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

Aspiro Wilderness Camp in Utah

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Anonymous:
Teenagers die in volutary programs too - no doubt about that. From UK:

Owners fined over waterfall death, BBC. This girl wanted to go, it was a kind of vacation and she died.
Near fatal incident Inquiry after school canoe trip, BBC
'Search delay' over death cadet , BBC - Voluntary program - more about Sea cadets on Wikipedia

But such programs or schools are not to find on Fornits Wiki regardless of the fact that they have been proven to be unsafe. Perhaps that is a mistake and maybe we should have a thread about that.

Aspiro are on the wiki, because they allow teenagers to transported into their program. I don't know whether Aspiro is safe or not. I won't judge on that, but I critizise them for detaining teenagers without conviction from a court of law.

I am a father too. If one of my children got into drugs, I would properly turn to wilderness too, but I would go there myself for as long as it takes. I won't quietly watch my children to limit themselves due to an addiction. I can accept a lot. I disagree with a lot of their viewpoints on religion and choices. But it is not choices what limit their potentials or the possibilities to choice a line of business they are interested in. So they are free to take the consequences of their decisions, I won't stop them.

Should they end up in an addiction or choose a lifepartner who beats them up, I will interfere and remove them from the situation and surround them with the care and love of their parents and extended family. It would properly be in the wilderness somewhere in Sweden, but it wouldn't be a program. We won't starve ourselves and of course our "detainee" shouldn't starve either. You can call it camping or whatever, but it will only last until we can get the right kind of help and the detox period is over.

What I have failed to understand from the very beginning is why there are very few family programs in the market. The kids don't use drugs because they are evil. Often it is something between "curiosity killed the cat." and low self-esteem caused by something from their upbringing. As a parents I have already made 1000 of mistakes which could result in a bad situation years from now and fate have provided 1000 others. But if the situation ever occured I couldn't blame my kids for my mistakes or those little bumps life gives all people. It would be a task for the family to solve it. Soltreks has a family wilderness program, Monarch allows visit at any point of the stay, Aspens have tried but they have returned to their jail-the-teen-only philsofy. (It was not a statement that those program are good, just that they allowed parents to doubt the manipulation claims of the childrens and see things for themselves.)

Why is it so hard for parents to find the surplus to be acitively part of their childrens healing?

Wilderness is dangerous, but also rewarding, if you choose to go voluntary.

sunsand1960:
It appears that Aspiro may be one of the good guys in the "business." My son attended last year and speaks of his time there with fondness. He is doing very well now and attributes much of his turnaround to the "awesome staff," and the amazing high adventure activities the kids participate in. From what I have heard and studied, most wilderness programs don't do "fun" activities such as kayaking, caving, rapelling, mountain biking, etc. Also, as parents we were invited to spend time out on the trail with our son and his group... this was an amazing experience and one we'll never forget. The staff we interacted with were obviously caring, passionate and seemed to be there for the right reasons. If my son, or any of those in his different groups were being mistreated, believe me when I tell you, we would have heard about it! We heard about Aspiro from a business colleague who had their daughter attend and they had a glowing experience as well. I know there are some bad seeds out there, but I caution people to look at each place individually...

sunsand1960:
Also, we attended a parent workshop halfway through our son's stay. The interaction with staff, students and other parents were all very good. This might be another thing that is different from other programs. Parent involvement seems to be a little more available and even strongly suggested.

Anonymous:
I agree that Aspiro is one of the good guys.  I sent my daughter there a year ago and she has nothing but positive to say about it.  Besides, Aspiro doesn't put the kids in the program, us parents do.  The anger should be focused on us parents.  I wanted Aspiro to come get my daughter and they refused telling me that it was my responsibility to get her there.    I found Aspiro to be an open book.  We attended a 2 day parent workshop during the middle of her stay which was awesome. We spoke with my daughter several times during her stay on the phone and wrote letters every week back and forth.   I flew back out and went on trail with the girls group which turned out to be the most amazing experience for both of us.  The scenery was incredible, the food was tasty and plentiful, the guides were so full of passion and love and our rock climbing experience was not only fun but very, very insightful about my relationship with my daughter and what she needed from me as a dad. I got to know many of the field guides, therapist and administration and have the up most respect for all of them.  They treated my daughter like she was one of their own.   All parents are invited to attend the workshop and to go on trail anytime they want at Aspiro.  My daughter is too young to work at Aspiro (have to be 21) but she says that someday that is what she wants to do.

Ursus:
LOLs. Whether the above material is true or not true, those last three posts:

1.) sound suspiciously similar (same person?),
2.) do not sound like they were made by a parent, and
3.) sound more like a program commercial than anything I've read here in a while.
That observation alone makes me wonder just what Aspiro has to hide.

I say: RED FLAG!!  

  :D

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