New school in bid to calm troubled teens

[Anonymous]

A new school set to open next year will see a group of budding yogis exploring the benefits of meditation as part of its curriculum.

Stress-free Schools New Zealand, which boasts famous sportswoman Allison Roe on its advisory board, is determined to bring transcendental meditation into the classroom to calm anxious and troublesome teens.

It is looking to open its first school in Auckland early next year.

"We are going to look for land next week and by the beginning of next year we hope to have our programme implemented in New Zealand," said organisation executive director Martin Jelly.

Transcendental meditation promotes deep relaxation through the use of a mantra, and is favoured by top sportspeople like Roe and Black Caps cricket coach John Bracewell.

The school will make its "consciousness-based" education available to an initial 200 fee- paying pupils, with the group hoping to also open a facility in Christchurch.

Englishman Dr Ashley Deans, who heads the board of advisers, visited New Zealand last week to promote "consciousness-based" learning.

"The New Zealand Ministry of Education has expressed interest in the programme.

Everybody has realised that we have the answer to problems that they can't solve, like teens in gangs, bullying and alcohol abuse," he told the Sunday Star-Times.

"I talk to educators, they all tell me that stress is the biggest problem facing them today."

The structure of the school day would be loosely based on the New Zealand curriculum with meditation sessions in the morning and afternoon.

The ministry said any new school would have to follow the curriculum set by the government regardless of any meditation sessions.

"We have no issue with whether or not they fit meditation sessions into the school day," said a spokesperson.

"As long as they adhere to the basic tenets of the curriculum, they can implement their programme."

However Avondale College principal Brent Lewis is sceptical.

"Every day I have people coming to me and trying to sell me the silver bullet that will solve all the problems that educators have. But I do think it is good that they are willing to open a school and put themselves on the line to prove whether this sort of thing works."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/northland/4128719a7694.html

[Anonymous]

Hmmm.  No child left unMEDITATED?

Why not?  Sure beats labeling them as mentally ill and drugging them into submission with sicko drugs.

[Anonymous]

"Every day I have people coming to me and trying to sell me the silver bullet that will solve all the problems that educators have. But I do think it is good that they are willing to open a school and put themselves on the line to prove whether this sort of thing works."

Out of all the people coming up to him everyday, he picked "budding yogis"...

[Rachael]

Y'know, why couldn't my parents have picked an RTC where I would've gotten to eat nice, healthy veggie food, meditate and do yoga all day instead of eating shitty cheap-ass processed garbage that made me sick and getting "confronted" for being a hippy and not shaving my legs?

Rachael

[Anonymous]

Where's James Randi when you need him?

[Deborah]

Y'know, why couldn't my parents have picked an RTC where I would've gotten to eat nice, healthy veggie food, meditate and do yoga all day instead of eating shitty cheap-ass processed garbage that made me sick and getting "confronted" for being a hippy and not shaving my legs?
Rachael

Even that?
Reminds me of the first parent "workshop". The headmaster told the story of how they 'transformed' a girl who wore funky clothes and birkenstocks. I looked down at mine and shuttered to think my son would be spending time with people like that. Polos and Duckheads for all.  :roll:

Re: the vegetarian thing. Programs claim to offer an option, but for $5400 a month (now $6000), here's what the kids got at Hidden Lake got.
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=85408#85408
Pathetic. It's quit possible that a vegetarian would leave there malnourished. I wonder if anyone on staff even knows what an amino acid is and constitutes balanced vegetarian fare. It sure isn't white bread and cheese or pb&j.

[Anonymous]

Yeah a vegan diet is more like what they do in wilderness -- oats, lentils, rice and whatever you can find along the way. They don't know shit about amino acids either, but lentils & rice eaten together will do the trick for ya.

[Deborah]

Yeah a vegan diet is more like what they do in wilderness -- oats, lentils, rice and whatever you can find along the way. They don't know shit about amino acids either, but lentils & rice eaten together will do the trick for ya.

