Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Troubled Teen Industry

Things are not as they seem.

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Carey:
I am starting to have a whole lot of questions about a whole lot of people who claim to be on the side of help.  :???:  I am finding that there are quite a few number of individuals who are in this for their own self gain.  Their intentions are not completely "pure."  I am not talking just about the consultants and the programs themselves but also the teens who were incarcerated there along with their parents and even the press who are covering the stories.

Anonymous:
I am planning to send my 16 yr old son to a wilderness camp.    :cry:  :cry: This isn't a case of a rich kid who won't clean his room.  He runs away and hops freight trains by himself.  I could handle it if he was tougher or with a group.  I am sure he will get killed if I don't stop him.  If he was only dropping out of school and pot smoking, I would never even think of anything like this.  Does anyone know of any alternatives I could use to keep him safe?  He is hospitialized for now.  I think he gets depressed and runs away to deal with it.  He won't accept therapy.  Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

Carey:
All I can say is if you choose to put your child in some type of boarding school be sure that you can visit him/her at anytime, unnanounced. Make sure that he is in a school that is close to home so that frequent visits are possible.  Be invovled with his care directly, not indirectly through others.  Make sure he/she is in a place that demands your input and involvement in and on every decision made. Make sure that those who take care of your child are educated and trained to work with children who have emotional problems.  This is your child and your responsibilty, not anyone elses!  Nobody is going to love your child like you love your child.  Don't be fooled into thinking those who you pay to take care of your child love your child!  BECAUSE THEY DON'T!!  If they did they would be the grandparents, or the like, and they would be doing it for free!

I personally would not send my child to any type of specialty school.  There are not any regulations in place at this time on these programs. Your child is probably at less risk of being harmed on a train than in a behavior modification program.

FaceKhan:
Use the least intrusive method possible. Long term studies both of wildnerness programs and so-called therepuetic boarding schools and all other types of confrontational therapy show no helpful long term effects and in many cases Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder results from longterm incarceration.

Try to find a relative for him to go visit for a few weeks or plan a trip somewhere. If you need to get away from him for a while, send him on a trip by himself or with a friend or family member he likes. Not to make light of your situation but it seems like he has an urge to travel anyways. For a lot less money than any program you could send him anywhere in the world. You could make a deal with him and tell him that you will send him anywhere he wants to if he will stop hopping trains. If he wants something dangerous he can skydive about 200 times for the cost of most programs or take two trips to the North Pole or about 50 hikes along the appalachian trail. The list goes on. Hell he could buy a car with that kind of money. You could probably spend 4-6 months in Europe for that much money or a year in Asia or Latin America.


 20 thousand dollars spent on something positive can go a lot farther than a wildnerness program and a lot less dangerous than having him escorted to some prison/mental hospital.

If all else fails you could illustrate why you think this behavior is too dangerous.
"If you jump on that train I am jumping on the next one."

_________________
No greater love hath a man, then he lay down his life for his brother, not for millions, not for glory, not for fame, for one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.

[ This Message was edited by: FaceKhan on 2003-07-20 19:53 ]

[ This Message was edited by: FaceKhan on 2003-07-20 20:23 ]

Anonymous:
He doesn't want to go anywhere with a paid ticket. He wants the adventure the hobo life.

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