The original post was "where would you be without MMS?
That's kind of an intersting question.
Here's what I do know. There were a whole lot of people when I was a teen who got into a whole lot of trouble i.e. drugs, alcohol, sex, you name it. Deep and serious trouble. Some landed in juvenille hall. Some even went to spend a day or two in jail (great wake-up call, by the way), and some, well God knows what happened to them.
But, the "some, well God knows what happened to them" are very few in number. Most fall somewhere in between, if they had these sorts of issues. Except for those very few who I have no idea what happened to them, be it good or bad, the rest survived, grew up, and wow, they even went to college.
And if you can believe this, without MMS, they went on to have a family and be productive wonderful adults. And they did it all on their own, with the help of their friends and families, some with the shit scared out of them after spending a couple of nights in jail or juvi. Convinced that just wasn't what they wanted for the rest of their lives.
Amazing stuff, life. Life without MMS, or life without any residential facility. Just plain old life. Life as a teenager is weird, I think just about anyone would agree. Gee, I had a girl who thought she was a horse or something. She would go around and kick you for no reason, acting like she was a horse. Weird girl. A dentist's daughter. Drugs? Nope. I knew her, she was just damn strange. But a year later she was awesome and we became best friends the rest of high school. Go figure that one out.
Then there was this guy. Destined for death, we thought. For sure, and I'm being serious. He was so screwed up from taking drugs. Today, this kid would have definitely landed in a facility. I have no doubt. But back in those days there was a difference ... kids did not have to fear being abducted in the middle of the night, taken to remote places where they would be abused and mistreated. All in the name of therapy.
I wonder what the parents think when they hear they were paying up to 100k per year to send their kid to sit in middle-of-the-night therapy sessions with - well, a recovering alcoholic with a degree in - ecology? Of course we musn't forget that he is insightful and we shouldn't blame him. Of course not, he has his own "issues."
I got side-tracked there for a moment. This boy who we thought would certainly end up dead miraculously didn't. In fact, he ended up in juvenille hall for about a week or two and it scared him to death.
This was one sick looking guy before juvi. The only people who hung around him were other equally weird guys. And most of those guys did some time there too. And the next year, junior year I think it was, they came back to school and began to study and do well. I actually danced with one of them at a dance my girlfriend had, and then I even kissed one of them. I would have never even considered remotely doing that the year before. EVER.
My point is they got through it and they grew up. They grew up quite nicely, I might add. They all went off to college and made things of their lives, had families, and are productive human beings. Never once were they sent away, never once were they forced to shovel horse shit, never once were they humiliated in front of their friends, never once were they forced to share their innermost feelings in front of their peers, never.
Where are they now? Taking care of their families, working hard, and I haven't seen a one on Fornits complaining about what happened to them in high school. They worked through their problems. Parents didn't just send them away. Everyone helped. Not only parents but relatives and friends. Many times kids who got into trouble and were out of control ended up living with grandma for the summer.
A summer was enought to straighten them up. They get lots of love with granny but they also have to listen to her complain about the corns on her toes. Sick!