15 votes

Troubled US teens left traumatised by tough love camps

5 comments

  1. NoblePath
    Link
    These camps, togther with neuro-pharmacological complex and many other social phenomenon, are I think a symptom of the modern exaggeration of “individuality” in America. To send a kid to camp, or...

    These camps, togther with neuro-pharmacological complex and many other social phenomenon, are I think a symptom of the modern exaggeration of “individuality” in America.

    To send a kid to camp, or alone to therapy, or on medication and not also send the whole family to equivalent treatment is to fail to understand that mental health issues, especially those in volving poor behavior in children (teens), is a family systems failure.

    The kid acting out has often been subconsciously conditioned by parents, who were once themselves unwittingly conditioned, to become scapegoats who bear the whole family’s shame and fear. It’s much easier to focus on the “problem” behaviors of a “troubled” teen than take a meaningful look inside ourselves.

    For more information: google cptsd, adult children of dysfunctional familes, scapegoat/lost child/hero/mascot, identified patient.

    10 votes
  2. [3]
    mrbig
    Link
    That is horrifiyng. Offloading parenting is such an obviously terrible idea.

    That is horrifiyng. Offloading parenting is such an obviously terrible idea.

    2 votes
    1. [2]
      Grzmot
      Link Parent
      The fact that they managed to kill a teenager on the first day astonishes me. I see the point in camps like these, or at least the idea behind them. Spending the summer in nature with professional...

      The fact that they managed to kill a teenager on the first day astonishes me. I see the point in camps like these, or at least the idea behind them. Spending the summer in nature with professional who give you tasks you can solve can lead to improvements for yourself and spending so much time outside is healthy.

      Just not coupled with emotional, physical and sometimes sexual abuse, this literal kidnapping in the middle of the night (if something like that happened I could never ever trust my parents again), the obvious religious idoctrination and the brainwashing in general.

      I like summer camps. I've been in them for the greater part of my teenage years. But those weren't "tough love camps", they were just normal camps, sometimes with a theme, sometimes not, where you got to spend plenty of time with peers, got to solve tasks and do lots of sports outside in the countryside.

      9 votes
      1. mrbig
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Oh yeah summer camps can be great, and like you say they are obviously very different from the subject of the article. In my view, the mere notion that you can simply deliver your child to a third...

        Oh yeah summer camps can be great, and like you say they are obviously very different from the subject of the article. In my view, the mere notion that you can simply deliver your child to a third party that will fix them for you is absurd from the start. I believe this very concept is ripe for trauma and abuse. It involves an abusive breach of trust that can only end badly.

        3 votes