Divorce and school. Do not hold the child as hostage

From one of our partners in the United States we have learned about a divorce case where the outcome very well could be that a teenage girl is send to a remote boarding school in Utah which have claimed the life of a boy back in January 2009.

A petition has been made to save this girl from Louisiana from her awful fate.

We have chosen to quote it in full in order to appeal to you to sign it.

Save Victoria From Diamond Ranch Academy

Today we heard a troubling story about a girl named Victoria, a sweet 16 year old girl from Louisiana who is in danger of being court ordered to be held at Diamond Ranch Academy, in Hurricane, Utah, a notoriously abusive behavior modification program for the next 2 years. Victoria does not deserve to be incarcerated, her father from whom she is estranged simply does not like the school she currently attends and is determined to dictate her education.

Apparently, in Louisiana, when divorced parents cannot agree on a school for their child they go to court, where a judge listens to both parties and then issues a court order deciding which school the child will attend. (This is what the mom has told me.) The father brought in glossy brochures about DRA, showing the horses, the beautiful grounds, ponds, classrooms, dormitories etc, and presented DRA to the judge like it was a boarding school.

Ultimately, the judge approved the Dad’s petition to send his daughter to DRA, and she is scheduled go there June 1.

Mom and daughter both recently visited DRA and were horrified. Neither of them want Victoria to attend this school, and are desperate to find a way to show the judge the truth about Diamond Ranch Academy, the abuse and the maltreatment that has been the cause of injury and death of at least one student in their care.

Please consider signing this petition in support of Victoria being saved from this fate, allowing her and her mother the freedom to choose the school that is best for her, not a program that will abuse her and rob her of the best years of her life.

If you were a student at DRA please share your story here, we will make sure each and every testimony is delivered to the judge presiding over this case.

Thank You
www.troubledprograms.com

We must urge parents that they don't keep their children is a kind of prize money when they divide their assets with their former partner. The children haven't chosen the divorce. They are victims of it and should be allowed to continue their schooling and social life just as they lived it before the divorce.

To sign the petition please use this link: Save Victoria from Diamond Ranch Academy

Rehabs all over the world are firetraps

May 6 the world woke to the news of yet another fire in a rehabilitation center. This time tragedy struck the "Sacred Heart of Jesus" in Chosica near Lima in Peru.

14 people died. The cure for their addiction turned into their death.

Together with our U.S partners our organization has been involved in alerting the authorities when fire-escapes and doors have been found locked or blocked at group homes, residential treatment centers and boarding schools. We do know that parents and relatives want to keep teenagers locked up based on the claim that they need to be kept safe, but fire regulations cannot be ignored. Otherwise it will lead to tragedies like the one in Chosica.

As the article states this fire were the second one this year. Another fire claimed the life of 29 people.

I Russia there have been several fires with many victims.

It is stated that the rule is that residential treatment centers in Peru are in fact private prisons where people are held against their will. We must state that it is time for Peru to clean up their act. They need to regulate the treatment centers and close those down which don't provide professional treatment. Fact is that we in Denmark do know that most treatment of addiction are faith-based and waste of time and money. The newspapers and Television Stations in Denmark can random-pick various faith-based treatment centers and show the viewers scandal after scandal involving the tax-payers money. It is only a question whether the viewers become tired of hearing the same old news repeated all the time.

People who suffer from addiction will hit rock bottom and be ready for treatment at a certain point. Only then it is time to intervene and offer professional treatment. Then you can provide it without locking people up and you can offer it for a much lower price enabling the society to treat a higher amount of addicts for the same funds.

Portugal has shown the path countries should choose when battling addiction. They have decriminalized drug-use and have shifted their focus to the distribution network. As result more people enter treatment because the lack of stress from the authorities gives them time to consider their situation and in general drug use is down.

Please do help your relatives who suffer from addiction. Be there when they reach rock bottom and do not enable them by giving them anything but clean clothes and food. Don’t try to lock them up or you will pick in as much risk as they are as result of their addiction.

Sources:

• Peru drug clinic fire kills 14 people locked inside (The Guardian, May 6 2012)
• Fire in Moscow hospital kills 45 people (USA-today, December 9, 2006)
• 37 killed in fire at drug rehab clinic in Kazakhstan with barred windows (My Daily News, September 14, 2009)
• Portugal drug law show results ten years on, experts say (AFP - Google Hosted News, July 1, 2011)