Lawsuits and complaints against Hyde School?

[Anonymous]

...and you're coming to this site to do your "research???" Wow! You must be a real professional, huh?

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-10 14:09:00, Anonymous wrote:

"...and you're coming to this site to do your "research???" Wow! You must be a real professional, huh?"

I noted the silence when I asked for the other websites with nasties about hyde.

Sue

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-10 16:34:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-05-10 14:09:00, Anonymous wrote:


"...and you're coming to this site to do your "research???" Wow! You must be a real professional, huh?"

I noted the silence when I asked for the other websites with nasties about hyde.



Sue"

check out this website for some very negative comments about Hyde School: http://www.strugglingteens.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

[Anonymous]

I did a search on hyde:

zero results

Maybe there search engine sucks

Sue

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-10 17:26:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I did a search on hyde:



zero results



Maybe there search engine sucks



Sue"

You didn't look closely enough.  Hyde is in there.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-10 17:26:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I did a search on hyde:



zero results



Maybe there search engine sucks



Sue"

Here's one message about Hyde that unleashed an intense exchange of private emails about the school.  I don't have access to the private emails: http://www.strugglingteens.org/cgi-bin/ ... 1;t=000645

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-10 17:51:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-05-10 17:26:00, Anonymous wrote:


"I did a search on hyde:





zero results





Maybe there search engine sucks





Sue"

You didn't look closely enough.  Hyde is in there."

Here's another message about Hyde School: http://www.strugglingteens.org/cgi-bin/ ... 1;t=000619

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-10 17:51:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-05-10 17:26:00, Anonymous wrote:


"I did a search on hyde:





zero results





Maybe there search engine sucks





Sue"

You didn't look closely enough.  Hyde is in there."

Here's more information about Hyde from the Internet (book review at Amazon):

 More to Hyde than what is written..., April 5, 2005
Reviewer:   Hyde Student (Hyde School) - See all my reviews
I am a current student at the Hyde School. I saw this book on amazon.com and immediately thought that I should post a comment on what I felt and truths behind the philosophy and how it is taught.

I recall hearing a statement that someone believes Hyde is viewed by many as something along the lines of a cult. It is true; many students have used that metaphor many times, including me. They believe that they are always right, and there is no way around it. Their philosophy is great; the views and things they try to teach the students are dead-on and I barely have any complaints about them. HOWEVER, they go about teaching them the wrong way. Example: There is a prinipal at Hyde that they call "Brother's Keeper," which is defined as holding eachother to their best. This idea is a great idea and should be practiced, however students should not be penalized and given severe consequences for such petty incidents such as being with someone who is wearing a hat inside a building. They go about dealing with students using profanity by making them do pushups rather than actually seeing the reason behind the profanity and seeing if there was, infact, true justification for it's use.

Example of a severe consequence? "2-4." I believe it stands for 24 hours in a day, in which a student is put on "2-4" for an indefinite period of time. While on "2-4," a student is not permitted to talk to anyone else in the school except for faculty, not allowed to eat hot food on the lunch line (bagels, salads, etc. are allowed), rake leaves/shovel snow/clean all the buildings (depending on the season), and must attend "5:30's" every day. What is a "5:30," you ask? It is when a student is required to be inside the gymnasium at 5:30 in the morning in order to conduct a workout. These include suicides (the type of running, not the taking of one's own life), laps, pushups, situps, wall-sits, and basically every form of physical work you can think of. I have been on "2-4" for weeks at a time because Hyde dean's THOUGHT that I had broken rules and still had them on my consciense, which I clearly did not. I am scared to use my real name on Amazon, my grade, what year I am in at Hyde, or even which campus I am at, because I would most likely be put on "2-4" for attitude and have to deal with multiple confrontations about something along the lines of a "rebel attitude."

I apologize because it seems that this is turning into a whole complaint and argument against Hyde, which is not my intention. This is not the place for that. However, I am just trying to portray some things regarding Hyde that you may not know of by just reading Joe Gauld's (whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, as well as his son, Malcom Gauld) book. I have lived this book for long enough to know what I am talking about.

