I admit
that I made one or two mistakes as a parent.
One of the worst errors was teaching the kids to question authority and
to think for themselves. When they hit
their teenage years and began to view me as “an authority” whom they should
question, I realized that I had given them extremely bad advice. After one explosive encounter with the boys,
their dad urged me to take a weekend off by myself at our lake house where I could
escape the stress. I realized only later
that I had been put in time out.
As
there wasn’t much to do at the lake, I had taken a few magazines along with a
cross stitch project. That afternoon,
while reading a Southern Living magazine, I ran across an ad. It asked whether we were “having discipline
issues” with our teenagers. If so, we
could send them to a lovely camp in New England where they could learn to
better communicate with us.
My
kids were communicating just fine, but I was intrigued by the camp idea. I read
on until I came to a more promising ad.
It offered a “boot camp” experience in the Nevada desert that was guaranteed
to teach kids to behave. A former Army
drill sergeant ran the camp. This was exactly
what we needed. Upon returning home, I
enthusiastically told the boys and their dad about the camp. They confiscated my magazines and sent me
back to the lake.
In
2009, Dr. Smith, a psychologist, was working at a state-run youth detention camp. In addition to housing delinquent juveniles,
the facility had its own version of the “Scared Straight” show. Parents and other “authorities” sent problem
kids to the camp for a day. The
psychologist met them briefly and turned them over to security personnel. The kids ranged in age from ten to 14. At the camp, some had to wear handcuffs and
leg shackles. Some were “disciplined.” Some had to do chores with inmates. The intent was to convince kids how horrible
it would be to continue on their path of crime and end up at the camp.
I’m
sure the “aversive experience” scared the children silly. But after the state Psychology Board got wind
of it, the experience turned out to be just as frightening for Dr. Smith.
The
Board disciplined the doctor because he did not conduct initial psychological assessments
of the children, he failed to get their parents’ informed consent, and he failed
to document his work. The psychologist
appealed the Board’s ruling to the courts.
In
court, the psychologist argued that these children were not his patients and
that he was not providing psychological services to them. However, the court noted that the
psychologist, after his brief encounter with the children, decided which of
them would be put into shackles, what chores would be assigned and what they
would be doing on their “visit.” The
court held that because the doctor determined the intervention for each child,
he was providing “therapy” for them.
Accordingly, he had to carry out his therapy as required by law. He needed to obtain parental consent, do a
thorough assessment of each child, and document his work. The court upheld the Board’s discipline of
the doctor.
The
juvenile detention facility should never have gotten a psychologist involved
with the program. If they had read
Southern Living Magazine like I did, they would know that they could have hired
a former Marine drill instructor or even a retired member of Seal Team Six to
frighten the children. These highly
trained personnel are expert at instilling terror and discipline and they don’t
have to be licensed. It would be a
win-win for all involved.
At
Halloween, I often think about Dr. Smith.
While the rest of us delight in frightening kids with bats, ghosts, jack
o’lanterns, vampires, and peeled grape eyeballs, those who visit Dr. Smith’s well-lit
house probably find no Halloween decorations.
I doubt he wears his old vampire
costume any more. In fact, to be safe,
he probably doesn’t even stay home for trick or treat. The last thing he wants to do is to scare any
more children.
Happy
Halloween.
