Mount Bachelor Academy Parent Guide Installment 1

[joethebadass]

While I was imprisoned at Mount Bachelor Academy, I was able to obtain copies of a lot of their promotional literature. I have decided to post the largest of those documents, entitled Heart to Heart: A Parent Survival Guide to Mount Bachelor Academy. I wish that I had a scanner with which to upload, but I don't, and will unfortunately have to type all of this by hand, but I think that it is important that their operating MO is exposed so that more parents won't be deceived. If you are a parent or perspective parent of a child at MBA, I encourage you to at the very least hear out what I and others on this forum have to say. Worst comes to worst, you end up listening to a differing opinion. I think that listening to both sides of any argument is important for ultimately discerning truth.

It seems that the deception in this particular document starts right at the beginning, with it's assertion that it was compiled "for parents, by parents." In fact, the whole packet was written by one Mina Steen, a former parent of a student who is still currently on Mount Bachelor Academy's payroll.

It is my opinion that the marketing practices used by Mount Bachelor Academy are endemic to the "troubled teen industry" as a whole, and that they should thus be examined and taken apart piece by piece publicly so that desperate parents in the future won't be as easily manipulated. I will post this entire packet in installments and starting from the beginning. All material was copied word-for-word from the original, except where noted by the [brackets.]
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"Heart to Heart"
A Parent Survival Guide to Mount Bachelor Academy
Compiled by and for parents, and dedicated to the staff at MBA, whose lives are truly devoted to helping our children and our families heal themselves.
June 2002

[table of contents]

Mount Bachelor Academy - A Parent Survival Guide

Designed by "veteran" MBA parents for new parents upon their child's enrollment at MBA, to provide a thorough introduction, and to be an ongoing ready reference throughout your child's time at MBA. (Keep it nearby!)

Welcome! You have just taken the strongest and most loving step you can possibly take for the welfare of your child. WE know hos hard it is because we have also taken that same step. The decision can be lonely, sad, frightening, overwhelming, guilt-ridden, frustrating, and fraught with uncertainty. The MBA journey may be tremendously worthwhile, but it is not easy. This guide is brought to you in an effort to make things a little less difficult for you and your family.

In retrospect, we believe that certain information was very helpful when we started. In some cases, there were things we didn't know until we were further down the road. We want you to have as much information as possible at the beginning of your journey.

Forgive us if we sometimes seem "preachy" or like we're telling you what to do. Many parents contributed suggestions for this handbook, but, in the end, what has been compiled for you by a few parents cannot necessarily reflect the feelings, experiences, or recommendations of all parents. There may well be some opinions that differ from these. Each family takes the journey it's own way.

We offer this to you as a gift of support. It was generated out of gratitude by parents who are extraordinarily grateful that their children have benefited from the incredible experience that exists at Mount Bachelor Academy. With an outpouring of love for you and your MBA student, we wish you the same success.

Take a deep breath, relax, and try to enjoy the roller coaster ride that is MBA!

Tip #1 - "Take Care of Yourself"

Odds are that you have been through a rare form of "parental hell." You are weary. Your marriage and your other children may be suffering. Your health may not be at its best. But now, perhaps for the first time in years, you can go to bed at night knowing that your child is safe, and that someone else is monitoring his day-to-day well being.

This can be your time to recover and heal those aspects of your life and your "self" that have suffered. No one can tell you how to do this, but our experiences make it clear that you can and should do so, in whatever ways best suit you. As you heal yourself, you can simultaneously watch your child heal. If you don't take care of yourself, it will be more difficult for you to be receptive to the growth and changes in your child. Your child's antenna may continue to sense your lack of strength, and he may continue to try to take advantage of it.

Here are some things others have done and have found helpful
Make time for your own needs
Prayer
Reading
Exersize
Yoga
Meditation
Learn about chemical dependence in teens
Take a vacation
Join a support or 12-step program
Read about codependency
Journal
Find a new hobby
Family Counseling
Rekindle the spark with your spouse
Stay in touch with other MBA parents
Make an MBA scrapbook
Join the MBA parent Listbox
Spend time outdoors
Add something positive to your life
Reconnect with your other children
Keep, find and/or develop your SENSE OF HUMOR!

