If this post is genuine and this person actually went through a program, liked it, made friends there, etc. Then it only serves as one more example of why programs are bad. The writer is angry and vindictive and name calls children who are struggling with issues in their lives. They are whining babies that refuse to participate and refuse to take accountability.
If this lack of empathy for struggling children is the normative result of having been through a program then programs are clearly dangerous. They produce angry adults without compassion, empathy, or concern for the psychological welfare of those unwilling participants who might not benefit from this one particularly tough form of rehabilitation. Thier narrow minds believe that if the participant had a bad experience, the fault must lie with the participant instead of the method/program. Blame the victim.
Teens misbehave for many reasons and psychologists point out that the behavior is not really the problem. There are underlying problems are causing the behavior. The underlying problem of a troubled child is never diagnosed as 'refusing to take accountability.' This is not the problem. It is a symptom. I know many child psychologists who have universally informed me that it is very often not the kids, but the parents that have the problem. Kids, they say, are pretty easy to help because they are young and impressionable. Adults think they are always right. So blaming the parents is not always wrong to do.
Common sense tells me that a teen with a real mental illness ranging from ADHD to schizophrenia, would most likely be harmed far more than helped by a tough-love program. Likewise, I think that a child rebelling from overly strict, overly religious, or flat out abusive parents would also find a program less than helpful. The program is only going to reinforce the parents' position against the child. The child has no recourse, but to submit to this fiasco, or they can't get out of the program.
The writer's, and by extension, the programs' lack of insight into such an obvious truth points out the kind of ignorance that allows abuse to occur. They have no idea what they are doing. They have no respect for the kids as individuals, only as sheep to be processed with one possible outcome.
Welcome to the herd, writer of hate and ignorance. For you, life is simple. Authority is always right and the kids are always wrong. Enjoy your life of blind obedience.
Finally, I am a middle aged man with a well behaved teenaged child. Neither me nor my child has ever attended a program. I have no axe to grind other than a concern for the rights and safety of my fellow citizens and my son's peers.
