I stumbled upon a story about practices at Straight, Inc and I was appalled. I scoured the net for more information and read multiple horror stories about these facilities. Now I can't get them out of my head. I have never been in one but if I had been, I can say with certainty that I would have committed suicide. To be given over to strangers simply because my family trusts them and to be molested or abused by those strangers would have absolutely shattered my naive pre-teen world view.
I don't want ANY human to be unjustly imprisoned or abused. I cannot stand it that these things have been happening in our country without extreme public outcry - so I want to add my voice to those that are speaking out now. I have been looking for ways to do so and I'm thankful for the organizations that I mention below.
The fact that children are handed over to these facilities by their own parents it the ultimate breach of parental responsibility. People say that the parents don't know to whom they are committing their kids, that the facilities produce slick brochures and glowing recommendations from other parents. Those who know the truth need to broadcast it every way they can to combat this deception. Any parent who gives a damn should look beyond the facilities and their spokespeople when investigating them. (visit
http://www.isaccorp.org for tips) Parents are supposed to protect their children, not hand them over to be victimized by such monsters. At
http://www.thestraights.com , the author establishes this wise rule: "We shall tolerate no treatment program where children can not talk, in private, with their parents."
That the government aids and sanctions these organizations makes the situation even more chilling. There will always be sadists, rapists and abusers that torment people who can't defend themselves. Our government is tasked with imprisoning and incapacitating these people, not sanctioning their atrocities. We are tasked with holding our government accountable. Contact your representatives and find out how they vote on these issues; the five minutes you spend searching for the names of your representatives is worth it.
If you know what happens in these places but you don't take any action, you are complicit in the abuse that continues today; if you don't do anything to expose these facilities to the wider population then you might as well close this window because you don't really care. If you are a parent who hands your children over to these people, it is the same as abusing them yourself. In our internet age, there is simply no excuse for ignorance. It's becoming clear to me that if a bad facility exists and the kids get out alive, someone on the net is talking about them. I am so glad I found
http://www.isaccorp.org today so that I can help expose these horrors and replace the officials that enable them.
Using the media and the web to organize and bring these criminals to justice appears to be very effective. I want to encourage survivors to go to
http://www.ripoffreport.com and expose these abusive businesses for what they are. It's a good way to warn other parents who might be doing research on these places and get the message out to an audience that has no tolerance for abusive businesses. I will not accept a society that condones a system in which parents can imprison their unruly children under anything but the strictest standards of transparency and community oversight.
[ This Message was edited by: alicia1981 on 2004-10-11 22:59 ]
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