Basically, my advice is to not look at this review and say "Hyde must be full of bs" because Hyde is far from it. Their views are great and their philosophy is great, but the way they teach it to their students is way too off. I suggest reading this book if you have children and carefully looking at all of the ideas and philosophies in the book. However, I suggest NOT teaching your children those ideas in the ways that may be described in the text, but rather using your own ways and seeing what works on your child, because no technique will work for everyone. Hyde's techniques have worked on a select few individuals in my school (I'd say around 7 out of over 200), and I have seen more negative results than positive results.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-10 17:26:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I did a search on hyde:



zero results



Maybe there search engine sucks



Sue"

Here's more Internet commentary on Hyde (from Amazon):

 Hyde Way or the Highway?, March 31, 2005
Reviewer:   Sunshine "aaprima" (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews
Much of what the Gaulds try to teach us in this book was inspired by the teachings of Malcolm's father, Joe Gauld (see his book, "Character First: The Hyde School Way and Why It Works"). The original book about Hyde talks in depth about the "Ten Priorities" for developing good character in your children. A few of the ten are, "truth over harmony", "attitude over aptitude," "principles over rules."

The problem I find with this book is the authors' "one size fits all" strategy for resolving students' and families' issues. In a perfect world we could apply these principles at home, as the authors suggest; we could have the prescribed "mandatory fun" within the family, and "fix" our families' dysfunctional patterns. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world and in this sense the authors' framework is unrealistic. Regrettably, the authors do not acknowledge the many well known failures at Hyde.

The authors take pride in how many students enrolled at Hyde are accepted to four year colleges. They do NOT, however, disclose to the reader the percentage of those students who actually graduate from college. As the parent of a former Hyde student I personally saw a large number of graduates at Hyde who did not succeed in college; many clearly had difficulty surviving in the "real world" after leaving Hyde's very controlled (and controlling) environment.

In addition, the book fails to acknowledge or discuss a very significant percentage of Hyde students: adopted children. Many of these students struggle at Hyde and do not respond well to the school's "one size fits all" program. Interested readers would do well to read an alternative book such as "Parenting the Hurt Child." This book will teach you how to love, praise, be patient and consistent with your child.

The Gaulds' book should also be supplemented by "Parenting a Teen with Love and Logic." Although I believe many of the exercises in the Hyde book are good, it concerns me that the Gaulds believe that all problems within a family are based on "character flaws." As we all know there are many psychological disorders with which struggling teens are diagnosed. These complex emotional struggles cannot all be corrected by the Hyde method explained in this book, although I do believe many character flaws can be addressed by the family involvement embraced by the authors. During my family's time at Hyde I saw many students at the school who had eating disorders, were suicidal, bulimic, violent, or addicted to drugs, yet the book's na�ve premise is that if students can work on themselves and their parents will work on themselves, all will be well! This is not only untrue, it is extraordinarily risky, especially at a time when violence in schools is so common. Some students struggle with genuine mental health problems that need to be treated as such.

Yes, read the book and get out of it what you can, but don't believe that this book provides an accurate portrait of Hyde. Also make sure your child is not missing out on the proper health and emotional care that comes from high quality mental health professionals.

[Anonymous]

Five post that lead to a furry of private emails does not really look like a huge out cry on the net. Show me an I will believe.  A book review on amazon? To quote Miles "So what?"

Sue

[Anonymous]

Looks like Hyde School has some pretty deep issues themselves based on these comments!!

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-04 07:15:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-05-04 03:29:00, Anonymous wrote:


"I don't understand what you mean by "Lousy Publicity"?





The only bad stuff I'm seeing is on this little website, and people take this with a grain of salt!"

There's more bad publicity about Hyde than this website.  I've talked with about a dozen parents (maybe more, I haven't counted precisely) whose educational consultants won't place kids with Hyde and are looking for something else.  I've heard about at least 2 lawyers who have Hyde in their cross hairs.  I'm pretty sure NEASC has investigated Hyde and has insisted on major changes there (I don't know all the details, but this is pretty common knowledge).  There's also some very negative stuff about Hyde on other websites.  "

OK so the claim was some negative stuff on other web sites.  Yes you have found "some," negative stuff but not much. the URLs would be nice.

