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

Parents should be held accountable!

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Antigen:
It's just spooky sometimes. But I have a theory. Some of the quotes in the database are from my dad, who was known by the nickname "Crazy Mac". If anyone had the power to hang around years after death and the personality to use said power just to play pranks, that would be him.  :wink:

Don't be scared of the vaccination issue. Read up on it. Then you'll know better what to do (or not) and you won't worry so much about it.

Legalizing drugs is far from a panacea for all the distress caused by drugs, but it will eliminate most of the profit and corruption from the drug trade.

--Nobel laureate, Gary S. Becker
--- End quote ---

Antigen:
Look what just happened:
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... um=9#23178

Now, had I thought of that particular quote and remembered it was there, I might have picked it out and edited it into that particular message. But I swear I didn't. It just popped up there. Thanks Dad!!  :wave:

A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trust either of them
P.J. O'Rourke
--- End quote ---

Anonymous:

--- Quote ---On 2003-10-13 16:32:00, Carey wrote:


I would like to know the number of parents who placed their kids in one of the "programs" sought professional guidance.  I mean professional, not the Sue Scheff kind of professional, I mean a psychologist, psychiatrist or judge, a real professional not some self appointed guru.  I would like to know how many of these who sought a professional in which the professional recommended a WWASP program.


 
--- End quote ---

Carey, this thread has made me think about events leading up to my decision to send my child to TB. In the context of some of the recent posts by Ginger, Deborah and others regarding the "politics" of treatment I now in hindsight see things much more clearly. However, I am not trying to make anyone else accountable for my decision.
 
In the midst of the chaos with my sons, I had police officers tell me "we can't be coming over here all the time. You are the parent, you need to get this under control."  The school counselor said "you gotta get this thing under control." The hospital social worker and the psychiatrist that saw my child said he needed in-patient drug rehab so we sent him to one. After 3 days he walked away from rehab. In talking with the counselor there, he told me they would not allow my son to come back because what he really needed was behavior modification. After several weeks the police found my son and once again he was hospitalized. In the time he was a runaway I found wwasp. I shared the wwasp info with our family counselor, the school counselor, and the hospital social worker who shared it with the psychiatrist at the hospital. They all responded positively and the hospital even contacted ASI so they would have info to share with other parents. And of course, "Dr." Chappuis' evaluation stated that TB was an appropriate placement.

My purpose in sharing this is not to blame but to point out how many of us think "professionals" or people who see these situations all the time are equipped to give us advice when they don't even know anything about what they are recommending.

Changing the subject here, I want to make a statement about this forum. I have learned so much and have really been challenged by you all. So many of my beliefs and opinions have altered by the exchanges of thought and information that occurs. This forum has helped me understand my son; his actions, thoughts, behaviors. It has helped me heal our relationship. It has helped me understand myself and where some of my actions, thoughts, behaviors come from. When I first stumbled in here it was like driving by an accident. I didn't want to see it but I couldn't look away. Eventually, I could read, think, and learn without it being all about me and my regrets. In viewing some of the recent posts on this forum I am concerned that other questioning parents are coming here and concluding (without thinking or learning anything) that we are proof that they have made the proper decision in sending their child away. I am not suggesting censoring anyone, but I am suggesting self-restraint. I have my personal opinions, too but I sincerely hope we can state them without personal and repetitive attacks.

Judy

Antigen:
Judy, thank you SO much for sharing your experience!

I know it takes some dedicated time and thought to sort this stuff out. And I know it's all very unpleasant; like you say, it is a car wreck. It's complicated and ugly and the stakes are so high.

I apologize if I lost my composure and acted ugly. When I see people acting in that same old angry mob way, it does touch a raw nerve with me; especially people who ought to know better! That's what I see in PURE. It's the same old 'higher purpose' slight of mind trick. Demonize all critics, scapegoat some external group and, before you know it, you've got a cause so high and holy as to justify all kinds of bad behavior.

About the authorities:
Back a few years ago, a tv journalist did a really good investigative piece on one of the Straight follow on programs. In it, a representative from an anti-drug coalition in Miami expressed shock and outrage over what he saw on tape and promised to try and start an investigation.

Well I was very encouraged by that and so I called him up a couple of weeks after the piece aired to see how the investigation was going. It wasn't. Frankly, he didn't want to talk to me. So, smelling rat, I looked around their website, followed a few links and found the number for their referal office for So. Florida and asked them if SAFE, Orlando (aka ACE recovery, aka Anchor Foundation) was on their approved referal list. Of course, it was. They're licensed and certified, aren't they? Why, they're even endoursed by the Governor, his wife and the state drug czar, Jim McDonough.

So I asked them if they knew about Jim Gilliland's recent appearance on the local tv news and his take on SAFE. That's when I remembered that these referal lines are usually answered by law enforcement agencies or by private phone centers contracted by law enforcement and wished I'd thought to hit *67 before making the all. They do NOT take well to uppity civilians[sic] questioning their authoritol!

I, for one, don't blame you for taking the advice given you. I blame the 'authorities' for being so arrogant as to pretend to know what they're talking about and never even caring about the results of their bad advice. Bureaucracy at it's finest, eh? Ever read Snitch Culture? It's on my wish list.

Can you imagine trying to find an employed professional in a place like Utah who will even dare look too closely at WWASP?

I like your reasoning in your plea for self restraint. I don't think parents need to be held accountable so much as they need to take more responsibility themselves and their kids and not just put it all off on the presumed experts. Sometimes kids come into trouble because they have issues they need to figure out. But, often enough, kids come into trouble because the adults in charge just seem to really like shooting at their feet and watching them dance.

"Look! There he goes again getting angry and defiant! I told you the kid has trouble!" But isn't it sort of healthy and natural, even admirable, to respond with anger to disrespect and abuse?

I'm glad you're working things out with your son. I'm encouraged very much by your willingness to keep on looking and thinking and trying to understand. That's what it takes, ma'am. If everyone were as responsible and dedicated a mother as you aparently are, there would be no market for these kinds of programs.

One more thing for anyone who wants to take a shot at this. Carey asked a good question before this thread broke down into a full on brawl. How do you find yourself going along with the program for months and (sometimes) years? I could answer based on my experience and observation w/ the program and in other areas in life. For example, at the age of damned near 40, I'm finally starting to learn how to not let my customers sucker me into a lot of free service. Nowhere near as important as what we're talking about here, and I'm not suggesting that it is. But it's a similar psyche/social dynamic at work, I think.

You care to take a shot at that one now that the dust seems to have settled some?


Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
--Winston Churchill
--- End quote ---


_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
American drug war P.O.W.
   10/80 - 10/82
Straight South (Sarasota, FL)
Anonymity Anonymous

Anonymous:
so what ever happened to carey? She's being awfully quiet these days?  :rofl:

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