You get aminos when combining grain and bean/legume.... but I question how digestible uncooked grains and lentils without salt are. Many people have a hard time digesting them cooked.
They aren't about teaching kids how to eat healthy by providing those foods. That is done as torture/punishment and could actually set up a negative association with such healthy foods as rice, beans, oats.
Parents should watch the American Brat Camp. Remember the scene where the kids is leaning over a hole in the ground being forced to eat burned oatmeal mush, looking like he could hurl at any moment. The narrator, in a soothing tone, informed the audience that the kids 'had to consume X number of calories a day'. A lie. They are required to provide, but are not allowed to force any kid to eat.
And... the number of calories stated was inaccurate as well. 1800 comes to mind. Whatever it was, it was significantly below the number of calories required by their state licensing agency.
Not ONE healthy thing happening in these programs around food, including the Fat Camps. Because food is considered a privilege, not a right.

[Rachael]

Actually, I was a vegan going in and already underweight. You aren't allowed to ask for food when hungry, specify what food you can/want to eat or ask for more (kinda like oliver twist, eh?). They would serve me a plate of food and I'd eat what I could from it. Which meant my diet consisted mostly of iceburg lettuce and those small white dinner rolls.

One night this parent who was concerned about me told me to just pick out from the fridge what I could eat. I picked out some bread and balsamic vinegar and some other things. Then my oldcomer (her daughter) came into the kitchen and told her mother that I wasn't allowed to pick out food as I was "experiencing powerlessness". I had to put away all this food I was literally starving for. And for dinner they intentionally prepared only foods that I couldn't eat and served them to me. A plate of meatloaf and potatoes with butter and served me only milk to drink. They also wouldn't let me shower because I'd drink the water.

That was 3-4 weeks in and I caved within the next couple of days. I started eating just dairy. By this time I'd lost close at least 20 pounds, I was around 86lbs (5'3''). I was very sick. After I started eating dairy, because I'm lactose intolerant, I got more sick - vomiting and such. They blamed it on "detox" - over a month after being admitted and having only smoked pot 10 times and used LSD four times. According to them you'll detox from just smoking pot once.

Oh, and being vegan was "part of my disease" and just like when they forced me to shave my legs, somehow it was making me better to give up myself.

[nimdA]

Well Rachel you can let your legs be as hairy you want now.

Though I gotta say.. the rest of your post left me questioning my own reality.

Second time today at that.

[Rachael]

Questioning reality? How so?

[Karass]

Sick shit in the name of rehab.

[nimdA]

Questioning reality? How so?

I've sometimes wondered if I'm real and not trapped in some nightmare after reading some of these posts. A quick slap to the side of my head clears it up quickly.

[Froderik]

Actually, I was a vegan going in and already underweight. You aren't allowed to ask for food when hungry, specify what food you can/want to eat or ask for more (kinda like oliver twist, eh?). They would serve me a plate of food and I'd eat what I could from it. Which meant my diet consisted mostly of iceburg lettuce and those small white dinner rolls.

One night this parent who was concerned about me told me to just pick out from the fridge what I could eat. I picked out some bread and balsamic vinegar and some other things. Then my oldcomer (her daughter) came into the kitchen and told her mother that I wasn't allowed to pick out food as I was "experiencing powerlessness". I had to put away all this food I was literally starving for. And for dinner they intentionally prepared only foods that I couldn't eat and served them to me. A plate of meatloaf and potatoes with butter and served me only milk to drink. They also wouldn't let me shower because I'd drink the water.

That was 3-4 weeks in and I caved within the next couple of days. I started eating just dairy. By this time I'd lost close at least 20 pounds, I was around 86lbs (5'3''). I was very sick. After I started eating dairy, because I'm lactose intolerant, I got more sick - vomiting and such. They blamed it on "detox" - over a month after being admitted and having only smoked pot 10 times and used LSD four times. According to them you'll detox from just smoking pot once.

Oh, and being vegan was "part of my disease" and just like when they forced me to shave my legs, somehow it was making me better to give up myself.

Which program were you in, again? This is identical to the sort of thing that would happen at Straight, Inc.

[Rachael]

Kids of the Canadian West which changed its name to the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre. Opened by Dean "doctor" Vause who trained at Kids of Bergen County and got his degree from the same Union Institute as Miller Newton.

Still open btw.