Big Damn Project

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Toby would not exist if it were not for this thread from Metafilter. This was right around the time when I started sketching out the characters for the story, figuring out who Cait was, planning out the Rose. The camps outlined in the article in the post are things that make me angry, and so I wanted to talk about them. Without going into too much detail, these camps, more often than not, are evil.

That’s a lofty claim, and a claim I may have to leave for the next section notes. But should you choose to read this thread, you will see what I mean.

The way teens often times get to these camps, much like Toby, is via an escort. And just like Toby, there are times where the escorts recommend that they come in to the house late, usually 2 am, and handcuff the kids, thus making their transfer to the camps painless. Well, painless for the parents. Why would they need to do this, you ask? Often times, these camps sell themselves as salvation, as the way to correct your troubled teen. The alternative is a downward spiral that leads to a life of drugs and living on the streets. And because that life is coming, they are going to make sure the teen in question does not escape, and thus handcuffs.

The conversation Cait and Billy are having towards the end of the section about the legality of the camps, and Cait’s own actions, is part of this, too. These escort services are legal in the United States. If your camp exists outside of the country, you can invest your escort with the power of attorney over your child and have them take your child to and leave them at a camp, without their passport, basically trapping them in a legal gray area. That’s legal in the Colonies. But Cait’s ship is COS, and the Confederacy does not take as lightly to these escorts. Whether or not what Cait did is legal is still under review.

If you’re interested, the author of the article wrote a book expanding on the subject, Help At Any Cost.

As always, questions and comments, etc…

[g]

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Tags: anthro, boat, Boat Story, boot camps, bootcamps, Cait, commentary, fiction, serial, teen, teenagers, toby, web fiction, YA