Evil

[bladespark]

This is a description of real evil. It's the first-hand account of somebody who went to one of those behavior modification camps that have been in the news a bit lately.

And before I say what else I have to say, I want to make sure you all know that the kind of thing she experienced is evil and I do not condone it or support it in any way.

BUT, I worked at a "home for wayward girls" for several years, and I do have to say that there are exceptions. There ARE places that do not abuse children like that. Now I'm also going to say that I think even the place I worked at did some harm along with the good. I know of one girl who suffered quite a bit from being there. But when she turned 18, she was able to check herself out, they didn't try and keep her against her will. And although I have firsthand experience that discipline was strict there, and that a lot of the girls were miserable, "strict" meant punishments like extra homework or loss of such privileges as being able to shave and wear makeup, and miserable was usually because they were having to scrub their own toilets, and do their own homework, and couldn't manipulate the people around them to get out of it.

Raising awareness of the horrible abuses that can go on at these places is good, but I think people do also need to know that there are camps for teens that are not that bad. Honestly there are. I have a very close relationship with a young man who was sent to a behavioral camp, and it did him a lot of good. He wasn't a totally different person when he came back, but he had managed to win himself free of the very destructive behavior that caused him to be sent there, and I'm not sure he would have been able to if he'd stayed at home, surrounded by the same influences and caught in the same habits every day. I would consider sending a child of mine to such a place as a very last resort, and I would research the HELL out of where I sent him or her, but under the right circumstances I would do it.

But if you send your child off to boot camp, even a "good" one, because you just don't know how to deal with him or her? Shame on you! That sort of program is useful for kids who need breaking out of serious problems. As in hard drug abuse, not as in failing school or just being weird.

Further thoughts: Discussing this a bit with JJ, I realized a thing. A truly ethical behavioral modification camp would not simply accept any child whose parents cared to pay, and treat them all pretty much the same way. So I guess the place I worked at wasn't that great after all. Not, still, anything like the abuses described in the above link, but... not that ethical. *sigh* Now I get to feel guilty for working there.

Comments

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

IMO, the key is oversite and regulations. You cannot trust these places to be inherently good and not needing to be inspected - especially not when they are looking after children. And that means regulated by people who are experts on CHILDREN. Not the military, not a faith based initiative, not a politician

And every tom dick or harry shouldn't be able to start them - they should have to be licensed and qualified. We wouldn't let people start a prison with so little oversite and qualifications (well, sadly, we probably would) or a school - so why these?

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

*nods* Yes, oversight is definitely a good thing. But there, yet again, I run into the fact that the government cannot seem to competently oversee anything.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

When it comes down to it, alas, we have no better. The best we can hope for in government is that the ulterior motives are less pressing compared to other organisations (especially business - making money off troubled teens? *shudder*) One thing I worry about is that inappropriate organisations provide oversite (like the military) or worse - as in this case and an equally horrible one down in Texas - there is absolutely no oversight at all

And I despair of these parents who want a quick, easy solution to their kids.

[tarathene.livejournal.com]

Letting them watch TV instead of being parented didn't work, I guess this is just the next step for some people.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Nah, first there's letting them watch tv rather than having to spend any time with the kids

THEN there's the force feeding the kids various pills and tablets in the hope they can be zonked into submission

Then there's boot camp *sigh*

woa..

[aazhie.livejournal.com]

at least you were trying to help by working there. Doesn't sound like it was the best place, but that blame can't be your burden. People need to trust psychology and scientific studies of behavior modification and follow the ethics provided by groups like the American Psychological Assciation. tehy are the ones who need to educte their staff and monitor the childrne's health with the aid of their employees.
Parents need to visit the facility and do a lot of research, possibly give their kid a code word or phrase in case of absolute emergencies so they can have a safe escape. Honestly, some people, heck, MOST people don't thrive well under those kinds of conditions, but we are all individuals. The poor author that went to that messed up facility had it bad, and i hope she can publish a book about her experience to prevent other kids from having to deal with it too... :(

[silveradept]

You know, reading that account sounds a lot like a prison camp where the inmates are tortured, except this time the parents are paying for it and getting doctored letters that make them think it's all going well.

[sphix.livejournal.com]

Didja ever see the movie/read the book "Holes"? Kinda like that... "Holes" is a bit toned down compared to the one in your link. It infuriates me to think that kids can become sex offenders and that parents can ship them to boarding schools and boot camps at the flick of a pen.