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Old 06-06-2009, 10:59 AM
 
2 posts, read 5,866 times
Reputation: 11

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hi the hackman, I noticed you said this was to the original poster but just making sure you weren't talking to me?
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Old 06-23-2009, 11:40 AM
 
Location: Wichita Falls, TX
256 posts, read 1,400,346 times
Reputation: 94
Quote:
Originally Posted by thehakman View Post
The kid who wrote the original message still needs help! 6 months was not long enough for you. My son completed the "whole" program and is today an extremely strong individual, but at the 6 month point he thought the same as you. You probably have many incompletions going on in your life. The skills that you would have learned would be with you today. The school program is a process. It is a wonderful program that teaches you life strengthing skills. Your behavior took more than 6 months to land you in Montana....it was going to take you more than 6 months to get your own inner strength back. Your behavior right now is an illustration of weakness and being a victim. Sorry...but good luck to you.
Ha... No, my behavior is not an illustration of being a victim and showing wekness. I was simply trying to put something out there to people who did not know what was going on up at Spring Creek. I have come very far in life and it had nothing to do with the program. I came out and initially had some issues with family because of the resentment of being sent to there with no regard or care for checking into what was going on up there. I moved out when I got home at age 16 and finished high school early, two years worth of college credit, got married and am now a member of the United States Air Force as an Air Traffic Controller. I am 19 now. So, you have absolutely no idea what your talking about. I have flourished on my own and accomplished more on my own then I ever would have in 2 years in that hell hole. I still believe to this day that program caused me a lot of problems and still does. The "seminars" were a joke that taught you nothing but that you were wrong in everything you did and all problems in your life whether directly or indirectly related to your behavior were your fault. As for the schooling it was a joke. I learned nothing while I was there but how to copy definitions out of a text book. If it worked for your son that's awesome. But I don't think even one persons success in places like Spring Creek, Tranquility Bay, Carolina Springs, Midwest Academy, Cross Creek, or any of these other programs is worth all the horrible things that happened there. Some of the teens sent to these programs deserved to be there and needed to be helped but not in the way that they were. I was in Unity family with a boy who was 12. He was 12 and had problems wetting the bed so his family thought they'd fix him. The boy probably had other problems sure but you know what way they decided they'd "fix him." If he pissed his bed and the kid below could smell it theyd flip him off the top bunk in his sleep. Then drag him off to "the hobbit." Those of you who have been there or are familiar with this place at all know exactly what happens there. Now, that's all I have to say about this as I can tell I will not get through to many of you because you have not had to go through this before. These places are not just tough love institutions such as boot camps or institutions similar to CYA. The same things happen as at those places sure, kids fighting other kids, attacking each other, all of that stuff, etc. But that comes along with having a place for troubled kids. What is really wrong about this programs is the mental damage they do, the psychological troubles they cause, the isolation. It took me almost a full year to "re-adjust" to the outside world without worrying about looking out windows without punishment, worrying about being woken up in the middle of the night and dragged away by strangers you don't know having no idea what is happening to you. You will not understand the struggle of the children in these camps unless you go through it or knew someone who has. That is all I have to say and I hope everyone has a great day.
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Old 06-24-2009, 10:53 AM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,085,065 times
Reputation: 3724
I haven't been in one of those camps but ... from everything I read from those who have been, it seems like the primary problem is that the people doing the day-to-day running of the place and handling of the kids -- don't know the difference between Boot Camp and being a bully. Boot camp can straighten someone out, as a lot of people can attest. Being bullied usually makes things worse. It may look the same to someone on the outside but it really isn't. Parents may not be able to tell the difference, especially in the stress of handing over their kid to the camp. -- Occurs to me the kids might be better off if they went into the military at that age instead -- do boot camp and basic training and then go back to school, rather than being locked in a camp staffed with wanna-be drill sergeants and shrinks who are crazier than their patients.

And I swear there is a Stupid Gene that turns on when people have kids, that makes them forget how much it sucked to be a kid, and all about what matters to kids. It really helps to have a maiden aunt or unmarried uncle in the family, who still remembers that stuff.

Anyway, to fromthebay -- congrats on making good with the Air Force -- ATC is a seriously responsible position. Here's to your future!
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Old 08-23-2009, 02:33 AM
 
1 posts, read 3,382 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by fromthebay View Post
yes.... unless you watch the video you won't understand.... because they are not legally helping anyone.... they abuse children is what they do and if you think thats ok then i can't even begin to describe how wrong you are.
i was in a program for 18 months and was never abused, if anything it was really sheltered and left me feeling vulnarable when i came home. so i ended up falling a lot
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Old 10-17-2009, 02:00 AM
 
