TRANQUILITY BAY, JAMAICA - WWASP

Imagine being a parent, having a troubled teen and not knowing what to do or where to go for help. You stumble upon an ad or some information somewhere introducing this facility in beautiful Jamaica. The ad and/or Tranquility Bay website reads like the answer to your prayers and the best thing for your child. It's everything you think your child needs AND they will have the wonderful cultural experience of being in Jamaica.



This is the experience of one of the students who attended Tranquility bay. To read the whole story click here.

"By habit, I was already awake before the screaming began. As soon as the wake up call started, I quickly reminded myself that I had become a machine, and I wasn't really there. The silent commotion began immediately. Two hundred young men spilled out into the hallway and outside into the courtyard to line up for headcount...

The guard stood in the center of the room until the case manager came in, carrying a plastic chair. She sat down, and for half an hour we were allowed to ask questions about our family and express medical concerns. We were not allowed to inquire about release dates. I told the case manager about my ringworm and the liver spots. A few more people complained about scabies and sprained muscles. She wrote everything down in her blue notebook and promised that it would all be taken care of. I knew she was lying..."

"If I was careful, I could sneak a chapter from The Grapes of Wrath, but if I were caught I would be placed in Staff Watch and on my face for a few days..."

Read the story and you be the judge. But before you make you call, read also the story of a parent who in her moment of desperation feels she was taken in by the hype.

Quoted from her story at www.helpyourteens.com:

I brought my child home and when she felt confident I wouldn’t send her back, I heard some unspeakable stories. The stories were very consistent with many others I was hearing and reading about. My child went immediately into real counseling where, after almost two years, we are recovering from this traumatic experience in our lives. My child was suffering from depression and nightmares from the stay at Carolina Springs Academy. The fear of being sent back, had created suicidal thoughts, however the excellent psychologist helped my child through this horrible post experience of WWASP. I have heard from many other post-WWASP students and families suffering from the same symptoms, which is very sad.

Want to see something interesting? Click Here. This is supposed to be the page for Student Activities with a long list of activities and events but as you click on each on there is only one picture of a man and woman thanking them for helping their child. Where are the photos?

WWASP - World Wide Association of Specialty Programs. Tranquilty Bay and Carolina Springs Academy are only two of the Program under WWASP.

Here's the deal. Is sending a child to boot camp the answer to a problem child and if so, how much is to much? Are they helping or hurting them? If you want to send your child to get help with their problems is this what you would really want for them? The child I quoted and referenced links to stated she was in trouble for selling LSD. Was what that child went through the answer? Are these people who run these programs really trying to help or simply making money off of someone else's problems?

We are not all the same, we cannot all be treated the same. Anyone with children will tell you that you only need look at one child to make them retreat and with another you must take it the whole ten yards to make your point. Can a facility such as these treat all troubled children the same? They are children and if child abuse is not tolerated in homes by the government, why should such facilities be allowed to treat children this poorly and get paid for it?

Please read the articles I linked to. At least be aware. Many of the WWASP facilities have been raided and closed down.

There are much better and more intense must-see videos on a friend's blog at http://iriejamaica.blogspot.com/2008/01/eyes-mind-heart-tranquility-bay-jamaica.html.

You can alos check out these links F.Y.I. - both pro and con.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2003/06/19/2003055914
http://www.vpp.com/teenhelp/tb.html
http://www.paulareeves.com/Photo%20Gallery/1-Photo_gallery.htm
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2007/06/17/news/news01.txt
http://antiwwasp.com/tranquility-bay.html