Special Note:
One thing that can prolong your discomfort and undermine your peace of mind is your child's attempts to convince you that he or she does not really belong at MBA. Many MBA students tell their parents that all the other kids are "crazy" and that the staff is abusive. Some of these accounts can be very alarming.

We recommend that from day one, you be firm and clear, with yourself and your child that he will stay for the duration of the program. If you child senses any ambivalence from either parent, he may intensify his efforts at manipulation and increase your anxieties and guilt. When your child is clear that your are not buying into his manipulation, he can focus his energies on the MBA program itself, rather than on trying to persuade you to remove (or, in MBA lingo, "pull") him early. Know that your child's reactions are typical and normal. Be strong! In the end it will help your child.

This is not to say that you should squelch your fears and doubts, or fail to follow up on statements your child makes if you are truly alarmed. Many of us have had similar feelings and have found that addressing them directly with MBA staff answered our concerns and reassured us.

Tip #2 - "Foster a Strong, Trusting Relationship with the MBA Staff"

The decision has been made and your family life has changed. With your child now entrenched in his Discovery Phase at MBA, your shell shock may gradually abate. You bay have dared to clean your child's room, removed the old chicken bones from under the bed, and washed three weeks worth of his socks you found stuffed in the back of his closet. You may also have destroyed three feather pillows with your tears.

The newness is starting to wear off, and you're beginning to wonder what MBA is really all about. You may be curious about your role and may be confounded about such things as all the new terms and acronyms, the timing of Lifesteps, who should be called, and when. You may start to question whether you really made the right decision in sending your child away for so many months, putting him in the hands of complete strangers. A sort of buyer's remorse may set in!

Our advise? Trust. Keep trusting. And trust again. The staff at MBA has had years and years of experience dealing with troubled teens. There is probably nothing they have not seen or heard. They are probably no longer shocked at what is said and done by our kids. Your child may be a unique individual, but many of his actions are the same ones the MBA staff has seen in one form or another over a long period of time.

Early on, you may worry that your child will "freak out" in response to his new life. There is probably not an MBA parent who hasn't laid awake many nights haunted by every possible negative scenario about his child at MBA. Have confidence. The staff is adept at skillfully and quickly helping most kids settle down. They know what to do.

You will soon discover that the staff is kind, compassionate, direct, smart, and frequently take time out of their personal lives to help us as needed. Their instincts are amazing. It is almost magical how they seem to know just what to do at just the right time for each child during every stage of the program.

A number of the staff members have themselves been in programs such as MBA or participated in wilderness programs. They know first-hand what our kids are feeling. Their experiences provide a unique connection with the MBA students.

If there is an episode, whether it is a child who leaves campus without permission, or attempts a gesture of self-harm, they are prepared to deal with it. If a true crisis happens, which is very, very rare (and in the occasional mini-crisis, like a broken bone in a sports accident), they are experienced and know how to effectively deal with the situation and sensitively respond to the child, the parents, and the rest of the student body.

Serious danger loomed for many of our children before they went to MBA. As parents of kids who have been in need of an MBA-type of program, we have become accustomed to having to be ever-vigilant, awake and in control. It is now time to let go a bit, to trust the professionals.

"Letting go" doesn't mean that you shouldn't be proactive in becoming involved with the MBA program, and to regularly and honestly express your feelings and concerns. You may continue to have periodic apprehensions about our child's physical physical well-being or emotional reactions. Often these diminish with time. But if not, or if they become oppressive, let MBA know. This is important for the staff, for your child, and for your own sanity.

Intuitively we know that the highest priority for the MBA staff is our kids. The parents, quite frankly, must come second. That can sometimes be very frustrating, even though we know it's the way it should be. Occasionally, while the mentors and others focus on your child, you may feel out of the loop. Trust that in good time you will receive a full report from the mentor, and that you will be brought up to speed on your child's progress and challenges. You will be advised about how you as parents can best help your child from a distance. You will be given every possible opportunity to express your views. The more quickly you can come to accept and respect MBA's rules and procedures and the values they support, the better you and your child can progress.
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I have only posted the first two "tips" for now, more to come, thirteen in all.