1 posts, read 3,157 times
Reputation: 14
Having spent 16 months at spring creek, I can certainly say that if things are still the way they were when I was there, that place should be shut down. Certain things are unreasonable and well, cruel to do to any human being, regardless of whether or not they're a minor. If you didn't do what they wanted they could deprive you of shelter, food, health care, human interaction, etc to a degree that was unreasonable. If you resisted further they could "restrain" you physically. In some cases that meant deprivation of a slightly more essential necessity, air. During the course of my stay a staff member was fired for using "unapproved restraint techniques" after 5 or so people got word out to another staff member somehow. My parents had no idea what that place was like, and due to the tight control I couldn't tell them. So I took it somehow, and graduated eventually but it took me a few years to straiten myself out after being locked up and psychologically "processed" into having a super f*ed view on life, myself, the world and life. In the midst of the difficulty of growing up, even in a fairly normal home, teenagers are frequently unhappy etc. This can make it hard to like life. Being in an environment like spring creek (at least as it was, I have no idea how it is now) is probably the worst thing for 99% of "troubled" teens. I wanted to die for probably the last nine months there, and nearly went for it a few times. That place could have cost me my life. Don't sent you kid there, it is NOT a boarding school. Well thanks for making this thread, I don't know if anything can be done, but I feel a hell of alot better, at least someone else thinks that places is as questionable as I know it is.
Well, thanks...
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Old 05-29-2010, 01:52 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,386 times
Reputation: 10
i went to a school in montana and that is exactly what is was like. i dodnt talk on the phone with my parents for six months. we werent allowed to have condiments when we first got htere or look our windows. we were on on task silence for twenty three and a half hours a day and when we were allowed to talk it had to be on task with what we were doing. we couldnt even have socks on at night. when one of us were bad we had to go to as little cabin called work sheets and so many push ups or work out routines like running laps would work off the pionts we lost. when it was really cold outside we had to have permission not saying it was given to us to where two sweaters or an extra pair of socks. we got frost bite alot. it the summer time the water wells would go dry and we were only allowed to have five minutes in the shower anyways and our water time got cut down to three minutes. when my parents went there there were shildren chosen from each level to talk to them. but they didnt realise that we werent allowed to tell them what actually was going on in this school. there were girls there digging their nails into thier arms for attention that have been there for three years or more. i am now twenty one and went there when i was only fourteen and i am still having a hard time thinking about what i did that was so horrible as to go there. i understand my parents didnt know what to do at the time but there was better ways than that to handle the situation. and it bothers me alot that this school was so false with parents. like we are their children and they had the right to know what is going on behind closed doors especially when it is so high in cost. these places discust me and if you are looking into sending your child there try talking to parents and children that have went there before dont go to the school they just put on a show.
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Old 05-29-2010, 02:03 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,386 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by TypicalCalifornian View Post
Only a parent watching his beloved child spinning crazily and uncontrollably into serious trouble could understan their pain. Frankly a little tough love, andmore as required might snap a kid out of this madness. Put a kid in the hands of an institution or watch helplessly as the kid destroys himself and innocent family members and society? Easy one for me: put the kid in an institution with professionals who will take action.

A lot of other posters tell of their trips to prison, the Marine Corp etc. and eventually became decent honorable humans. What they left out was the list of people they knew who did not make it, those who died, those who ended their lives terribly while hurting everyone around them.

You sound immature. You sound soft. You whine too much. Man up.
i was way worse whe i got out of that camp. and yes you are right it was the easy way out cuz you dont have to dea with us. you dont understand what we went through in these places and if you cant see that then maybe you arent listening to opinions of lots of people on here that have been there or your own child. when i got home and told my parents what was going on there they couldnt beleive it and were very upset about the entire sherade. i beleive that you should handle your own problems with your own child instead of letting someone else deal with it. do you realise how traumatizing that experience is for children? we might not seem like we love our parents but some just want attention and then you just drop us off in the middle of no where? and let someone take you out of your home in the middle of the night and not even know whats happening? how would you feel? put yourself in our shoes instead of being so selfish.
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Old 05-29-2010, 02:08 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,386 times
Reputation: 10
i agree with the six month girl. and i think that the reason why your son is doing so well is cuz you have to be really stong in one of those places or you wont be very sane when you get out of there. what kind of blocks do you think he has in his head? when i got out i was horrible and now im doing really well once a grew out of the stage of independence i was in. i am now going to college, living on my own and have a very good relationship with all of my family members and i think that school is. well i cant even put into words at how much i disliked it.
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Old 05-29-2010, 02:33 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,386 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by magoomafoo View Post
I agree with montanahogrider. These camps are not designed to coddle these little delinquents. They are delinquents because, for the majority of them, were coddled too much by the parents in the first place. At what point in society did it become acceptable to forego responsibility? A kid robs a store for $40, beats the clerk paralyzing him and cries it's daddy's fault for spanking him. Give me a break
little deliquents? some of us that went there had attitude problems and were introduced to things that we shouldnt have been. thats really harsh and you have no idea about went on behind closed doors. so speak about what you know about.
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Old 11-03-2010, 12:02 PM
 
5 posts, read 9,434 times
Reputation: 10
Default I was in one for a year it's not a fun place

trust me to any parents out there, really take a good look at any type of school you send your children to, especially out of country programs. I was in the spring creek lodge academy facility in montana and it was the worst year of my life. I was under the impression that the constitution of the united states allows any citizen of this country the right to life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness without due process of the law. Yet every single one of my civil rights were violated in that place, i wasn't allowed to have salt, or ketchup, or any condiments whatsoever for a month and a half to name the very least of the issues, think about it this way, these programs are owned by a corporation, which has no interest in rehabilitating your children, their only motivation is profit. The towns they set up in are purposely very small rural areas because they know that the town is going to prosper from all the finances it brings to them, so they don't mind turning a blind eye to some things. The very thought of sending your children to a program out of the country is horribly idiotic too, thousands of miles away in a remote place like jamaica or costa rica where the same child protection laws and rights are nowhere near the quality they are in america, i was inside when the whole costa rica thing happened, and some of the kids transferred to my place and anybody who had heard about the incident over there was forbidden from even speaking about it otherwise they hit you with the biggest punishment they had. they read your letters and listen to phone calls and cut them off if you tell your parents anything negative, they had a rule there called no manipulating, they are the biggest manipulators of all, my mom showed me all the paperwork they sent her while i was in and it says all kinds of stuff like "your child will tell you this but he's just lying to try and make you change your mind" when all the stuff in reality is true, it's all a big illusion. I wasn't trying to go on a rant here but i feel strongly about this and i want to warn parents to really really think about any decisions before they make them, and not base them on how pretty the website looks or the video THEY make, remember it's a corporation run by millionaires who just want more money so they'll show you whatever you need to see to make your mind up. If anyone is still reading this, thanks for listening.
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