Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Hyde Schools
Parents Who Are Considering Hyde: READ THIS!
Anonymous:
--- Quote ---On 2005-11-21 15:20:00, Anonymous wrote:
"If you don't believe what you are reading on this site, get a hold of Hyde's Alumni Magazine which our family just received in the mail today - 11/21/05
Check the "Alumni News" - from 1967 to 2005, there are a scant 4 1/2 pages - READ IT - most of it is condolences or references to the Gauld cult/clique -
TRULY, this should be enough to make you question why you might even be thinking about HYDE -
Kids leave in multitudes each year - the turnover is huge - the graduates, i.e., stepford kids, cruise on to college and NEVER look back
Cultist Gauld has got it wrong - I am sorry that his Mother was a drunk - I am sorry that his wife was a drunk - but, GET OVER IT - and stop laying your guilt trip on two huge money-making campuses!! - you are fumbling with a generation of truly needy kids for whom your school provides NO medical/psychological help -
For God's Sake - a father died on your Woodstock campus last Family Weekend - The school had NO doctor, NO defribilator. Nothing!!!"
--- End quote ---
I completely agree that Hyde is a dreadful school and that no parent should enroll their child there. Moreover, I agree that Hyde has very disturbing cult qualities.
But, I think it's important to be precise about who is responsible for the cult. There's no doubt in my mind that Joe Gauld is a master at classic cult leadership -- the brainwashing, the seduction, the narcissism, the self-centered arrogance. Joe Gauld's lack of insight and self knowledge are stunning.
My feelings about Malcolm and Laura Gauld are more complicated. Both of them certainly buy into the Hyde rhetoric and use the same tired and glib cliches. But Malcolm and Laura seem somewhat more moderate in their views, at least based on their public presentations. When I've heard them speak they haven't been nearly as offensive as Joe. I may not agree with everything Malcolm and Laura say (and I can't stand their repetitive, predictable Hyde-speak), but they seem more open-minded than Joe.
A major problem is that Hyde has so many lieutenants who seem to have deposited their independent thinking at the door. I am continually amazed, as I walk around Hyde and talk with staff, at the number of Hyde automatons. I have never been in an environment before where nearly everyone uses the same jargon, the same cliches, the same superficial terminology to describe and deal with complex matters. The naive, simple-minded Hyde approach is beyond belief. Now that we're looking around for other schools we are amazed at how much more sophisticated and thoughtful so many other schools are. I wish every Hyde family could experience what we're now experiencing: discovering how many enlightened schools exist. They put Hyde to shame. Our only wish is that we had discovered this earlier.
My impression is that Hyde administrators are worried about enrollment projections and competition. They should be.
Anonymous:
Well, this afternoon I drove one of my child's Hyde friends to the bus station to return to school after a brief stop home (she spent Thanksgiving with our family because of problems her own family is struggling with).
This Hyde student (not an off-track student) spoke in the car, pretty much non stop and without leading questions from me, about how awful she thinks the Hyde model is. This is a reasonably mature, thoughtful student. She wasn't whining or simply bitching and moaning. Rather, she was reflecting on her Hyde experience so far. Here are the highlights of her observations:
- The vast majority of kids who enroll at Hyde don't finish. The Hyde model doesn't work for most kids who go there.
- The Hyde kids who finish either don't have major mental health issues, are kids of Hyde faculty/staff, or learn how to play the Hyde game and fly below radar.
- This student's estimate is that about 75 percent of Hyde kids come to the school with major mental health problems. She spoke about kids she's gotten to know who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, cutting, major anxiety, major depression, eating disorders, etc. This student is amazed, now that she has a sense of the Hyde student body, that the school doesn't have mental health professionals on staff.
- This student spoke passionately about another Hyde student who "snapped" because her psychiatric issues weren't addressed. According to my passenger, the Hyde student who snapped was showing all kinds of psychiatric symptoms, but Hyde didn't respond to those signs. Apparently this kid spun out of control at Hyde because of the pressure there and is now in a residential treatment center.
- This student described a Hyde student who suffers from anorexia. This student apparently skipped several meals (not surprising given the disease) and Hyde's response was to put the kid on disciplinary 2-4. (Incredible. Anyone who knows anything about treating anorexia would never respond this way.)
- This student launched into a (rather amusing and accurate) impersonation of Joe Gauld. She went on and on about how the majority of Hyde kids think Joe Gauld is a joke and full of himself. This student respects some Hyde staff but thinks Joe Gauld has no idea what others think of his predictable and embarrassing Hyde sermon.
I was very impressed with this student's insight and accurate perception of Hyde. At her tender age she has come to virtually all of the same major conclusions others have expressed on this website.
Anonymous:
--- Quote ---My feelings about Malcolm and Laura Gauld are more complicated. Both of them certainly buy into the Hyde rhetoric and use the same tired and glib cliches. But Malcolm and Laura seem somewhat more moderate in their views, at least based on their public presentations. When I've heard them speak they haven't been nearly as offensive as Joe. I may not agree with everything Malcolm and Laura say (and I can't stand their repetitive, predictable Hyde-speak), but they seem more open-minded than Joe.
--- End quote ---
They're not more open minded. Just have different temperaments.
katfacehead89:
Nothing like unscientific nonsense that costs a lot of money to screw up your kid even more.
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