Troubled Teen Industry
Can You Punish a Child’s Mental Health Problems Away?
BY ALEXANDER STOCKTON
THE NEW YORK TIMES | OPINION
It’s known as the troubled teen industry. Spread across the country, this array of boot camps, wilderness therapy programs, therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers is supposed to help children with mental health and behavioral issues, through a mix of therapy and tough love.
In reality, it is harming many of the children it purports to be treating, because of a reliance on archaic tactics, a lack of oversight and regulation and a focus on maximizing profit.
Desperate parents who don’t know what to do with their difficult kids turn to this industry for help. Many kids have already been through foster care, therapy, rehab, hospitalization or the criminal justice system. Lumped in with them are children who need long-term professional care for autism or complex problems, including severe depression, eating disorders, addiction and emotional trauma.
Our society is failing some of our most vulnerable by warehousing them in an industry that is woefully equipped to deal with their mental health needs.