ABC Brat Camp

[Anonymous]

And your experience is everybody's else's, right?  

No, my friend, life doesn't work out so simply as that.  

I am perfectly willing to believe that you had a bad time of it, don't presume that this means you get to define all programs or the experience of all kids.

[Antigen]

On 2005-07-19 12:38:00, Anonymous wrote:

Antigen, I see from your posts that you had a very traumatic experience yourself with incarceration in a program. Please be open-minded enough to realize that this is your experience in a particular setting. Other places and other people's stories can be and I believe, are very very different.

Here are some of the circumstances that made my experience traumatic:

First and foremost, betrayal by my parents. They lied to me, repeatedly, to get me into the program and to a cop to try to have me returned to the program.

They told the parents to disregard any complaints as manipulative lies, then proceeded to do all the things they told them we'd lie about.

They kept us isolated from the outside world; no breaks from the constant stress, no reality checks.

They used every kind of humiliation and emotional abuse imaginable in order to break kids down, turn them against each other and, ultimately, turn them from inmates to guards.

These are just some of the things I keep hearing these kids complain about today. Show me a program that doesn't do those things.

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is you can't cure adolescence by keeping kids under lock and key until they turn 18 and can no longer be forced into an institutionalized-style program.

Troubled parents, not teens, are what drives this industry.

 :flame:

[Anonymous]

On 2005-07-19 17:12:00, Antigen wrote:

"

On 2005-07-19 12:38:00, Anonymous wrote:


Antigen, I see from your posts that you had a very traumatic experience yourself with incarceration in a program. Please be open-minded enough to realize that this is your experience in a particular setting. Other places and other people's stories can be and I believe, are very very different.

Here are some of the circumstances that made my experience traumatic:



First and foremost, betrayal by my parents. They lied to me, repeatedly, to get me into the program and to a cop to try to have me returned to the program.



They told the parents to disregard any complaints as manipulative lies, then proceeded to do all the things they told them we'd lie about.



They kept us isolated from the outside world; no breaks from the constant stress, no reality checks.



They used every kind of humiliation and emotional abuse imaginable in order to break kids down, turn them against each other and, ultimately, turn them from inmates to guards.



These are just some of the things I keep hearing these kids complain about today. Show me a program that doesn't do those things.

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"

Yep, nothing has changed. Teens guarding other teens in exchange for more favorable treatment from THE PROGRAM.

Pretty god-awful way to grow up.

[Anonymous]

On 2005-07-19 17:12:00, Anonymous wrote:

"And your experience is everybody's else's, right?  



No, my friend, life doesn't work out so simply as that.  



I am perfectly willing to believe that you had a bad time of it, don't presume that this means you get to define all programs or the experience of all kids. "

I was asking what your interests are in the program? Why are you here?

[Anonymous]

On 2005-07-19 17:12:00, Anonymous wrote:

"And your experience is everybody's else's, right?  



No, my friend, life doesn't work out so simply as that.  



I am perfectly willing to believe that you had a bad time of it, don't presume that this means you get to define all programs or the experience of all kids. "

How about these children's experiences?

Post URL: http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... =37#116881

too bad they can't sit around a forum defending themselves. they are dead.  :flame:

[Anonymous]

What is the matter with parents today?  Are they that desperate to get back in control of their child's attitude and behavior that they would allow them to be exploited by a bunch of airheads I wouldn't trust to guide me across the street?

Second, these aren't BRAT CAMPS.  They are ATM MACHINES.  CASH COWS.  EVERYBODY IS GETTING RICH OFF THE HEADS OF THESE KIDS.

 :flame:

[Anonymous]

On 2005-07-19 17:56:00, Anonymous wrote:

"What is the matter with parents today?  Are they that desperate to get back in control of their child's attitude and behavior that they would allow them to be exploited by a bunch of airheads I wouldn't trust to guide me across the street?



"

Yes.