[joethebadass]

One of the most striking things about this from right off the bat is the way that it tries to assuage the guilt of parents. Then it immediately starts off with a calculated character assassination of the inmate.

Your child's antenna may continue to sense your lack of strength, and he may continue to try to take advantage of it.

This is a part of programs that many people have a lot of trouble understanding; how could a parent do this to their own child? The answer lies in part in this document. It illustrates the way that programs deliberately create rifts in families for their own personal financial gain. The parents are told that they have been manipulated for years, and are made fearful of their own child.

Odds are that you have been through a rare form of "parental hell." You are weary. Your marriage and your other children may be suffering. Your health may not be at its best. But now, perhaps for the first time in years, you can go to bed at night knowing that your child is safe, and that someone else is monitoring his day-to-day well being.

Again, very typical of their tactics. Turns out, all problems in your adult life stem from your child. That little brat ruined your marriage. Time for revenge. The overwhelming message of the above paragraph is 'Your kid is a problem. Dealing with your problems sucks. Let us take care of the problem.'

This can be your time to recover and heal those aspects of your life and your "self" that have suffered.

Oh, you poor baby! Again, this is, in a fairly obvious way, painting the picture that your kid is a monster and you the victim. If you are the victim of your child, then you might understandably want revenge. So let us punish him.

One thing that can prolong your discomfort and undermine your peace of mind is your child's attempts to convince you that he or she does not really belong at MBA. Many MBA students tell their parents that all the other kids are "crazy" and that the staff is abusive. Some of these accounts can be very alarming.

You don't say?

We recommend that from day one, you be firm and clear, with yourself and your child that he will stay for the duration of the program. If you child senses any ambivalence from either parent, he may intensify his efforts at manipulation and increase your anxieties and guilt. When your child is clear that your are not buying into his manipulation, he can focus his energies on the MBA program itself, rather than on trying to persuade you to remove (or, in MBA lingo, "pull") him early. Know that your child's reactions are typical and normal. Be strong! In the end it will help your child.

Again, this is saying pretty much that your son/daughter is a predator out to prey on the weaknesses of others. Anything said that is anti-program is false and a manipulation. Basically, trust us over your child.

This is not to say that you should squelch your fears and doubts, or fail to follow up on statements your child makes if you are truly alarmed. Many of us have had similar feelings and have found that addressing them directly with MBA staff answered our concerns and reassured us.

This part attempts to make sure that when parents hear anything negative about the program, that they go to their handler (their child's mentor,) and make their feelings known immediately. This gives their handler both a chance to silence the student later, and a chance to re-instill that notion of all teenagers as manipulators, liars, and thieves in the eyes of the parents.

I could go all day, but I was kind of hoping for some freaking DISCUSSION! Nobody ever posts on my shit. Seriously!

[dishdutyfugitive]

Here are some things others have done and have found helpful

1. Practice yelling at the top of your lungs.

2. See how much snot you can vacate from your sinuses after yelling. See if you can replicate and surpass the award winning nerf football ghostbuster slime ball witnessed by Liam Scheff at RS in 1988.

3. Prepare an microsoft excel spreadsheet that contains a weekly dirt list template.

4. Regularly Pound pillows to alleviate the anger and buyer's remorse your developing. You've pissed away your retirement savings - it's time to go for broke here.

5. Role play good cop / bad cop with your spouse on a daily basis. Even if it's just for a few minutes. You're going to want to keep your kid on edge. His thinking is strong - we need your help in defeating it for the next 80 years.

6. Invest in Mortensen math hardware. You'll want to help him with his SAT preparation. Buying a whole bunch of fucking block sticks your kid is destined for PHD level Mortensen  math at the local community college.

