The issue is about the accountability and honesty of the programs, and how they operate. About how they are accused of being dishonest THEMSELVES about many things, like money, how they treat the children in their care, how they come out from the beginning saying that your child will complain about the program to get out so don't believe anyting they say. That makes it impossible for them to get help if they are actually abused and there's nobody in there looking out for them... thats wrong.
I have a question or two for you, since you seem so sure of yourself; first, how can it possibly be taken as any measure of intelligence that you base your entire argument off of
accusations against a person or persons? Do you truly have any experience with the programs at all? Because you read
People Magazine and
they say something is wrong, it's immediately wrong? You're throwing away your brains and stuffing your head with paper, friend. The truth is, the programs
do work; I should know, I spent three months going to school on the campus of Carolina Springs Academy, and I've been there to see the best and the worst of the place.
It's true that the programs work on maybe 7 or 8 of the kids that are sent there, since truly all the work is done by the kids themselves, and some kids don't
want it to work, so it doesn't. But then again, I've seen the programs do some amazing things, and it's all personal progress. There's no "brainwashing" involved.
The two or three kids who
don't use the program to their advantage?
Of course they are going to go back out into the world and whine to anyone who will listen; they were taken away from things that "they loved" (sex, illegal drugs, violence, obsessions with death...the list goes on, sit down and listen to a kid actually in the program and making any progress, and you will hear a horror story not of abuse by staff and administrators, but pasts that, while upset that they needed such drastic measures to rid themselves of, they'd never go back to) and forced to stay away for two years or more.
For those kids who
want to able to destroy themselves in these habits,
they will say anything, even that grown men have beat them and raped them, to get out and get back to impregnating teenage girls and injecting themselves with every vile substance known to man. I've
seen it happen,
seen these kids outright lie to the press when
I know the truth, which is probably a lot more than you can say. Are the programs a miracle-worker? In some cases, yes. Do the kids whose lives were saved by the program love it? Again, it tore them away from the lives they knew and made them better; some people can be rather bitter about that. But then, you'll se
plenty of kids who support the programs; the various media simply decide to conveniently ignore them, as they don't exactly fit their
"TEH PRGRAMZ R EVIL" drivel; or worse, claim these decent individuals are among the ranks of the
zombie brainwashed children, which is literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
We're also not against accountability for kids or punishment of kids, but we are against them being kidnapped, locked in some place, having thier parents turned against them, giving them no way to call out for help if they need it, no way for people to check on their condition, and no rights. We're not for 'restraint' (submission holds and pins, that are extremely painful, and I'd KNOW I've done Juujutsu) being used as corporal punishment when they do things like stand up without permission or ask to use the bathroom, smile, or look out a window, or pick up something someone else dropped. We're also against those damn seminars that emotionally beat the people in them until they are broken down and brainwash them.
Please excuse me if I snort with laughter. You, my friend, are so obviously biased by lies that you don't even bother looking deeper and trying to find the truth for yourself. As I said, I spent a fair amoun of time with the "program kids," and I'll tell you now: the kids who are
ever put in physical locks
deserve it. Standing up doesn't earn you punishment; a staff members asks why you are standing, and you give your reason. If it's legitimate ("I need to refill my water bottle," "I need to use the restroom," "I need to get a different book," and so on) you're allowed to do so. It's the kids who
leap to their feat and start throwing chairs and trying to harm everyone around them that are restrained, and that happens, again, only when it starts getting to the physically violent first-level (and among them, usually kids that have been there less than a month) that they're
not being allowed to do whatever they want.
Smiles? Listen to that statement, actually try and apply that: A kid smiles, which is obviously some deep violation of some rule or another, so a staff, who is busy looking for
actual threats, must then immediately dive and tackle the kid? That's pure
stupidity, and I'd be ashamed of believing that of anyone unless I'd seen it with my own eyes. Looking out the window isn't allowed
in school; it simply means they're not doing their work, and again there's only a staff telling them to get back to work, not pinning them to the ground. They can look whereever they want any other time, unless they're obviously staring at staff members or female staff or kids. Picking up anything belonging to someone else? Only if the intention was to
steal it, and only then if the other kid reports him or her.
You're also against the seminars. Good for you, seeing as you obviously have
so much experience with them, and can't
possibly have based your ENTIRE POSITION off of whiney kids just trying to get back home to their marijuana pipes.
Anyway, I've rambled on for a while; basically, all I'm trying to say is
use your brain, not your newspaper. Have there been cases of abuse? Certainly. But the ratio of truth to lies is one in thirty claims, and individual staff members who actually do abuse the kids are immediately removed; they're
not the example you should be looking at.
Last, actually look at the things you've said against the Mormon church. For one thing, they
do not rule Utah...Mormons, in reality, make up only half of the population, which is, true, a greater concentration than anywhere else, but it doesn't mean they have ultimate control over the state. This also applies to some of the leaders of WWASP, who
are in fact Mormon, but has
absolutely no relevance; what you're saying is the equivalent of saying that since there are a few gay priests in the Catholic church, all Catholics must rape little boys in their spare time. Ridiculous, and you MUST know it. The extent of the Church's power over its members is simply to excommunicate them, and there is
no true, solid reason for them to do so. The Programs
are not the dens of murderers and thieves as the media would like you to believe...they themselves are, by the way, simply going off rumours and spoiled children themselves. As is the case with any media, you
must look deeper if you really want to know the truth. DO SO.
