WWASP, Thompson Falls, Sanders County, Spring Creek Lodge, Behavior Modification camps/schools

[stacycreeker01]

hi the hackman, I noticed you said this was to the original poster but just making sure you weren't talking to me?

[fromthebay]

Originally Posted by thehakman

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.

[Reziac]

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!

[Jr63007]

Originally Posted by fromthebay

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

[mijikai]

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...