7. Watch plenty of Oprah, Dr. Phil and Judge Judy. Emmulate their narcissitic and psychotic approach to life. You will be the one filling the void of all the power staff members he relied on so dearly for guidance.

8. Program your bounty hunter/escort's phone number into your speed dial. Your son of a bitch kid is in dire need of finishing school. Rehearse your finishing school speech in the mirror once a week.

[Anonymous]

One of the most striking things about this from right off the bat is the way that it tries to assuage the guilt of parents. Then it immediately starts off with a calculated character assassination of the inmate.

Your child's antenna may continue to sense your lack of strength, and he may continue to try to take advantage of it.

This is a part of programs that many people have a lot of trouble understanding; how could a parent do this to their own child? The answer lies in part in this document. It illustrates the way that programs deliberately create rifts in families for their own personal financial gain. The parents are told that they have been manipulated for years, and are made fearful of their own child.

Odds are that you have been through a rare form of "parental hell." You are weary. Your marriage and your other children may be suffering. Your health may not be at its best. But now, perhaps for the first time in years, you can go to bed at night knowing that your child is safe, and that someone else is monitoring his day-to-day well being.

Again, very typical of their tactics. Turns out, all problems in your adult life stem from your child. That little brat ruined your marriage. Time for revenge. The overwhelming message of the above paragraph is 'Your kid is a problem. Dealing with your problems sucks. Let us take care of the problem.'

This can be your time to recover and heal those aspects of your life and your "self" that have suffered.

Oh, you poor baby! Again, this is, in a fairly obvious way, painting the picture that your kid is a monster and you the victim. If you are the victim of your child, then you might understandably want revenge. So let us punish him.

One thing that can prolong your discomfort and undermine your peace of mind is your child's attempts to convince you that he or she does not really belong at MBA. Many MBA students tell their parents that all the other kids are "crazy" and that the staff is abusive. Some of these accounts can be very alarming.

You don't say?

We recommend that from day one, you be firm and clear, with yourself and your child that he will stay for the duration of the program. If you child senses any ambivalence from either parent, he may intensify his efforts at manipulation and increase your anxieties and guilt. When your child is clear that your are not buying into his manipulation, he can focus his energies on the MBA program itself, rather than on trying to persuade you to remove (or, in MBA lingo, "pull") him early. Know that your child's reactions are typical and normal. Be strong! In the end it will help your child.

Again, this is saying pretty much that your son/daughter is a predator out to prey on the weaknesses of others. Anything said that is anti-program is false and a manipulation. Basically, trust us over your child.

This is not to say that you should squelch your fears and doubts, or fail to follow up on statements your child makes if you are truly alarmed. Many of us have had similar feelings and have found that addressing them directly with MBA staff answered our concerns and reassured us.

This part attempts to make sure that when parents hear anything negative about the program, that they go to their handler (their child's mentor,) and make their feelings known immediately. This gives their handler both a chance to silence the student later, and a chance to re-instill that notion of all teenagers as manipulators, liars, and thieves in the eyes of the parents.

I could go all day, but I was kind of hoping for some freaking DISCUSSION! Nobody ever posts on my shit. Seriously!

thank you for posting this. Please continue.

[Anonymous]

One of the most striking things about this from right off the bat is the way that it tries to assuage the guilt of parents. Then it immediately starts off with a calculated character assassination of the inmate.

Your child's antenna may continue to sense your lack of strength, and he may continue to try to take advantage of it.

This is a part of programs that many people have a lot of trouble understanding; how could a parent do this to their own child? The answer lies in part in this document. It illustrates the way that programs deliberately create rifts in families for their own personal financial gain. The parents are told that they have been manipulated for years, and are made fearful of their own child.

Odds are that you have been through a rare form of "parental hell." You are weary. Your marriage and your other children may be suffering. Your health may not be at its best. But now, perhaps for the first time in years, you can go to bed at night knowing that your child is safe, and that someone else is monitoring his day-to-day well being.

Again, very typical of their tactics. Turns out, all problems in your adult life stem from your child. That little brat ruined your marriage. Time for revenge. The overwhelming message of the above paragraph is 'Your kid is a problem. Dealing with your problems sucks. Let us take care of the problem.'