[The Liger]

I think that parents ship their kids off because they are embarrassed that the kids aren't Stepford material.  Going through proper therapy would take time, more time for their kid to embarrass them since serious problems aren't worked out overnight.  Then the program people feed them the whole "dead or in jail" routine and parents embrace that theory so that they can tell themselves that they are caring parents.  But they are really just worried about what their friends at the country club will think about their kid dressed in head to toe Hot Topic gear, drinking the same beer, smoking the same pot and having the same sex that every other teenager in the history of the world did.  My mom said, "Well at least we had the decency not to throw it in our parents' faces."  So I should have been a better liar, I guess.

[Anonymous]

it's just hypocrisy.  I mean, most of these parents came from the decade of free love and acid, when a dimesack cost a dime, 'cetera.    They fought to end race and gender segregation, they fought for a voice for youth, for their long hair and jeans, for what? To get sidetracked by the same easily-obtainable convenience of =their= parents' TV dinner generation.    It's easy to be average.   It's easy to be  put on a show.   But it catches up with you, in that split-second before death it slaps you.  To all parents who sent their kids away,  I have only this to tell you- Good luck reconciling your souls.  peace out

[OverLordd]

I'm a different anon than the previous one.

The point you raise is a valid one, Overlordd: when is a child's behavior extreme enough to warrant the extraordinary step of sending him or her to a specialized program? I go on record here and now as saying that I think sometimes, hopefully rarely, this is a necessary step.

You say that you argue with your parents: that's a little different than in the previous anon's post which refers to kids to repeatedly threaten to hit their parents.

And I don't know your age, though if you are out of school I've got to assume you're of age.

If you were a minor, then if your parents could be called "good enough" that is, reasonably competent parents, they'd get to make the call about where you were sent, most likely after consulting with people they trusted-- which may include clergy, family, psychologists, etc. (If you're an adult and were threatening to hit your parents, well, I guess, regretfully, that's where police/lawyers get called into a family situation).

You're "obsessed" with fire? I have to ask: do you really mean "obsessed" or just very fascinated as I, for example, am fascinated with the ocean. Because if you're "obsessed" in the sense of heading toward arson, well, I hope you get some kind of guidance, whatever your age.

If my minor child was "obsessed" with fire )in the true sense of the word) I sure would seek out some kind of program to address this, however many "good things" were also included in his/her personality.

To begin with if a teen has issues and parents "make the call" That generally means jack shit in the long run. People like to say that their parents did research, that parents visited the places, that parents worked hard to find just the righ prision to stick you in, but the fact of the matter is that hey have no clue what goes on there, no matter what. You wanna know why? Because they can't know what goes on there when no one is around and they are miles into rough terrain.

Second, Yes. I like fire, I'm a boy scout, you do not go through scouting without developing a healthly enjoyment for fire and fire related activites.

[OverLordd]

As a parent, I understand your concern that the power of even the most caring staff in a remote or lock-up situation is great and can be misused. As a critical thinker---after reading your posts I have the impression of someone who is so wounded that it may just be too much to expect an impartial evaluation of any program that in any way resembles her own unhappy experience.

Wait, you have a kid in one of these things, or you work of them, or you would not be here. You have a vested intrest in these places and you say she is to hurt to make a impartial evaluation? Get the log out of your own eye punk.

But to argue that it's just being a teenager to threaten your parents, to disrespect your own body by random sexual encounters, to disappear overnight as a minor, well, no, maybe that is Nililanthic's idea of a normal adolescence but it is not mine.

No to be a teenager is to deal with stuff like this, to not do it or to do it. I have the ablity to go around wacking my parents, fucking who I want, and snort what I want. But I dont! All teens today face this, there are those that do and those that dont. Thiose that do these things dont need to be sent away for it though.

[don_diablo]

Howdy Forum,
I was really looking forward to watchin' this show, but there was a mishap with the recording and I ended up with nothin'.  If anyone out there knows of a way I could get a copy of last week episodes on tape, please let me know.

[BuzzKill]

Looks like they are re-running it just prior to the new episode tonight.

[Deborah]

Perhaps a recap at the beginning?
It's on from 7-9. The premier was 3 hours.