Whoa, WTF?!

[thesummerqueen]

Further in the reddit post they mention suicide attempts. You apparently get put on watch. I can't believe something hasn't been done about this.

[Nine]

Further in the reddit post they mention suicide attempts. You apparently get put on watch. I can't believe something hasn't been done about this.

This is from their site:

Being proactive with suicide prevention is critical. This training provides Horizon Academy staff with important information and techniques to accomplish the following:

Recognize behavioral patterns and other warning signs that indicate that a young person may be at risk for suicide.

Actively intervene, usually by talking to a young person in ways that explore the level of risk without increasing it.

Ensure that young people at risk access the services necessary to reduce that risk.

http://www.horizonacademy.us/safety.html

There F.A.Q. page is pretty fucked.

http://www.horizonacademy.us/faqs.html

[DeistPaladin]

The pessimistic/cynical side of me is taking in how bad it is on the surface and wondering how much worse it gets under it. Anyone want to bet that if one of these camps was ever raided and fully investigated that we'd uncover a ton of physical and sexual abuse?

I mean, I'm just doing the math and realizing that we're talking about a camp run by underpaid and likely undervetted thugs who are given absolute power over their inmates, including license to brainwash and psychologically torture them as deemed necessary with little or no oversight from the outside. The inmates themselves are demonized as heathen trash or whatever. Communication with the outside world is completely cut off with the inmates facing years before they can even get out. What could possibly go horribly awry?

[thesummerqueen]

I was thinking the same thing as I read through the comments, DP.

[DeistPaladin]

I also can't help but wonder how much psychological care someone would need to recover from the likely PTSD involved. We're talking about 15-somethings here, still at an impressionable stage, being subject to isolation, food and sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, etc. as a matter of policy (never mind what goes on under the surface). I shudder to think how this could really fuck someone up for life.

[The Grand Nudger]

They'd make decent Joes, they're half trained already...

[Rev. Rye]

So basically this is like straight camp for atheist kids? I wonder how many suicides they have.

I can't believe that any parent would send their kids to a brainwashing camp like this. The two men showing up in your room in the middle of the night thing would have to be traumatic.

I've known about these motherfuckers at WWASPS for years. They apparently deal with "troubled kids." The problem is that, not only are these methods so extreme, but their definition of "troubled" is so all-encompassing that it can deal with anything from drug use to not liking your new stepmother.

Seriously, the fact that we burned down David Koresh, but these people haven't gotten the same treatment doesn't reflect well on our government.

[Shell B]

I shouldn't be, Shell, but goddammit, that Humanist-helpless optimist side just...It's absolutely unable to comprehend someone who would do this sort of shit.

Yeah, it's pretty fucking ridiculous. No matter my beliefs, I would never fuck with my kid like that.

[Jackalope]

I'm generally of the opinion that parents have a right to raise their kids according to their values within reason (obviously not when abuse or neglect is occurring).

This kind of bullshit is just plain wrong, and I'd feel the same way if it was atheist parents attempting to convert a theist child.

Edited to add: clearly a minor child who is a danger to themselves or others can be taken to a medical facility against their will. There are laws in place for such circumstances, as as far as I know, none of them involve kidnapping in the middle of the night by persons who are not in or authorized by law enforcement. Any jurisdiction that allows children to be forcibly taken from their home without due process is corrupt.

Had this been attempted on me when I was a teen, they'd have their hands full of a very hostile adult-sized teenager, perfectly willing and able to defend myself. Not that it would have happened, my parents were screwed up in their own way, but they weren't religious kooks.

[Cinjin]

Re OP:

What a surprise [/sarcasm] --- this shit hole can be found in Utah. The one state in the US where Jesus and his fucktard followers get a complete pass to distribute whatever primitive practice is deemed fit at the time. Yeah, I'm not real blown away by where this atrocity is located.


That being said, even minors have rights. You can't be incarcerated indefinitely even with your parents consent.

I'd play nice for a few days until I got the freedom to hitchhike across the state line and file a police report for illegal incarceration.


Here's a closing thought to our resident brothers in christ ...
I wonder how many people Jesus Christ had to imprison to get them to believe in him?????



god damn I hate religion.