I just found this 2001 article. The fact that hatred towards youth is treated so matter of fact in this article amazes me. I thought that drug addiction was a disease? I thought normal people just fall prety to it? No, apparantly all drug users are terrible "nasty" liars and must be treated like so. I know when I went into aarc I wasted a liar or "nasty". I was a pretty innocent young girl.
"You can't con the con man' says Dr. Vause, 'These kids don't come here because they see the light, rather they feel the heat. They're the biggest cons I've ever met. They are not honest, they are addicted and they're nasty. So we have a philosopy, bad manners only understands bad manners. We get in their face, we have to meet them on their level. They can't come in here and run the system. They're master at bullying other clients, or manipulating to get the heat off"
Funny isn't it? Before AARC I was "harm none". Never had to "Bully" anyone or "get the heat off" until I realized that doing so would help me spend less years of my life instead of a cold converted garage. What's AARC's new way of "bad manners" to "help" kids?
"When they first come through the door the adolescents, aged 12 to 21 are often angry and defiant. Sometimes they have to be shackled".
Shackled? Wow, guess restraining with hands and bodyweight doesn't get them off anymore. Glad I'm not there, and can offer a small resource for those who are not out. I don't kow about the rest of you, but I think if I had a kid who was developing a drug problem I wouldn't consider them suddenly nasty manipulative liars - if my kid grew up to be a nasty manipulative liar I would accept that perhaps I'd done a little something wrong. I would understand that drug usage is a fact of life in our society today and doesn't make someone less of a sensative, respect worthy human being like the rest of us.
These quotes are taken from No Excuses Here, March 5, 2001 by Marnie Ko.
