Pay-per-Post: Echo Malibu
by V.E. on January 27th, 2007
filed under ppp
[If you hadn't guessed from the first part of the title, this is a paid post.]
When dealing with teen drug abuse, it’s important to look at the whole person, not just the surface value of quick fixes or boot camps… Or so Echo Malibu says. I’m not sure if it’s the facilities, the location, or whatever, but this program turns me off. “Echo” stands for “Empowerment, Choices, Hope, Opportunities”–ideals that are, in and of themselves, not a bad thing. However, the tone of the website, the photographs of some of the attendees and facilities, extensive list of staff members with superfluous duties all just point me towards one conclusion: the super-rich, white, spoiled brats stereotypical of Malibu and Beverly Hills. I humbly submit three examples for your consideration.
1. The facilities are beautiful, extensive, and spotless. Indeed, one of its selling points is the “…park-like grounds. The property includes meditation, recreation and picnic areas, complete with a creek that runs through the lawn to the ocean.”
2. The attendees are all white, or at least: none have any distinguishing features other than their nice clothing and chemically-treated hair.
3. The staff includes numerous psych doctors, plenty of assistants and interns, and professionals whose entire job is “therapeutic writing,” “therapeutic recreation,” or “life story facilitation.” Not to mention a Chef for Hollywood Celebrities who can literally cook up whatever the heart desires (aside from the drugs and alcohol you’re paying to get away from, of course).
I suppose Echo Malibu does bill itself as “The Premier Treatment Program for Adolescents.” Damn right, it does! There’s no mention of price, cost, or money anywhere on the site (that I could find). I guess if you have to ask, it’s too much. The website left a bitter taste in my mouth; the whole thing just seems more like a sweet weekend trip than a teen rehab program–it just reeks of “Daddy, buy me a(nother) car because I don’t like the color red anymore, I want a blue one instead” rich kids with nothing better to do than spend their parents money on drugs because their parents don’t show them the love because they’re always off making money. Ick, ick, and more ick.
