Winning The Culture War

[TheWho]

What the helll are you talking about, Who?  Kids at Straight, AARC, Pathway, KIDS, all the wilderness programs, all the WWASP facilities but especially the foreign ones, the Christian programs like New Horizons and many, many others I could name CANNOT walk away.

They often feel as though there is no way out but death.  And the aftermath affects a very significant proportion of kids-- it's impossible to measure the exact proportion without studies, but once you know that a method has a potential to harm, you don't keep practicing it, especially when there are safer, less invasive methods that ARE proven safe and effective.

You are generalizing,  I know first hand that this isnt true.  My daughter decided to run away from ASR and she did.  The counselors followed her and talked to her and finally decided to return.  Upon her return the school called me and informed me of what happened and my daughter and I spoke that afternoon.
If she ran a second time she would be kicked out....... there were many other ways to be sent home, drugs, having sex etc.  So what you are saying isnt true, unless it is possible that all schools are not the same.

Who, the experience your daughter had at ASR is not the same as all the other programs.  I know that other places have fences that force you to stay and make you sleep outside, why dont you see that?

[TheWho]

What the helll are you talking about, Who?  Kids at Straight, AARC, Pathway, KIDS, all the wilderness programs, all the WWASP facilities but especially the foreign ones, the Christian programs like New Horizons and many, many others I could name CANNOT walk away.

They often feel as though there is no way out but death.  And the aftermath affects a very significant proportion of kids-- it's impossible to measure the exact proportion without studies, but once you know that a method has a potential to harm, you don't keep practicing it, especially when there are safer, less invasive methods that ARE proven safe and effective.

You are generalizing,  I know first hand that this isnt true.  My daughter decided to run away from ASR and she did.  The counselors followed her and talked to her and finally decided to return.  Upon her return the school called me and informed me of what happened and my daughter and I spoke that afternoon.
If she ran a second time she would be kicked out....... there were many other ways to be sent home, drugs, having sex etc.  So what you are saying isnt true, unless it is possible that all schools are not the same.

Who, the experience your daughter had at ASR is not the same as all the other programs.  I know that other places have fences that force you to stay and make you sleep outside, why dont you see that?

Very hard to explain, but let me say that those other places are not indicative of the industry as a whole...they are more the exception.  All types of places exist and parents have the option of choosing a place that does not have fences and has a nutrinalist, licensed therapists etc.  but it is difficult to get any of that information here on fornits.  People are not willing to talk about the better places here.

[Anonymous]

The kids are not even remotely put in a position where they feel captive

oh hi im in ur thread with a dose of reality

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... c&start=60

There were more kids who were dangers to themselves. I honestly think ASR is very lucky in that no one has succeeded in committing suicide. I can tell you first hand that for someone with major depression ASR could drive you past breaking point easily. It seemed like they pick and chose who they took seriously about being suicidal. I was not taken seriously, and had my roommate not been in the room one day, I may well have taken my life. I do not say that to evoke pity or anything else like that, and I was not using it to "manipulate" ( a favorite ASR term)

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... c&start=60
Three Springs Waygookin wrote:
1) What is self-study?

2) Describe this Escorting more please?

3) Why was a student doing the escorting of a self-harming/suicidal resident and not a staff member?


A self study was the worst of the three major consequences. (reflection, challenge, self study). You had work projects, all free time was spent at your table, facing the wall. Lots of writing assignments. Loss of all privileges. Standing during all meetings. You most likely had strict bans

Basically I had to take her back to the dorm and be with her while she gathered up her things and changed, etc. I don't remember if she showered or not. I was basically there to make sure she didn't attempt again.

I don't know why they had me do it. I was "trusted" at that point, and honestly... probably a better choice than some of the staff.

