Send Postcards to Brendan

[Antigen]

Do you have any evidence besides fornits and other anti program sites?  Anything legal? or fact based?  Anyone could have written that crap.  It doesnt matter if kids are willing to sue their parents or not.  It is either legal or it isnt.

There are 3 versions of Bill Number H.R.911 for the 111th Congress
1 . Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 (Introduced in House)[H.R.911.IH]
2 . Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)[H.R.911.EH]
3 . Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 (Referred to Senate Committee after being Received from House)[H.R.911.RFS]


http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D ... z::|/bss/|

January 27, 2009

Gene L. Dodaro
Acting Comptroller General
U.S. Government Accountability Office
441 G Street, N.W.
Washington, DC   20548

Dear Mr. Dodaro:

I write to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Forensic Audits and Special Investigations Unit (FSI) further investigate recent reports of neglect and abuse of children in our nation’s schools.

Over the last several years, GAO ably fulfilled my requests that it review and investigate the alarming number of deaths and incidences of abuse of youth enrolled in private residential treatment programs geared toward treating troubled teens.  Among other things, the investigative work highlighted cases where staff at some programs employed unsafe restraint techniques that lead to death in some of those cases.  In part because of these revelations, the House passed the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008, H.R. 6358 (110th Congr.) on June 25, 2008.

Unfortunately, vulnerable children and teens are being abused all too often in other contexts.  Just this month, the National Disability Rights Network released a troubling report entitled School is Not Supposed to Hurt in which the authors described instances of death and abuse of children and youth in public and private schools across the United States.  The report focused on seclusion and restraint techniques and detailed dozens of occurrences of students being abusively pinned to the floor, handcuffed, locked in closets, and subjected to other traumatizing acts of violence.  In some of the cases, the abuse resulted in death.

To assist in the Committee’s ongoing efforts to help protect our children, I specifically request that FSI investigate the use of restraint, seclusion, and harmful aversive handling of children and youth in private and public schools.


Sincerely,

 
George Miller

Chairman

 
cc:    Senior Republican Member Howard “Buck” McKeon
http://edlabor.house.gov/newsroom/2009/ ... o-in.shtml

Better?

today it is legal and it is not kidnapping.

Once it was legal to "own" another human being. By own, I mean own. You could fuck them, force them to breed against their will, beat them, starve them and humiliate them in any way you so chose. When one of these people escaped it was illegal to give them food, lodging or any other kind of help. Hell, in many places, even if you legally "owned" a person it was illegal to allow them to learn how to read. This tragic state of affairs persisted for hundreds of years, even almost a century after the American Revolution.

Even more recently in many places a wife could not bring rape charges against her husband. It was effectively "legal" for a man to rape his wife.

So, troll, do you support the slavery of Africans and wives as well as that of minors? Why don't you start a campaign to restore legal slavery and reverse women's suffrage?

[Anonymous]

No it won't, because it's a teenager who is alleged to be "troubled" which is on par with "nigger" in 1800's deep south.

Standard fornits operating procedure. You question their fables of abuse, and they throw out the slavery red herring fallacy.

Dont they realize that comparing teen programs to slavery they continue to discredit themselves?

Just wait..
If you're lucky you might get to hear the holocaust comparison today!

[Anonymous]

Fornits motto:  All troubled teens were treated like the Jews in Adolf Hitlers concentration camps.

[Antigen]

Dont they realize that comparing teen programs to slavery they continue to discredit themselves?

Noun

    * S: (n) slave (a person who is owned by someone)
    * S: (n) slave, striver, hard worker (someone who works as hard as a slave)
    * S: (n) slave (someone entirely dominated by some influence or person) "a slave to fashion"; "a slave to cocaine"; "his mother was his abject slave"

First definition: No one is denying that "escort" services take kids by force and against their will. No one is denying that, once in a program, the kid has NO rights whatsoever; not the right to proper nutrition, sleep, privacy, social contact or other basic needs. No one is denying that these kids are treated as property. You just keep pretending that that's ok. I think you're just so cloistered in cult thinking that you can no longer see that this is patently wrong. One might accurately say that you're a slave to the ToughLove hategroup philosophy. (third definition)

Just wait..
If you're lucky you might get to hear the holocaust comparison today!

No, not yet, probably never. But there certainly is a very Nazi-like influence in the ToughLove hategroup. But we've got ya handled. I don't think you'll be able to pull off what Hitler and his associates did. Sorry.

[Whooter]

Fist definition: No one is denying that "escort" services take kids by force and against their will. No one is denying that, once in a program, the kid has NO rights whatsoever; not the right to proper nutrition, sleep, privacy, social contact or other basic needs.

No one is disputing this at all.  If a child is underage then they need to go where their parents tell them to.  Everything is done by force they have no rights and are told what to eat, when to sleep who they can play with etc...... If they go on a field trip then the parents sign over these rights to the teacher, summer camp, same thing... if they go to a program parents sign over these rights to them.

The child has no say in this country until the age of consent determined by the state.  This is not the fault of the programs or the parents.  If you want it changed then you need to get out and vote.

