WTF Mom Pays To Have Daughter Kidnapped

[Rageaholic]

I really hope this is just some sick joke

Because if it's not, this mother should be in jail! She had her daughter kidnapped and sent to one of those teen behavior camps. Those camps where, in her own words:

They lived like cavemen: they didn’t see a roof the whole time, took care of their sanitary waste, learned survival skills and did physical labour; some cut off their hair because they couldn’t bathe.

She knew this and is still convinced she's right, acting like some kind of martyr. She admits to using a web of deceit including, spiking her drink with sleeping pills to make it easier for the goons to kidnap her. All this because her daughter wanted to drop out of high school and go to beauty school.

Of course this mother says her kids are doing great now, but considering her lies to her daughter, I take that with a grain of salt. And even if they are doing great, it still doesn't make her actions any less deplorable.

I can't believe any news company would publish this crap.

[Kheldarson]

It's more common than you think:

http://www.cracked.com/personal-expe...-facility.html

http://www.cracked.com/personal-expe...-industry.html

http://www.cracked.com/personal-expe...realities.html

http://www.cracked.com/podcast/the-h...rehab-centers/

[HYHYBT]

Why is this legal? Why does it not, at least, qualify as child abuse?

[s_stabeler]

because the camps are, technically, legal (the camps are borderline abusive, and definitely screw up the kids that go to them, but nothing they do is actually illegal for a parent to do to their kid) and parents have a fairly wide latitude in what they do with their kids. Strictly speaking, it's not actually kidnapping for the goons to take the kid to the camp, because they have the agreement of the legal guardian.

granted, I happen to agree that these camps are, in the main, run by the scum of the earth (you get the occasional one that is run by people who know WTF they are doing in actually helping troubled kids and they are more like residential therapy than anything else- but if the camp markets itself as "tough love" of some variety or another then it's definitely one of the bad ones)

As for the sleeping pills, unfortunately, again, provided they were OTC pills and she didn't deliberately give the kid an overdose, it's legal.

but as for the moral side of things: It's not entirely clear, at least on her mother's part. She had one kid who got picked up twice by the police for drugs, got sent to a strict boarding school, and that cleared up the problem. These camps effectively prey on parents worried about their kids- and it sounds to me like the mother thought the camp would be more like the strict boarding school she sent her son to- in that they try to convince parents their kids will have drug or alcohol issues unless they are sent to the "tough love" camp immediately. Remember she had one kid who had drug issues- probably due to issues stemming from the divorce- so she would have been vulnerable to the camps' propaganda.

In short, the camp is despicable- however, the mother probably really did think she had no other choice. As such, I have some sympathy for the mother, in that she was tricked into letting something despicable happen to her daughter. (granted that the camp isn't the worst of them- some of these "tough love" camps include forcing female inmates to perform lap dances for the male ones. (the male inmates have no choice either, b the way- it's definitely the camp that is at fault here)

But yes, I do think these camps should be illegal- at least, as they currently are. (something more focused on actual therapy- and that is run by actual licensed therapists- could be fine, but not these tough-love camps)

[TheHuckster]

As for the sleeping pills, unfortunately, again, provided they were OTC pills and she didn't deliberately give the kid an overdose, it's legal.

I would argue that slipping a kid sleeping pills to accommodate these guys to take them from their bedrooms unwillingly crosses the line from "tough parenting" to "call CPS" territory. I know parenting laws are lax, but that doesn't mean there aren't limits to what you can and can't do.

(granted that the camp isn't the worst of them- some of these "tough love" camps include forcing female inmates to perform lap dances for the male ones. (the male inmates have no choice either, b the way- it's definitely the camp that is at fault here)

I'd find it really hard to believe that is legal. Not to mention, how the fuck does that cure the kids of whatever bad behavior they're conducting at home anyways?

I'd agree that at least some of these camps merely stray very close to the line between "horrible but technically legal" but there's no way some of the stuff they're talking about could possibly be anything but criminal abuse. It's just that they haven't been caught.

[Gravekeeper]

I think my favourite part about this is mom paints *herself* as the victim of the story.

[Rageaholic]

but as for the moral side of things: It's not entirely clear, at least on her mother's part. She had one kid who got picked up twice by the police for drugs, got sent to a strict boarding school, and that cleared up the problem. These camps effectively prey on parents worried about their kids- and it sounds to me like the mother thought the camp would be more like the strict boarding school she sent her son to- in that they try to convince parents their kids will have drug or alcohol issues unless they are sent to the "tough love" camp immediately. Remember she had one kid who had drug issues- probably due to issues stemming from the divorce- so she would have been vulnerable to the camps' propaganda.

The problem with that theory is that she knew what the camp would be like and still sent her daughter there. And even if she found out afterwards, she still thought it was the right thing to do, despite them living like cavemen.

I think my favourite part about this is mom paints *herself* as the victim of the story.

The tone of the article makes me sick. She thinks this is a story of a brave mother faced with with a difficult child. imo, it's the story of a narcissistic control freak psycho bitch from hell.

[s_stabeler]

First, the camps make the parents believe their kids will end up dying of a drug overdose- or alcohol poisoning- f they aren't sent to the camp. As such, yes, i can see how, after having been manipulated by the camp, she thought it was the right ting to do. Also, the camps make the parents believe the kids will lie about the conditions.