At Home: Help for Troubled Teens
Trouble: it often seems like a normal part of growing up. But for some youth, trouble’s more than just a phase. Dropping out of school, developing drug addictions, and attempting suicide?these are teens who need a lot of help, and traditional programs won’t necessarily meet their needs.
There’s good news, though: an Ontario woman has pioneered one of Canada’s first private treatment centres for troubled teens, and the government is now recognizing its worth.
As The Globe and Mail reports, Karen Minden developed the idea after watching a family member suffer through a troubled youth and then find help through a ?long-term residential treatment program in the United States.?
But although some provinces pay to send youth to such centres in the US, there was a lack of local options, and the government and other ?local institutions? seemed reluctant to establish such a centre.
Minden decided ?that she’d have to do it herself.? She raised funds privately, ?consulted hundreds of experts,? and found the ideal, outdoorsy location. She’s now been operating the Pine River Institute for five years?with an 80 per cent success rate?and the government is stepping in to help provide funding for the residential program.
Around the World: Noodle Nonsense
The customer is always right, the old saying goes. But that wasn’t the case for one Taiwanese food blogger who wasn’t happy with the meal she was served. When she went online to complain about her restaurant experience, she was sued for defamation?and lost.
As the Daily Telegraph reports, the restaurant blogger received a 30-day jail sentence, two years of probation, and a large fine for commenting on her blog about her unpleasant meal.
The blogger, whose small site is ?relatively little-read,? criticized the food as being ?too salty,? and complained about the presence of cockroaches and the owner’s behaviour.
The judge ruled that the blogger’s 2008 review was defamatory because she described the food as too salty but ?had only eaten one dish of fried noodles,? making her ?unqualified? to comment on ?the rest of the . . . menu.?
The owner, whom the blogger had described as a ?bully,? told reporters he hoped that ?the case would teach [the blogger] a lesson.?
