SUWS
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SUWS (The School of Urban and Wilderness Survival) is an old wilderness therapy program.
Indholdsfortegnelse
History[redigér]
It started out as a outdoor education program and developed into a wilderness therapy program located in Idaho's desert.
The first program for youth aged 14 to 18 was started in 1981 in Idaho. In 1997 they started a second program for a younger target-group. In 2000 a program was started in North Carolina.
In 2006 they began to market a program aimed to youth with Aspergers diseases which they felt could benefit from their program <Ref>Aspergers advertisment, program homepage</Ref>
Program[redigér]
Admission[redigér]
There are three ways for the detainees to arrive to the place for the intake.
- The youth can travel there voluntary
- Children are tricked there. According to Strugglingteen.com, which is a kind of marketing paper for the industry, it is not seldom to receive a child with a newly bought snowboard in his or her hand, when the child is received at the airport. The parents simply trick the child into a belief that the child is going on holiday rather than being sent to the wilderness until <Ref>Strugglingteen.com visit to SUWS, Strugglingteens.com</Ref>. Many students wouldn't choose to come to a wilderness therapy program voluntarily.
- They use teen escort firms.
Level system[redigér]
The various programs in Idaho and South Carolina varies a little.
The programs has the following levels:
| Level | Idaho | North Carolina | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Safety | Safety | The goal is to make the youth accept that they are in the desert and to teach them some basic wilderness skills so they become oriented to the desert and are able to take care of themselves. |
| 2 | Individual | Individual | The youth spends time by themselves, sitting alone with some with some written assignments and contemplating their life. They are isolated from the group and receive little peer feedback during this time, which encourages them to face their problems and take accountability for their past actions. |
| 3 | Family | Community | This phase focused of interacting with the other youth. They work to take care of themselves and take care of those in their family group. They learn more advanced backpacking and outdoor skills. |
| 4 | Venturer Explorer Navigator Guide | Responder | |
| 5 | Search & Rescue | Search & Rescue | In this phase students work to continue taking care of themselves and their families, and additionally work to take care of the desert and their larger community. |
| 6 | Family program |
Outcome[redigér]
Some teenagers complete SUWS by taking accountability for their actions and working to improve their lives by achieving sobriety, making positive decisions for their futures, and working on positive and pro-active communication with those around them. Most leave SUWS with a greater level of self-confidence and self-respect.
Many teenagers do not return home after the struggle in the wilderness. Many go on to other aftercare programs or Boarding Schools. The number of teenagers returning home are lower at SUWS than many other programs <Ref>Theoretical Basis, process and reported Outcomes of Wilderness Therapy as an Intervention and Treatment for problem behavior in Adolescents, by Keith C. Russell, Idaho University, page 23</Ref>
In the news[redigér]
Deaths[redigér]
Two known deaths are recorded:
- Gregory Owen Jones -aged 13. On July 3 - 1985 died of dehydration. Due to heat wave in the area the first two waterholes were empty and Mr. Jones collapsed and died on the way to waterhole a third waterhole even it some newssources claim that it was a fall.<Ref>Washington boy in survival class suffers fall, dies, Eugene Register-Guard July 5, 1985
Wilderness Program sued by parents of dead boy, The Spokesman Review, November 1 1985</Ref>. According to the local sheriff the group had been without water for 9.5 hours in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees <Ref>No charged to be filed in boy's death, The Spokemans Review, October 13 1985</Ref>.
- Rocco Magliozzi - aged 12 died July 2006 when he contracted the West Nile Virus. The program sent Rocco to the doctor, who cleared him to return to the desert. When he was taken to the doctor a second time, he never returned to the desert and passed away in the hospital <Ref>Rocco Magliozzi, 12; loved sports, Boston Globe</Ref>
Other news[redigér]
- May 2010 two girls ran away from the program <ref name=suws1>Hunt is on for two runaway teens, by Richelle Bailey, The Mcdowell News, May 6 2010
Two girls missing from SUWS, a thread on Fornits webforum</ref>. They were found 14 hours later <ref>Runaways located after 14-hour search, By Richelle Bailey, The Mcdowell News, May 09, 2010</ref> - May 2013 two boys ran away <ref>McDowell authorities search for two runaways, McDowell News, May 9, 2013</ref>
- July 2016 two boys ran from the program. They were arrrested and brought to the juvenile hall where they would get better treatment and access to legal representation <ref name="WLOS">MISSING: Teens sought after leaving Old Fort youth treatment program, by Jennifer Saylor, WLOS news, July 26, 2016</ref>
External links[redigér]
Info pages[redigér]
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Community Groups[redigér]
- Group: Wilderness Program Graduates, Facebook
- Group: I Survived Wilderness, Facebook
- Group: SUWS Idaho Grads, Facebook
- Group: SUWS SURVIVORS, Facebook
- Group: SUWS of the Carolinas!!, Facebook
- Group: Group Echo of SUWS of the Carolinas, Facebook
- Group: SUWS Instructors, Facebook
- Group: SUWS survivors/grads/vets, Facebook
Message Boards[redigér]
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References[redigér]
<References/>
