May 2009

Recently a few alumni critics of the school have started reaching out through email to prospective parents.  The parents then contact us and ask us about what the alumni-critics are saying.  That is how I found out that they are trying to use the work that I do with Ripley, my search and rescue dog, to paint the school in a negative light.  In one communication an alumni reported that we go out looking for 40 runaways a year and she stated that 40 was a  high number for a population of 250 students.

I don’t know where that number came from but its close enough to the total. But to set the record straight. Ripley and I do not go out to look for every student who walks off campus. We go out for about a third of all the students who “elope.”  (That’s the official term for it according to one of our accrediting agencies, the Joint Commission for Behavioral Health Care).  Ripley and I get called upon to look for depressed students, very young, and impulsive students; we go out when the weather is cold and when students are under dressed, or when the students head in a direction that is likely to get them truly lost in the woods.

By the way, we belong to a volunteer search and rescue team, Eagle Valley Search dogs.  In addition to finding our own lost students, Ripley and I also respond to searches for lost hunters, Alzheimer’s patients, 3 year olds, despondents, lost hikers and the occasional teen who is missing from home (ran away).

The alumni critic thinks 40 runaway incidents a year is a high number—even if most of those are only off campus for a few hours, long enough to cool off, think things through and come back.  The critic asks the prospective parent,  “What are they running away from?” The critic implies the school must be a terrible place if that many students run away.  How silly. Many of our students ran away from home before they came to us. The ones who didn’t “run” away often stayed away—out all night,  out of contact for days at a time. That is why most of our students are here. They took serious risks and scared their parents.  Part of our job is to keep risky kids away from risky things like drugs, alcohol, sex, cars, parties and to get them reconnected with school, family, good friends and ultimately with God.  We don’t always succeed.  Those risky behaviors are exciting and attractive.  We see the life-style we promote as sane and full of joy.  Kids who still want to act-out see what we offer as lame.  I can’t help that.

Meanwhile, dog training will continue to be one of the many types of nerdy, straight, sober fun we have at the school.  Kids get to pretend to runaway so Ripley and the other SAR dogs on campus can practice finding them.  That way, the next time a confused student takes off in the middle of February and gets lost in the woods, we will be prepared to help.

Tagged as: Dog training, Search and rescue

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