This can be your time to recover and heal those aspects of your life and your "self" that have suffered.

Oh, you poor baby! Again, this is, in a fairly obvious way, painting the picture that your kid is a monster and you the victim. If you are the victim of your child, then you might understandably want revenge. So let us punish him.

One thing that can prolong your discomfort and undermine your peace of mind is your child's attempts to convince you that he or she does not really belong at MBA. Many MBA students tell their parents that all the other kids are "crazy" and that the staff is abusive. Some of these accounts can be very alarming.

You don't say?

We recommend that from day one, you be firm and clear, with yourself and your child that he will stay for the duration of the program. If you child senses any ambivalence from either parent, he may intensify his efforts at manipulation and increase your anxieties and guilt. When your child is clear that your are not buying into his manipulation, he can focus his energies on the MBA program itself, rather than on trying to persuade you to remove (or, in MBA lingo, "pull") him early. Know that your child's reactions are typical and normal. Be strong! In the end it will help your child.

Again, this is saying pretty much that your son/daughter is a predator out to prey on the weaknesses of others. Anything said that is anti-program is false and a manipulation. Basically, trust us over your child.

This is not to say that you should squelch your fears and doubts, or fail to follow up on statements your child makes if you are truly alarmed. Many of us have had similar feelings and have found that addressing them directly with MBA staff answered our concerns and reassured us.

This part attempts to make sure that when parents hear anything negative about the program, that they go to their handler (their child's mentor,) and make their feelings known immediately. This gives their handler both a chance to silence the student later, and a chance to re-instill that notion of all teenagers as manipulators, liars, and thieves in the eyes of the parents.

I could go all day, but I was kind of hoping for some freaking DISCUSSION! Nobody ever posts on my shit. Seriously!

[Anonymous]

What are the full names of the staff from MB that you can remember. Please post them here. Low level Staff names get forgotten, usually. They need to be held accountable for what they are involved in. Post the names of all the staff high and low that you can think of, and the torutre you witnessed them oversee, organize

[Anonymous]

Also that's a whole hell of a lot to type out. You can get a scanner pretty cheaply.

[joethebadass]

What are the full names of the staff from MB that you can remember. Please post them here. Low level Staff names get forgotten, usually. They need to be held accountable for what they are involved in. Post the names of all the staff high and low that you can think of, and the torutre you witnessed them oversee, organize

Actually you can see a list of all the staff from certain months at the program by using the wayback machine, a website that archives literally the entire internet and allows you to browse through it on a chronological basis. I'm not fucking with you! This is a real site.
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
Type the MBA website into the wayback machine search box, or just go to their current website here:
http://www.mtba.com/team.html

That method is a good way to get the names of previous staff members from other programs, too, if you were so interested. People forget that once you put information out on the internet, it's part of the public record. Anyone can see it, and that once information is released onto it, it is almost impossible to get it off.

[Anonymous]

are you still around, Joe?

[Anonymous]

I was once a student at this supposed school.  Here are some points of interest.  Well, i'll keep those private for now until justice has been reached.  The school is a horrible place.  HORRIBLE, especially because it worsens most of the student's situations in life.  It is not healthy to constantly be told you are going to fail, the odds are against you, your fake, your headsy, you have no friends, you're a slut or a male who takes advantage of women, and overall a bad person.  I wish I could say more...  illegal activtiy is prevalent among just a few staff, but it's enough to screw with everyone.  Not to mention if you send your child to this school you will be exposing them to more drugs and illegall activities tan you could ever imagine.  (EX: Jail is almost like a school for criminals to get better).  The reason why some do vouch for the school comes down to a couple reasons.
1.  How would you feel if you wasted over $100,000 putting your child through an experimental psychological program that manipulated yourself into paying over $100k tuition.  People therefore try to look at the bright side because this for profit company (ASPEN) has lead many families into significant debts.  (FYI, the whole property was bought in the early 1990's for a mere 1.5 million, the staff get paid next to nothing, the students are their own janitors, and they serve disgusting food.  