Sue

[Anonymous]

Don't be so quick to denigrate Amazon book reviews. I'm a disgruntled parent of a former Woodstock student and the author of one of the current Amazon reviews (not one of the ones quoted).  My current review is my second--the first, which was far more critical of the school, was removed by Amazon at the same time that it removed a bunch of other anti-Hyde reviews.  Obviously the pro-Hyde people had complained. At the time I posted my reviews, this forum did not exist and the only other information available on the net about Hyde was the glowing PR-type stuff.  Amazon reviews may not have the widest readership, but some people do see them.  If nothing else, seeing other parents with legitimate complaints about the school made me feel less alone.

As for our experience with Hyde, the year my son spent at the Woodstock campus was one of the worst of our lives.  The parent programs and discovery groups were sessions of abuse and ridicule if you didn't spout the party line, however inane and amateurish it might be.  A one-on-one session with Joe Gauld was treated like an audience with the Pope. Everyone who has commented about the intense pressure that Hyde places on students and parents to conform is absolutely right.  If you ask questions or disagree with the school, you're made to feel that you're being too selfish to do right by your kid.  They say, "If the shoe fits, wear it."  Well, there are a lot of people wearing ill-fitting shoes at Hyde, and a lot more shoes scattered on the ground.

The sad thing is that I bought into the party line to the point of almost sending my son back for a second year.  The only thing that saved him was the fact that one of the star seniors in our discovery group got busted for drugs and shoplifting a few weeks after Spring Fling. She had been a True Hyde Success Story. She may have been talking the talk but she sure wasn'twalking the walk.  In the end, the Emperor had no clothes.

[Anonymous]

I don't think denegration was offered. Just the fact that there is not a lot of stuff out there.  

South Dakota

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-11 15:10:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Don't be so quick to denigrate Amazon book reviews. I'm a disgruntled parent of a former Woodstock student and the author of one of the current Amazon reviews (not one of the ones quoted).  My current review is my second--the first, which was far more critical of the school, was removed by Amazon at the same time that it removed a bunch of other anti-Hyde reviews.  Obviously the pro-Hyde people had complained. At the time I posted my reviews, this forum did not exist and the only other information available on the net about Hyde was the glowing PR-type stuff.  Amazon reviews may not have the widest readership, but some people do see them.  If nothing else, seeing other parents with legitimate complaints about the school made me feel less alone.



As for our experience with Hyde, the year my son spent at the Woodstock campus was one of the worst of our lives.  The parent programs and discovery groups were sessions of abuse and ridicule if you didn't spout the party line, however inane and amateurish it might be.  A one-on-one session with Joe Gauld was treated like an audience with the Pope. Everyone who has commented about the intense pressure that Hyde places on students and parents to conform is absolutely right.  If you ask questions or disagree with the school, you're made to feel that you're being too selfish to do right by your kid.  They say, "If the shoe fits, wear it."  Well, there are a lot of people wearing ill-fitting shoes at Hyde, and a lot more shoes scattered on the ground.



The sad thing is that I bought into the party line to the point of almost sending my son back for a second year.  The only thing that saved him was the fact that one of the star seniors in our discovery group got busted for drugs and shoplifting a few weeks after Spring Fling. She had been a True Hyde Success Story. She may have been talking the talk but she sure wasn'twalking the walk.  In the end, the Emperor had no clothes."

I can relate to what you are saying.  One of the students highlighted in the Woodstock newletter about four years ago went on to graduate and do absolutely nothing up until now!  He was also one of Hyde's success stories!  If being the kind of kid who has done absolutely nothing for four years is a success story then we are all in trouble. No college, no steady job, not a thing to show for that degree.  And what is it that Hyde advertises?  100% of kids enroll in a four year school....hmmm...Another graduate from the same year has also gone on to do nothing other than living off of Mommy and Daddy's inheritance.  I haven't kept up with everyone in my class, but I know a few more who dropped out of college or never went.