If Brendan wanted out he could have gotten emancipated, but he didn’t.  Why do you blame the parents and the school for all of this, why not review the laws and try to get them changed.  We all have to live within their boundaries not just Brendon and yourself.

No one is denying that these kids are treated as property. You just keep pretending that that's ok. I think you're just so cloistered in cult thinking that you can no longer see that this is patently wrong.

Kids may seem like property because if they are not taken care of properly then the parents could go to jail.  The parents are responsible (not the kids themselves)
Family life may be a little cultish at times and that isn’t a bad thing,  you see this as abnormal maybe because your family wasn’t close but this type of family structure has been effective for many generations.  

One might accurately say that you're a slave to the ToughLove hategroup philosophy. (third definition)

If you took a few steps out of fornits and read some of the tough love forums or any forum at random and then compare the dialog to fornits you would quickly get a notion of which forum is hateful (you should know this most of all).
I think you feel the hatred here as well and quickly pinned the label to someone else in an effort to clean yourself up a little. (or at least appear to be cleaner on the surface)

[Anonymous]

I have just read everything posted under "Send Postcards to Brendan".  Brendan does have a last name, Spelman, and lives in Gainesville, Florida.  He is/was a student at my private school for 9th, 10th, 11th and 1 week of his senior year.  In April, because of a deteriorating home life, my husband and I were asked to provide our home for Brendan to live. He lived with us until the end of the school year. My take on the negative, personal attacks on Brendan's character, is that since you don't know him, you are having "fun" at his expense.  He was not kidnapped, his parents paid for an escort service to pick him up without informing him. He CAN not walk away- can't figure out where that comes from. DRA?  He was picked up  in the parking lot of his psychiatrist, his aunt was driving him there, without her (both the aunt and the psychiatrist) knowledge either.  When the psychiatrist asked the mother, who showed up to make sure Brendan was picked up, why she had not discussed this decision with her, Brendan's mother said "I am not here to explain myself." Then his mother walked out of the psychiatrist's office.  The only reason we can come up with, for this behavior on the parents part, is their need to have complete control over Brendan and remove him from the family who provided him with a safe place to live and thrive ( at all times his parents knew where he was, and Brendan kept in constant contact with his aunt: how do I know, I was there). They had been unsuccessful trying to get him to return home or live with any family members.  His treatment at home was very abusive, both verbally and mentally. We became aware of this while he was living with us, and several parents (including his family members) have come forth to substantiate the parental abuse. I filed a report of child abuse with DCF in both Utah and Florida.  Florida will/can not do anything because Brendan is in Utah.  Utah will/can not do anything because the abuse took place in Florida.  I have not exhausted my legal options yet.  Hopefully, this will clear up some of the misinformation about Brendan and his situation.

[Whooter]

2/10

Blew it in the last 2 sentences.

[Whooter]

I have just read everything posted under "Send Postcards to Brendan".  Brendan does have a last name, Spelman, and lives in Gainesville, Florida.  He is/was a student at my private school for 9th, 10th, 11th and 1 week of his senior year.  In April, because of a deteriorating home life, my husband and I were asked to provide our home for Brendan to live. He lived with us until the end of the school year. My take on the negative, personal attacks on Brendan's character, is that since you don't know him, you are having "fun" at his expense.  He was not kidnapped, his parents paid for an escort service to pick him up without informing him. He CAN not walk away- can't figure out where that comes from. DRA?  He was picked up  in the parking lot of his psychiatrist, his aunt was driving him there, without her (both the aunt and the psychiatrist) knowledge either.  When the psychiatrist asked the mother, who showed up to make sure Brendan was picked up, why she had not discussed this decision with her, Brendan's mother said "I am not here to explain myself." Then his mother walked out of the psychiatrist's office.  The only reason we can come up with, for this behavior on the parents part, is their need to have complete control over Brendan and remove him from the family who provided him with a safe place to live and thrive ( at all times his parents knew where he was, and Brendan kept in constant contact with his aunt: how do I know, I was there). They had been unsuccessful trying to get him to return home or live with any family members.  His treatment at home was very abusive, both verbally and mentally. We became aware of this while he was living with us, and several parents (including his family members) have come forth to substantiate the parental abuse. I filed a report of child abuse with DCF in both Utah and Florida.  Florida will/can not do anything because Brendan is in Utah.  Utah will/can not do anything because the abuse took place in Florida.  I have not exhausted my legal options yet.  Hopefully, this will clear up some of the misinformation about Brendan and his situation.

Thank you Twiggins for giving us a candid update and clearing up the story about Brendon.  I have a few questions:
Are you one of his teachers?  And who asked you to take Brendon in to live with you?  Is this a private school that you and your husband run yourself?  Do you have any contact with Brendon’s parents?

I am glad that you cleared up that he wasn’t kidnapped.  The stories take on an animation of their own here on fornits and escalate into kids being water boarded, placed in isolation and abused at DRA and various other schools and programs, being called detainees, prisons and gulags. Almost like a Dungeons and dragons appeal.  So sifting through the posts to find the truth can be a challenge sometimes as you have just experienced.

I hope you can return again and keep us updated.