I'm going to stop on those points for today, but I want to reiterate that this style of program can be effective.


Effective on less than 10% of the students.  Everyone left doing much worse things.  (more crime and more drugs)---  Except for that 10% that could have benefited from the program that I would describe as very specialized and does not by any means help the general population in any way.

In conclusion, parents thinking about sending their kids there should know that it has the ability to create a disastrous relationship between parents and the student.  However, this is commonly hidden (parents are unaware) because you have to sometimes fake an improved relationship to graduate from the "school".  I hope to god that they realize their methods are counter-effective on a majority of their students because it is such a specialized type of therapy.  Many student's lives are in shambles right now from the program that was designed and is only successful on certain people.  There is a documentary coming out this summer about Mount Bachelor Academy's sister school (CEDU) which had a program that was almost thee exact same as the one MBA uses today.  Watch the sneak previews of the documentary and 95% of what you learn about CEDU is also true about MBA.  Only minor parts of the actual emotional growth program were changed.  For example, at CEDU they had "raps" and at MBA they have "groups" but they are the exact same in every way, shape, and form.  Hmmmmm, maybe because "Linda Houghton brought her vision of education, excellent dedication, and a team of committed pioneers: Dennis Crowell, Academy Director; Jeannie Crowell, Dean of Academics; Jane Stewart, Director of Admissions; Steve Houghton, Wilderness and History Teacher; Alex Bitz, Theatre Arts Teacher; Pat Brown, Science and Math Teacher; Cec DeClerk, Teacher; Kathy Carter, Executive Assistant; Judy Burgen, Bookkeeper. All were mentors, drivers, cooks, builders; wilderness scouts and in a word - pioneers" (http://www.thaitopsites.com/mbanews/history.html).  

Yeah, they were pioneers...

Pioneers of CEDU and that is why they call CEDU MBA's sister school, or at least before CEDU got shut down.

CEDU documentary is available on youtube:  It has four parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeFWCzLNCmY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugm4-95M ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pJnj4m5 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeYLYO8z ... re=related

Since I last watched it the documentary has been extended.  I have yet to watch it and have no idea what they go into detail about, but I trust that the information will be 100% accurate as the other four parts of the documentary were.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXLfBbV2 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNVxdDsk ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT4GnEL6 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g-lCjZ5Vw0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRSR8FW3 ... re=related

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"249893141 20021203 Fired Charles County School Official Sought in Theft Probe [FINAL Edition] The Washington Post 48614 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Washington, D.C. B.02 METRO 553 Michael Amon The Rev. Michael J. Carey, pastor of Potomac Heights Baptist Church, which is affiliated with the academy, said the money was in an account in which fundraising proceeds were deposited. The school was conducting a fundraising campaign at the time [Peter R. Ferguson] was fired. Officials realized that the money was missing when they conducted an initial audit two days after Ferguson's departure, Carey said. Patricia Comer of Indian Head, whose 6-year-old daughter is in first grade at the academy, said the allegations against Ferguson were surprising. "He was the reason I chose that school for my daughter," Comer said. "The [alleged] profanity, the lying, the yelling. . . . I didn't find [Ferguson] to be that type of person." Ferguson came to Potomac Heights Christian Academy after a short stint at Mount Bachelor Academy, a boarding school in rural Oregon. Sharon Bitz, executive director of Mount Bachelor Academy, said Ferguson was an English teacher before resigning in 2001. Bitz declined to discuss the circumstances of his departure" (http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonp ... atl=google).

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PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) —— Four ex-employees and two parents allege that high-risk students of a private academy were deprived of sleep, subjected to obscenity-laced tirades and forced to work in near-freezing temperatures overnight.
Officials of the Mount Bachelor Academy, which touts its highly structured environment for troubled teen-agers, deny the accusations.
But the ex-employees and parents say students were physically and emotionally mistreated at the school 27 miles east of Prineville, where tuition is $4,300 a month.
“There was definitely abuse going on,” parent Sharon Ferguson of San Diego told the Bend Bulletin...(http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-6160706.html).

