Can 2013 be another golden year

We have learned that one of the largest firms operating behavior modification programs in the United States have decided to close 5 programs down. They are:

• Academy at Swift River
• Talisman Academy
• Stone Mountain School
• SUWS Adolescent & Youth Programs
• Adirondack Leadership Expeditions

Some parts of SUWS remains in operation. Also other independent programs have announced their closure. Among the most well-known programs among survivors was Lighthouse Ministries of North West Florida formerly known as Victory Christian Academy. When the program was located in California a girl died there while she was put to work on something she wasn't trained professional do. Construction work demands education and the program was kicked out of California. They soon found a safe haven in Florida where the authorities doesn't care about religious programs.

However resent coverage in the media put the spotlight on programs like the Lighthouse. Their past was presented to the public. They had no choice but to close. However the closure came too late for the author Michele Ulriksen who died in 2011. Her book "Reform at Victory" showed the ordeal she and the other girls were forced to endure.

2013 seems to be a fine year. So far no teenagers have died in a group home or wilderness program which would be the first for several decades. We will cross our fingers and hope the best.


Sources:

• Aspen Education Group Closes Five Programs (Strugglingteens - industry marketing firm)
• Factsheet about Academy at Swift River (Fornits Wiki)
• Factsheet about Stone Mountain School (Fornits Wiki)
• Factsheet about Adirondack Leadership Expeditions (Fornits Wiki)
• Factsheet about SUWS (Fornits Wiki)
• Reform at Victory

Now stunning kids in a private boot camp is ruled OK

The police have dropped the case against a boot camp instructor at the Reality Invasion Boot Camp in Abilene, Texas

The police got a report from a 14 year old girl who told the police that she was shocked at the program. The police investigation showed that the mother had given permission to the instructors to shock the girl if she became disruptive while she was in the program.

The fact that the police are dropping the charges in this specific case means that it is OK for parents to hire strangers to shock their children using Tasers while it would be a crime for the parents to do it themselves.

How that this be justified?

We urge the politicians to pass legislation which would regulate the use of these private boot camps which have clients aged down to 4 year olds.

Otherwise there is a risk that a child could be killed as the intake process seems not to include a lengthy medical check. A child could be stunned to death based on an undiscovered heart condition. Secondly the child could be acting out based on untreated mental illnesses which would mean that the child would be punished for an illness rather than the behavior.


Sources:

• Several Cases Are Dropped in Reality Invasion Boot Camp Investigation (Big Country Homepage)
• Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)

California boot camps continues to be under fire

The authorities in California discover illegal acts in private boot camps. Now the third boot camp is investigated.

• First it was a boot camp in Pasadena. Photos of children being forced to drink water until they vomited were widely published on the Internet.
• Second a couple of police officer had private boot camp in Los Angeles. It is under investigation.
• Now a scout camp is under investigation. 180 Degree Recon is the name of the camp. Two arrests have been made.

We have notified the people who maintain Fornits Wiki while we are busy with other parts of the Troubled Teen Industry.

California is moving in the right direction, but there are more work to do.


Sources:

• Kelvin 'Sgt. Mac' McFarland, Controversial Bootcamp Operator, Charged With Girls' Sex Assault (The Huffington Post)
• LA Boot Camp For Teens Run By LAPD Officers Under Investigation After Video Emerges (The Huffington Post)
• Edgar Alvarado, Ruben Romero Arrested For Allegedly Abusing Teens At Boot Camp (VIDEO) (The Huffington Post)
• 54. 180 Recon (1,000 places you don't want to be as a teenager)
• California category (Fornits Wiki)