[Ursus]

I have just read everything posted under "Send Postcards to Brendan".  Brendan does have a last name, Spelman, and lives in Gainesville, Florida.  He is/was a student at my private school for 9th, 10th, 11th and 1 week of his senior year.  In April, because of a deteriorating home life, my husband and I were asked to provide our home for Brendan to live. He lived with us until the end of the school year. My take on the negative, personal attacks on Brendan's character, is that since you don't know him, you are having "fun" at his expense.  He was not kidnapped, his parents paid for an escort service to pick him up without informing him. He CAN not walk away- can't figure out where that comes from. DRA?  He was picked up  in the parking lot of his psychiatrist, his aunt was driving him there, without her (both the aunt and the psychiatrist) knowledge either.  When the psychiatrist asked the mother, who showed up to make sure Brendan was picked up, why she had not discussed this decision with her, Brendan's mother said "I am not here to explain myself." Then his mother walked out of the psychiatrist's office.  The only reason we can come up with, for this behavior on the parents part, is their need to have complete control over Brendan and remove him from the family who provided him with a safe place to live and thrive ( at all times his parents knew where he was, and Brendan kept in constant contact with his aunt: how do I know, I was there). They had been unsuccessful trying to get him to return home or live with any family members.  His treatment at home was very abusive, both verbally and mentally. We became aware of this while he was living with us, and several parents (including his family members) have come forth to substantiate the parental abuse. I filed a report of child abuse with DCF in both Utah and Florida.  Florida will/can not do anything because Brendan is in Utah.  Utah will/can not do anything because the abuse took place in Florida.  I have not exhausted my legal options yet.  Hopefully, this will clear up some of the misinformation about Brendan and his situation.

Thanks very much for weighing in, Twiggins!

My guess is that the "negative, personal attacks on Brendan's character" come from trolls who, no surprise, probably do not even know Brendan nor care about his personal situation, but are merely using it to flame the forum for their own purposes.

And, FWIW, being transported to a program via a teen escort service against one's will is often referred to as "kidnapping" here. Whether you agree with that word usage or not, I imagine from the kid's standpoint it certainly feels like one is being kidnapped.

All in all, Brendan's situation sounds like a real Catch-22, with both Florida and Utah absconding their responsibility to act on filed child abuse reports given the relevant involvement of the other. Perhaps, in addition to exploring more legal options, some additional publicity might assist in getting more people aware of the outrageousness of it all, and put some more heat on folks in the right places...

[Whooter]

A Few more definitions for those that are new here:

Transportation to a program = Kidnapping

Boarding school = Gulag

Student = Detainee

Staff = Guards

Solo study, detention = Isolation

Vegetables (or anything on the bottom half of the pyramid) = Starvation Diet

Structured activities = abuse

[Anonymous]

A Few more definitions for those that are new here:

Transportation to a program = Kidnapping

Boarding school = Gulag

Student = Detainee

Staff = Guards

Solo study, detention = Isolation

Vegetables (or anything on the bottom half of the pyramid) = Starvation Diet

Structured activities = abuse

LOL. Funny how survivors of abduction, imprisonment, brainwashing and torture prefer the  words that describe their experience over the euphemisms favored by the cultists, like John D Reuben ("whooter").

JD, if you responded to reality instead of its Bizzaro mirror opposite, maybe you'd have  responded appropriately, and your son wouldn't have killed himself.

More testimony about "having to eat vegetables":
http://www.isaccorp.org/
http://cafety.youthrights.org/wiki/inde ... _Testimony
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... s1011.html
http://www.heal-online.org/childtortureusa.htm

Video of testimony of a U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor hearing concerning child abuse in "residential care"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUtUiDDM ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr47O5OjC_A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzUnCOlh ... re=channel

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08146t.pdf

"we don't know the full extent of deaths in private residential care because there are no laws forcing accurate reportage the number of adverse events is likely to more widespread than reported for a number of reasons. For example, state officials say they lack the authority to collect data or investigate private facilities that do not receive govt funds..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzUnCOlh ... re=channel

[Anonymous]

Ursus: Utah, act on filed child abuse reports? You're even funnier than the trolls today.

[Whooter]

"we don't know the full extent of deaths in private residential care because there are no laws forcing accurate reportage the number of adverse events is likely to more widespread than reported for a number of reasons. For example, state officials say they lack the authority to collect data or investigate private facilities that do not receive govt funds..."

Another example is above:  I like the use of youtube and lack of information as firm evidence LOL.

So it is just as likely that it is less widespread Since we dont know and it isnt reported LOL.... that is just too funny!!!

Good thing you are not a lawyer!! LOL

This must be RB

[Anonymous]

LOL. That’s the Director of GAO’s education workforce and income security and child services saying that there are likely to be WAY more deaths in “residential programs” than have been identified, but if that’s the spin you want to put on it go ahead.


Again, maybe if you were more interested in reality than in spin, John D reuben, your son would not have killed himself.
Instead you imprisoned him in SUWS wilderness and Academy at Swift River, and then killed himself. Your son is dead because of you. Whoops!

[Whooter]

Thanks I left a few out:

Brainwashing = high school

Torture = no iPod or texting

Survivors = those who failed to finish or never applied themselves.