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General and accurate information from Wikipedia                  (http://wiki.fornits.com/index.php?title ... or_Academy)

History

"It was one of the first facilities Aspen Education opened back in 1987. It uses the Lifestep LGAT process in the programming of the detainees.
The original founder is Linda Houghton, who together with a group of other former CEDU employees (Steve Houghton, Bill Hoffman, and Greg Andrick, and several others,) oversaw the beginning of the school, which is essentially a clone of the CEDU model, with a few differences, to be sure [3].
They advertised together with CEDU in the start. Lifestep is recognized to be a development of the seminar system used at CEDU.
Program


On December 16 - 1998, 17 year old Brandon Hoffman died at the facility [4].
In December 2007 a search was conducted for a group of teenagers and staff members, which had been lost on a wilderness trip. They were rescued without injuries [5]
A comment made in relationship with an article about the H.R. 5876, The Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 (Now H.R. 6358) a mother made the follow statement on WashingtonWatch.com [6]
Joyce Myers
I have a daughter in Mount Bachelor Academy in Oregon. I heard from her when she was able to sneak an unmonitored phone call out. She is kept up for days at a time for deprogramming sessions. She looks horrible. I made a suprise visit there and saw for myself zombie-like teens who were in terror of the staffers. She told me they were doped up by the staff. I was told to leave the property although I had traveled for 2 days to check on her. They use cultlike tactics here. These schools need to be shut down as I believe they are operating under false premises. I cannot sleep at night as I remember the sad, fearful looks of the kids as I drove away.I came away with sense that this is nothing more than a prison camp for kids. Even parents cannot talk freely to their kids. Her father put her here. I do not believe there will be a breakthrough in these places without media exposure. And this is America 2008.
The relatives on a former detainees have decided to create their own detention [7]"(http://wiki.fornits.com/index.php?title ... or_Academy.


In conclusion I urge parents that it is not the magical solution, but very far from it.  I believe this with all of my heart because:
1. It gives about half of the students very bad influences.
2. Students relate it to jail, in fact many are court ordered to MBA instead of jail.
3. A select few staff are physically and sexually abusive to students while the majority of them are verbally abusive day in day out.  The staff pick their favorite students and the ones they hate.   And believe me, you don;'t want staff to hate you, but it can be inevitable and somewhat random.

Inside sources have lead me to believe that the school is currently being investigated.

I am planning on pursuing the injustices that I and many others have faced to make sure that this does not continue to happen to students.  Keep in mind, many staff are great people and really do want to help.  But those few staff that continually sexually and violently harass helpless students who have no way of contacting police because you can't use any forms of communication unless they are monitored.  And that rarely happens.  Not to mention the victims didn't necessarily want to come out and tell the whole school so that a more pure staff member could contact authorities.

[Ursus]

I was once a student at this supposed school.

When were you there? Were you there when Frank McGill and Aaron Meyer attended? ...Both now dead.

[Anonymous]

Were you kept at Aspen against your will?

How did they manage to keep you there against your will?

i.e. Were other kids/prisoners used to restrain other detainees, or otherwise guard other kids? Did you always have to move in groups watched by a guard? etc
?

[Anonymous]

Aspen keeps people in their program with the help of paid thugs called escorts. In my case, if you tried to walk fifty miles to the nearest town, you would inevitibly get picked up by escorts before you made it more than a few miles, if you took the road. Escorts have tazers and handcuffs and will force you into a car and take you to Albert's place. Albert is the ex-special forces guy who started the escort company, and his basement has a reinforced door and bars on the windows so kids can't get out. When they have "calmed down" and it's been emphasized that they will be sent to a lock-down facility if they don't come back, most choose to return to the school, if they have the chance. However most are sent to a wilderness program for 1-2 months and then deposited right back at Mt. Bachelor Academy. The people who run this school are abusive monsters and the place needs to be shut down.

[Anonymous]

would love to see more of this parent guide....