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... r&start=15
yes, they did. to a large degree. Dean Kent (the staff mentioned in the article) was gone by the time i had arrived. (he was there in 1997, and i got to ASR in Cummington, MA on January 5th of 1998) i had heard from other students about Dean, that he was a really nice guy but fired b/c he'd called DSS on them. Brett Carey was still the Dean of Student Life when i arrived, and his wife Lisa also helped in the fitness department & was pregnant when i first arrived. They had 2 other daughters, Madison & Carly. The whole thought was a bit frightening, because when we had the 2 hour group "therapy" sessions 2 times a week, they were harsh and abusive to say the least. All of us students would be split into 2 groups, and we'd be rounded up in a circle to get screamed at, belittled and dehumanized. They called it "confrontational", although it was more like verbal abuse and intentional slaughtering.
i was very afraid while i was there, as a student with an extensive sexual abuse history involving rape & incest, i was constantly the target of this slaughtering, esp. b/c i was overweight at the time. needless to say, i left ASR with anorexia some 19 months later.
Brett & other students were all allowed to scream vulgarities at you, called you a "fat bitch, slut," and all. at the age of 15 i learned the word "dildo" while playing scrabble with Brett. One of my roomates claimed that Brett had forced her into sexual operations.
Most of all, it was excusable for students to haze each other.
It was almost looked at as funny. One Staff named Kristen Merhoff gave me funny looks and made sarcastic and patronizing comments when i'd opened up to her about my eating disorder.
Later on, a staff named Amy Robichaud would scream at me for ruining my life, pushing everyone away, talking about how i was a disasterous person, unworthy of being loved. To say the least, she was an abusive person, much alike a person in the throws of an addiction like alchoholism & drug addictions, both of which she admittedly had. There was a great deal of favoritism there, even staff who seemed to want to gain the approval of certain students.
The labor & sleep deprivation that was mentioned in the article is most likely in reference to the "Lifesteps". These were so called "workshops" it was mandatory for all students to attend. Staff and students would be expected to open up there deepest and most unknown
secrets for the sake of "growing". It's true, there was little sleeping allowed & often i myself left feeling shamed & ridiculed.
i was one of the main targets in that school the entire time i was there, a target of hazing & was even blamed for a student breaking into the med office and comsuming large quantities of my prescriptions. For the first 5 months i was there, you could litterally leave, go smoke 1/2 a pack of cigarettes, drop a couple tabs of acid, take like 5 hits off a joint come back & they wouldn't even realize it.
ASR is, to say the least, a very very fucked up place. i have several more things to say, but this whole thing would take eons.

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... r&start=30

I am a former student at ASR. I was in the first peer group, 97-98. My experience there haunts me to this day. I have read many articles that refer to the "old staff" and "new staff". I cannot speak for the way ASR is run now, being 2004, but I can speak for how it was run in 97 and 98. Let me start by saying that I am not an angry, defiant kid who is trying to start trouble for ASR. I have graduated high school and am about to graduate college and enter law school. I don't get into trouble, I am a productive member of society, and want people to know the truth. We were badgered, belittled, sworn at, made to stay up all night during "life steps" and given only small rations of food, had all calls to our parents monitored by staff and had the phone hung up on us if we tried to complain to our parents about these things, scrutinized and humiliated on a daily basis. Our mail was read, staff lost their voices by yelling so loudly at us, I personally was called a "slut", a rich little Daddysgirl, a doormat, told my dad tried to buy my love with money, made to discuss personal sexual and private experiences in group sessions with other peers, made to write a ten page paper by hand about what my "issues" were, and if the staff didn't like it, I started over ( this was because I was too close to my friend there, and they put us on bans so we couldn't talk to each other). People, whomever wants to hear specific stories about all of these things, I would be more than happy to share with you!!! email me at [email protected] i bet i can help you get her out of there


I also graduated from ASR very recently on August the 6th. And I can tell you right now that any kid who complained, their parents were manipulated right out of believing them. There was extreme emotional abuse there, and the only reason anyone's behavior was modified was because they were scared shitless of staying there longer or going to a worse program. We were so scared, your own friends turned against you and you couldnt trust them. The group sessions were awful. One of my friends who had issues with sleeping around was in group and the counselor in the room told her that she might as well keep a mattress tied to her back. Daily, I heard awful things about myself and everyday I was just so sad. Places like this are awful and they need to be stopped. ASR isnt even the worst of them but they all need to go.

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... r&start=60

I am a an ASR graduate. I graduated in October of 03. At the end of the program I believed that ASR had done a lot for me. Looking back I am shocked that I ever thought that. I was made to turn against my friends and turn them in for the slightest rule breaking (for example listening to music). In group we were often degraded and yelled at, supposedly to make us better. Several times I was suicidal and instead of worrying they told me I was lying and being manipulative. In one group eveyone was allowed to go around and say their judgements against everyone else things like "youre a fat slut". That group was horrible. You were scared into being good and behaving. I'm not sure why I thought this place was so great, I feel as if I was brainwashed in a way.
The wilderness experience was horrible. I spent over 40 days in the outdoors being punished for any little thing we did wrong. My first day I had to run 20 minutes and when I stopped the counselers screamed at me and when i vomited they didnt care. just told me i shouldt have drank so muich water.

