I can't believe no-one's posted this yet!!!
How's this for 'tough love'? In a disturbing article for The Observer, Decca Aitken gets unprecedented access to the privately run Tranquility Bay camp in Jamaica where US parents send their troubled teenaged offspring to be shown the error of their errors, paying up to $40,000 per year for the privilege.
Is this institution an infringement of basic human rights?
Troubled Teens
The kids aged between 11-18 are usually from a privileged background but are perceived to be 'in trouble' by their parents. This can be as minor as having unsuitable boyfriend or not showing the parents enough love and respect to fairly serious lawbreaking. Often the kids are adopted or step children and aren't fitting in with the rest of the family. The parents often have tried remedies such as military school and child psychologists but the kids don't show any improvement in behaviour.
The Institution
The place is run by Jay Kay, an American without any childcare qualifications, but most of the staff are Jamaican. The institution is affiliated to World Wide Association Of Speciality Programs which is based in Utah and follows their daily program which consists of Education Guidance videos which are about not smoking, chastity and other moral topics, the US high school curriculum which is not taught but merely done via books and video, plain meals which must be finished (to prevent anorexics skipping them) and group therapy.
Emotional Abuse
The kids are 'reformed' by a combination of physical restraint, brainwashing, bribery through gaining privileges and basically not being allowed to leave the place until they submit. The most drastic punishment is lying on your face on the floor for up to 12 hours a day. This can be for periods of over a year. Group therapy is used as a way of gaining power over the kids by making them reveal secrets about themselves which the group leaders can use to emotionally blackmail their charges.
The Legal Situation
This all sounds like a major abuse of human rights yet the Jamaican govt seems not bothered about the place so long as it obeys local sanitary regulations. The institution has 49% guardianship rights over the kids and the parents approve so the US authorities won't intervene either.
(stolen from Kuro5hin.org)