Perspective

The term "Gulag School" is one that may not be well understood outside of the youth rights movement, for the term gulag has Stalinist connotations and certainly doesn't fit with the image of a place of learning, but it is a term that sends shivers down the spine of those informed within the movement. Tales of abuse, electro-shock "therapy", brainwashing, and unsanitary conditions in these "educational facilities" have filtered out from beyond their walls. The growth of gulag schools represents one of the greatest direct threats to youth rights in our nation, and it is also a striking example of the necessity of a re-examination of America's concept of the rights of the young.
These prison camps are often passed off as a sort of more aggressive "reformatory school" where parents send their "troubled teens" to get back on the "straight and narrow". In truth, however, if you substituted the 3 quoted phrases in the preceding sentence with "brainwashing camp", "even slightly rebellious", and "path to an automaton's existence", you'd have a *somewhat* more accurate picture of the situation.
The horror of these places has been covered in detail elsewhere. What I want to approach here is the supposed moral basis that allows parents to feel justified in doing this to their children.
The presumed role of parents in society is to take care of and nurture their children until such a time as they are able to assume the responsibility themselves. Often the justification used for sending young people off to these prisons is that they are "out of control" and need discipline, and that the kind of "discipline" these places provide is in the best interest of the child.
But first, let us consider that the kind of "discipline" many of these gulag schools offer would be illegal for the parents themselves to do to their children. So why is it then acceptable for parents to have hired goons do it to their kids for them?
Secondly,  why is it acceptable for parents to have teens kidnapped and sent to these places, when doing so to those who have reached 18 *would* be considered kidnapping? I understand the argument that technically the child is still under parental guardianship until they turn 18, but surely so basic a right as to be protected from physical harm is universal? Children are *NOT* parental property, after all.
The whole problem here is the deeply ingrained concept that parents should be able to do what they deem necessary to "rein in" presumably "wild" children, as long as the children are under 18. This concept is the main problem here and it is what needs reexamination,  considering that a double standard is applied to youth. Once one hits the magic age of 18, one can act as "wild" as one wants without worrying about parental retribution. So the conclusion to be drawn from current law is that a parent can do whatever they want "in the best interest" of the child until, somehow, a magical transformation occurs at one's 18th birthday. The logical question to ask here is is if the magic age should exist at all.
If the presumed role of parents is to take care of and nurture their children, to guide them on the path to adulthood, then why is there such a disparity between that concept and a legal concept which allows for parents to intentionally hurt their children (or, increasingly, to hire other people to do so)? Perhaps what society needs to do in the short term is redefine the legal abilities of parents to something better befitting a free society with any shred of respect for its young. For instance, parents shouldn't be able to intentionally physically hurt their children, nor should they be able to hire other people to do so. Parents shouldn't be able to have their teens kidnapped and sent off to these places either; the basis for this being that it can't possibly be in the best interest of any child to be forced into a facility where they are brainwashed and beaten into submission, their most basic rights left by the wayside. It's worth mentioning that if young people had a legally protected command of their educational destiny, this problem wouldn't be as big as it is.
So the main point here is that while bringing down the age-based legal barriers between adults and young people is the ultimate goal, in the meantime the law's concepts of parental powers need to be changed to something more congruous with an enlightened understanding of youth rights. But while temporary gains may be made in individual battles such as shutting down particular gulag schools or liberating young people from them, the broader philosophical war cannot be neglected. For as long as American parents feel they are doing the moral thing in giving these "schools" their children, this monumental disgrace to human rights will continue. It is certainly much harder to change the collective mind of a nation than the particular minds of particular legislators, but until we do any gains made will be temporary. So when you're done reading this article, talk not only to your local legislators, but your family, teachers, and friends about this issue. If we all work together, we can surely turn this tide.

(Note: At this time I would like to mention a great organization whose purpose is to work on this issue called TeenLiberty. They are doing their best to inform people about this important issue and lobby on the behalf of teens currently in these hellholes. Following are a few tips from the TeenLiberty site at www.teenaid.org about how to avoid abduction.)

1. JUST CRY RAPE. If you are taken from home, school, or on the street, by "bounty hunters" or so-called "escorts" and find yourself in a public place, such as an airport, just cry rape! The authorities will act first to protect you, and ask questions later.

2. FILE EMANCIPATION PAPERS.  If you are of the age of EMANCIPATION in your state, pay a lawyer to file Emancipation papers for you. This may be a very simple procedure.  It may require that you show that you are able to support yourself. In some states, the legal age is 16. -- One teen who was diagnosed as ADHD hired a medical professional to conduct another test. This "second opinion" showed he was not ADHD. Fearing that he would be "disappeared" by his parents, he paid a lawyer to emancipate him, at age 16. -- He was given a job by friends and moved across the country. "Now," he writes, "I'm
living 3,000 miles away from my parents and we're closer than ever!"

3. NOTIFY THE POLICE. If you fear that you will be sent away against your will, legal experts advise another option: write a statement saying that if you are sent away ("disappeared") it will be done against your will and you will fight to protect yourself and to prevent this from happening. This document should be sent, or delivered, to your local police or county sheriff's department. A copy should be given to a trusted friend. It should also include all contact information, including your name, telephone number, home address, and city.