. If he was able to use in moderation I would be delighted, life would be great for all of us---we tried that too--but moderate doesn't exist for him, unless moderate includes smoking weed more than once a day  and huge amounts of alcohol.Yes, it is almost impossible to stop someone who is determined to get high, but shouldn't we try? We tried 5 different therapists/psychiatrists -- he didn't really respond to them.  We tried every punishment/reward we could come up with. We had him go to meetings, found him a sponsor, took him to visit jail, had family member recovering addicts talk to him, anything I could think of. And yes, I'm not terribly impressed with the success rate of any substance abuse program. I readily admit my failures as a parent, but  I think he knows he is loved and even if he doesn't feel it now someday he will understand that we ran out of parenting options. It may sound like BS to some of you, but I truly believe that this kid would end up dead or in jail. Maybe that prospect has lost its significance since its tossed around with impunity, but as a parent who  believed it was a real possibility, keeping him safe or at least safer was the best I could do.

RobertBruce:

--- Quote ---If he was able to use in moderation I would be delighted,
--- End quote ---


I usually try and remain respectful for as long as possible but in this case I'm going to have to make an exception. Lady you're an idiot. With your permissive attitude of course your son was bound to become an addict. You can't allow him to use something you know to be potentially addictive (espically coupled with your family history) and then punish him when he becomes an addict.

"Now Johnny, you know I only alow you to use blow on weekends, never on a school night."

You need to wake up. Meanwhile of course all your kid is learning at HLA is new ways to hide his drug use from you and new things to get high off of.

My advice is for you to pull your kid and place him in a wilderness program, one that you actually look into and can verify with absolute certainity is safe and obeying the law. Keep him there until he gets his head straight and then apologize for setting him on this path to begin with.

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