[Ursus]

For lack of a better place to put this, here is a fairly recent Staff List from MBA that I still had kicking around. It came from Mount Bachelor's main website, no longer online, hence no link.

-------------- • -------------- • -------------- • --------------

Academics

Austin, Glenn    Academics Director
Bond, Brad    Chemistry Teacher
Bucknum, Will    Social Studies Department Head
Choate, Ryan    Art and History Teacher
Drynan, Stephanie    Language Teacher
Fairman, Lisa    Special Education Director
Johnson, Ashlee    Guidance Counselor
Meek, Sammie Joy    Librarian
Phay, Mike    English Department Head
Richards, Terrie    Registrar
Savage, Patsy    Substitute Teacher
Smith, Jeff    English Teacher
Smith-Jackson, Robin    Substitute Teacher
Strong, Stephen    Math & Science Department Head
Williams, Molly    Math, History and English Teacher

Administration

Bitz, Sharon    Executive Director
Carroll, Susie    Finance Manager
Carter, Kathy    Human Resources Manager
Gowen, Bill    Director of Operations

Administrative Support Services

Culpepper, Carla    Executive Assistant
Kirsch, Carol    Finance Office Assistant
McKenzie, Melody    Scheduler/Financial Assistant

Admissions Team

Bauman, Krimsen    Admissions Counselor
Hoffman, Kelli    Admissions Director
Jones, Dana    Admissions Assistant

Alumni Services

Bitz, Alex    Alumni Services Director
Steen, Mina    Parent Relations Liaison
Vigil, Lynn K.    Phase IV Mentor/Outreach Counselor

Clinical Team

Clark, Jim    Clinical Oversight Coordinator
Osa, The Therapy Dog    Therapy Dog
Thompson, Jackie    Substance Abuse Counselor Coordinator

Operations/Support Staff

Bauman, Erick    Maintenance Facilities Assistant
Bechard, Janet    Food Service Assistant
Bell, Jerry    Maintenance Facilities Assistant
Bell, Karen    Food Service Assistant
Cason, Jon    Driver
Dendy, Diane    Transportation Coordinator/Program Assistant
Hoke, Diane    Food Service Manager
Marletto, Gary    Driver
Merriam, Ray    Driver
Puckett, Susan    Food Service Assistant

Phase I Leader

Ashcraft, Jerred    Phase I Leader

Phase I Mentor

May, Corey    Phase I Mentor
Sartell, Jared    Phase I Mentor
Viggiano, Randi    Phase I Mentor

Phase II Leader

Menhams, Frank    Phase II Leader

Phase II Mentor

Churchill-Dicks, Carol    Phase II Mentor
Houghton, Steve    Phase II Mentor
Mohr, Tasha    Phase II Mentor
Moore, Laura    Phase II Mentor

Phase III Leader

Andrick, Gregg    Phase lll Leader

Phase III Mentor

Bonanno, Dean    Phase III Mentor
Dannemiller, Kaysie    Phase III Mentor
Davis, Morgan    Phase III Assistant Leader
Johnson, Scott    Phase III Mentor
Zamora, Naty    Phase III Mentor

Program

Lovell, Matthew    Program Director
Morse, Jeff    Program Assistant
Powell, Shelly    Program Coordinator
Rhoden, Mark    Substitute Program Assistant
Stout, Anne    Program Assistant

Residential Life

Best, Tracy    Night Residential Supervision
Cavanaugh, Ron    Graduate Advisor/Residential Assistant
Griffith, Rebecca    Night Watch
Hoffman, Bill    Residential Director
Kuaana, Kori    Residential Assistant
Lange, Kirk    Night Residential Supervisor
McLain, Tony    Night Residential Supervision
Wilson, Allison    Night Watch
Zamora, Jaime    Residential Assistant

Student Health

Coehlo, Deborah    Medication Oversight Coordinator
Coehlo, Thomas    Medication Oversight Coordinator
Cox, Crystal    Certified Medical Assistant
Fisher, Susie    Student Health Services Coordinator

Therapeutic Team

Herreman, Psy.D., Rebecca    Licensed Psychologist