I think that we all realize that it doesn’t really matter whether Mount Bachelor is found innocent or guilty. The name and reputation is what is important and whether or not they can still market under the name and still bring the kids in. If their name gets damaged to the point where they can no longer lure in customers then they will close on their own and open up somewhere else under a new title. Its business in its purest form.
Sadly, I'm pretty sure you're right about that. I'd like to see MBA, like any similar program, taken to task and shown to the world for what it is, but like you imply, it's an obstacle that is very easily dealt with. That being said, the cumulative effect from all these program closures reflects badly on Aspen as a whole, not to mention the entire industry. You may win the battle, but so long as these things keep happening, you may very well lose the greater PR war. Then again, people are almost infinitely capable of forgetting history and choosing to believe their kids are save when a program presents a "too good to be true" final solution to the "teenage" problem.
Tip: to survive you're going to have to start eating your own.
Think about trying to snuff out drugs. It cant be done as long as there are customers. If there are people willing to buy heroin then it will find its way into the community and there will be people willing and able to sell it to you. Is this the drug dealers fault? The fault of the farmer who grows the stuff? Or the kid who is buying it?
The responsibility ultimately lands with whoever buys it. The fact that it's available to kids, however, is only facilitated by it's black market nature. In that respect I agree with you. Government prohibition of something or even strict regulation can often make a bad problem worse. As I see it, the same applies to programs. All making something illegal will do is give parents a false sense of security. "bad" programs don't care about the law as it is. Just like gun free zones don't actually physically stop that one gun from entry, the "bad" program will take advantage of the "we're abuse free, govt. promises!" status to lure more parents in while continuing to do exactly what they were doing, and worse. I have no faith in the competence of government officials to investigate these programs, not be fooled, and come up with a case that will stick. That's something that in my mind is better left to civil law. Lawsuits have done and will continue to do wonders against programs who misrepresent themselves and mistreat their patients/students/detainees/whatever.
There is a need for programs and if Mount Bachelor folds then they will open up somewhere else because they are needed.
Why is it this "need" does not exist in europe? Could it be there really isn't any "need" other than in the minds of those in marketing, or those who truly
believe in the program. There is objective reality and the fact that kids do just fine in Europe without these programs lends credence to the theory that there really isn't any need for these programs at all. It's a want. It's a luxury for parents who would rather not deal with their kids problems or are unwilling to let them take their own path in life, whatever that may be... Of course the idea that teens have rights is heretical to many parents.
If they dont reopen then someone else will until there are too many programs and too many empty beds and no one shows up anymore. Until that time programs will prosper and they will be here long after you and I are dead.
That I don't believe. There are several scenarios I can see: as you imply, the "PR" greater scheme war can be lost so badly that parents can begin to see that putting their kids in any program is playing russian roulette. Not all parents have to be convinced. If the demand drops low enough, the individual programs will not be able to sustain themselves. There are minimum operating costs. An alternative scenario is that teens are someday federally granted the right to refuse treatment, or even something more. Going after the legality of escort services could also have a heavy impact. There are many possible end-game scenarios.
Programs may never cease to exist entirely, just as cults will never cease to exist entirely (and by extension, non professional therapy cults). However, an atmosphere can be created which is so hostile towards them that other ventures are easier and far more profitable to enter into.