61–70 of 255 posts
If you want to read something truly horrific check out elan.school . It was a troubled teen school in Maine that sounds unbelievable until you read multiple identical stories from students
The "Joe vs Elan School" comic you're referring to is really good, so I'd second this recommendation. Grim, but good. https://elan.school/chapter-1-5/
It's hard read these stories and not wonder about the parents. At the same time I'm often drawn to the story of my high school buddy's youngest sister. His family was as normal as you might expect, the kids were perhaps unusually "driven", but in good ways, music, athletics, academics, all three even. But the youngest was driven to rebel in the most distributive ways possible, the usual running away from home, older…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The author writes, > I was reckless, taking my mom’s car out for joy rides without permission, skipping class That may be after 16 years of doing outrageous things to get attention at home. Some psychologists in the 1950s [1] suggested kids will do whatever gets them attention while striving for a way to participate in the family. That can include bad behavior. If they don't receive attention for good behavior, then…
One thing I’ve learned at this point is that almost l no kid or adult is actually irrational. If someone seems irrational, it’s because their shoes are so different from any that you’ve been in. You simply have never experienced anything like their life (because if you did, you’d be like them). And you can’t actually ask someone to explain their own behavior because everyone only lives one life and they rarely know i…
Yeah I think that's best done with a therapist who will take time to guide someone through their past. Asking a kid why they acted out, or an adult why they did something crazy, is almost rhetorical. They're not going to know the answer without a deep dive into how they grew up.
I was sent to one of these schools and attended from late 2005 - early 2007. The school was called Excel Academy about an hour north of Houston; it has since been shut down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excel_Academy_(Conroe,_Texas) My reasons for being sent there are similar to the author's. I didn't take my dad's car without permission, but I did drink a lot, skip school, was generally rebellious and refused to be…
It sounds like an extortion pyramid scheme, worthy of a gestapo prison camp. What a thing to teach kids: Comply with the abusers and join the power structure.
Ooof, this one hits right home. My abusive parents sent me to an institution twice, except in my province it's the state and not private companies and the transporters do not come during the night. For me it was a "voluntary placement", that is one not ordered by judge and they "convince" you it's better for you to be there (or else). It was hell nonetheless. I was diagnosed with depression, took pills for depression and ADHD (wtf). It made me feel buzzed and like I was a soulless robot. I quickly learned how to hide them in the space below my tonsils.
No questions, I was a troublesome kid. But I was the product of my environment, and the "specialists" never asked a fucking single question about life at home. Even shitty kids should not face abuse by their caretakers and government.
I am also an adult bedwetter. The "specialists" there often use "manipulation" as a placeholder of their incompetence. So therefore, since I was wetting my bed to "manipulate", they forced me to stay in my room for 6 fucking months. I could only go outside for school and basic needs.
I looked into suing them all. Turns out they delete records a few months after you leave. And since the "specialists" working for CPS all know and work together with the same lawyers and judges, no lawyer will want to these cases.
The part about medication and your private information being used against you is very real and it really shaped my strong views around privacy and not trusting other people taking decisions for others but I digress. They used to note everything that people hated and liked in a very systematic way to control us, it was so horrible that it has gotten to the point I numbed myself into not hating nor liking anything, or hiding it the best I could; even today I like barely nothing and endure injustice without complaining. Funny story, I wised up to their game and pretended to be antisocial and preferring being alone in my room so I would be "forced" to go outside. It worked. Turns out that the school's psychologist was feeding them information about me from our private sessions.
To this day, I'm in my early 30s, I still have dreams and visions of shame, humiliation and sometimes of dark thoughts of getting back at them (I will leave it at that).
CPS attracts the worst kind of abusive people. Anyone working in this industry should be viewed with suspicion, disdain and should not be allowed near kids or vulnerable people in general.
If you want to read something truly horrific check out elan.school . It was a troubled teen school in Maine that sounds unbelievable until you read multiple identical stories from students
I have a difficult time understanding this. I was a kid that was rebellious, but in a way that didn't get me in trouble. When I read stories like this I get an intense feeling of fighting back, or at the very least, hold everyone that participated in contempt for the rest of my life. I am certain that if my parents had done something like this I would never have forgiven them. Nor would I have forgiven anyone that wo…
At a certain level it's not hard to understand, in that it's predictable: Power corrupts, and you can depend on it. People with power over vulnerable human beings, and with no check on their power, can be generally predicted to abuse it. Just look for those situations and I predict that you will often find it. (That's one reason transparency and openness are so important.) Look at child sex abuse scandals: Who do the…
This particular story tells us little about these schools – it describes the perspective of a student, a client. This is valuable and I'm grateful to read it. However, I caution other readers against making assumptions about these institutions based on any given story.
I would know – I attended four of these schools. Some incredibly strict (even dehumanizing) and others a joy (one had season passes to the local ski resort). Most of them blended these two polarities. Students exhibited huge variation in responses, to the point that a listener hearing them describe their shared experiences would be certain they were discussing different places.
For example, some students thought it was abusive to require skiing and mountain biking two days per week (I disagree). Other students thought it was totally fine to be required to wear hospital scrubs as a means of stigmatization (I also disagree). Almost no one questioned social isolation as punishment – perhaps the most incredible abuse I routinely witnessed and was subjected to, considering the developmental phase of adolescents. My point: it will take a mosaic of perspectives to really understand what's going on.
I also caution readers against abhorrence towards parents. Consider those not-rare parents who have tried everything to help a kid who is on the cusp of life in prison, undergoing their 8th overdose, or being repeatedly raped and subjected to prostitution/exploitation. Consider that many of these schools offer a greater education than what's locally available. Consider that some of these schools are effective and relatively safe.
A final note that I believe clouds this topic -> We live in a puritanical, punitive society. Even for non-religious people, we have been inculcated with ideals of purity and expectations of punishment. These delusions and biases cloud this topic.
My final guidance is to read these stories with an open mind. This author was truthful, and we should listen. The next story you hear will probably contradict it but also be truthful, and we should listen.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The author writes, > I was reckless, taking my mom’s car out for joy rides without permission, skipping class That may be after 16 years of doing outrageous things to get attention at home. Some psychologists in the 1950s [1] suggested kids will do whatever gets them attention while striving for a way to participate in the family. That can include bad behavior. If they don't receive attention for good behavior, then…
IIRC a tenet of developmental psychology that the worst thing for children is neglect - it's worse than abuse (and that isn't downplaying abuse in any way), because the abused child is getting attention. Children are absolutely dependent on their parents for survival (literally, food, water, shelter, protection, safety), for understanding the world, for learning. Neglect, the absence of parenting, is terrifying.
Stories about these institutions get conflated into a mess that scarcely resembles the reality. In a way, this is inevitable with a wide variety of schools and treatment centers, and a yet wider variety of perspectives. This particular story tells us little about these schools – it describes the perspective of a student, a client. This is valuable and I'm grateful to read it. However, I caution other readers against…
I freely admit to being pretty ignorant about all this. I do not have the best view on these "programs" though, from everything I've seen.