I believe these people who were at the facility more than TheWho.

[TheWho]

Thewho said:   "Very hard to explain"

I say, we have all night.  I am up half the night as it is and I will wait for your answer.  It sounds like you dont want to listen.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if theWho is fat. I bet he is.

[Anonymous]

I have zero faith in the ability of legislature in the area of passing effective regulations against TBS programmes. I've seen their ability to change to meet the new circumstances first hand. Congress will put on a big song and dance whilst programmes snigger and make a few superficial changes.
 

My thoughts on this calls for a long term war against the very roots of the problems. Or at least the part of the problem I believe that can be addressed in the area of the incredible ignorance that exists in our population to this very day. This is despite the fact that numerous websites, forums, books, and now movies exist.

Time and persistence will help reduce this ignorance in our society. Thoughts ideas and suggestions are being called for to address this matter. I've already started on a writing project of my own, put on hold due to my current vacation, but it will be finished.

IDEas biatches..

and not just Oh lets let Maia deal with it.

come on people.. takes an entire damn army not just one soldier.

Chain letters.

[TheWho]

I have zero faith in the ability of legislature in the area of passing effective regulations against TBS programmes. I've seen their ability to change to meet the new circumstances first hand. Congress will put on a big song and dance whilst programmes snigger and make a few superficial changes.
 

My thoughts on this calls for a long term war against the very roots of the problems. Or at least the part of the problem I believe that can be addressed in the area of the incredible ignorance that exists in our population to this very day. This is despite the fact that numerous websites, forums, books, and now movies exist.

Time and persistence will help reduce this ignorance in our society. Thoughts ideas and suggestions are being called for to address this matter. I've already started on a writing project of my own, put on hold due to my current vacation, but it will be finished.

IDEas biatches..

and not just Oh lets let Maia deal with it.

come on people.. takes an entire damn army not just one soldier.

How do you wage war against something that is not defined?  What are we waging war against?  Parents?  Abuse?  TBS? Wilderness?  
We need to define the problem first... in writting......  What is the problem...lets come up with a list of problems or potential problems that need to be addressed...

[3xsaSeedling]

Chain letters.

BRILLIANT!!

[Anonymous]

What is the problem...

The fact that you don't know, even after three thousand posts, means you're part of it. Go back to your playground, hmm? The adults are busy now.

Chain letters are excellent because they propagate among those who are stupid enough to spread chain letters, those people being the primary targets of this industry.

We don't even need to exaggerate or lie. Find something particularly nasty on ISAC and copypaste that. Hopefully it'll get featured on Snopes with a nice big True.[/color] on top.

[Anonymous]

What are we waging war against?  Parents?  Abuse?  TBS? Wilderness?  .

Parental Abuse in TBS and Wilderness.

Just leave out your question marks next time and you got it!

[Anonymous]

So who's going to write this? Remember, chain letter email is best sent to people they know, so hopefully the people sending it out will have lots of people in their address book.

And remember, it has to be written in a style that gives it legs. Post any and all first drafts here.

I'm bad at this shit, but I'll do it if no one else steps up.

It doesn't matter if Who or other programmies see it, because they have no idea who you're going to send it to and they won't see it again until it spreads.

[Anonymous]

Some good viral anti-program videos might do the trick since they sometimes go national and get mainstream news attention.

[psy]

bump

[Anonymous]

A MAJOR obstacle in trying to oust the Troubled Teen Industry has to do with the fact that it is a real money maker.  This has resulted in its being absorbed by the more pervasive, prolific, and highly entrenched substance abuse industry.  Witness CRC Health Corporation's acquisition of Aspen Educational Group in September/October of 2006.  Prior to branching out in the Residential Treatment arena, CRC Health was, and still remains, perhaps the largest non-government substance abuse provider in the United States.  "Non-government" may be in name only.  The former Director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, General Barry McCaffrey, is a prolific spokesperson for CRC Health's eGetgoing project, and on CRC's Board of Directors.

The financial markets have noticed, and are now involved in the buying and selling of these companys and institutions as viable, and lucrative, commodities.  Witness Bain Capital LLC's acquisition of CRC Health Corp. for $720 Million, a deal announced in October of 2005, and finalized in February of 2006.  Bain Capital, incidentally, was co-founded in 1984 by presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bain_Capital

Legislation ain't gonna do shit when the seemingly sanctioned sources of finance are involved on this level.  Welcome to the New World Order.

Bumping 101

They key in bumping threads, is to include relevant posts in your bumps.