Heartlight Ministries in the media again

Once again Heartlight Ministries is in the spotlight.

Back in 2009 people fought to get a 16 year old boy named Nathan released from the facility. While the facility is not a lockdown facility it is located in a remote area and escape is difficult.

Early 2013 two teenagers ran from the facility but they were returned soon after. A little research into Facebook shows that the girl was released not so long after, so maybe the emotional damage inflicted was so little that she has a chance to move on in life. The boy had to wear an orange jumpsuit just as in prison but is also back in MS again.

Now there is a new case and it is worrying.

The recent "Agnes of God" case from River View Christian Academy (formerly Julian Youth Academy) shows that restricted Christian boarding schools don't equip teenagers and young adults to the modern world. People end up getting hurt or emotional damaged so they cannot participate in the activities surrounding colleges and other educational institutions like universities.

When one of your families members are in dangerous of being sent away or has been sent please reach out and offer housing for the teenager involved. All too often the banishment is the result of an advice made by an educational consultant who lives of referral fees from the boarding schools and wilderness programs teenagers are sent to rather than the need of the teenager. Of course the parents desperate in need of help pay the educational consultant too but it is the referral fees which are the core of the consultants business.

Your reaching out can make the difference for a family member!




Sources:

• Free Nathan
• Update: Teens missing from Hallsville ministry found safe (Longview News-Journal)
• Looking for information on Heartlight Ministries boarding school in Texas. (Reddit)

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)