Petition to close the abusive Provo Canyon School is gaining

[Anonymous]

I was there from late 1981 thru 1982.  i was at one time or another, at every level in the school, including senior level 4.  i suffered beatings, and witnessed some of the other "students" get beatings.  some included broken bones, dislodged teeth, sprains and contusions.  i was involved in an accident there and sustained a serious head injury.  i was taken to the hospital via ambulance, but was removed from the hospital prematurely.  the reason for this was that since i grew up in orem utah i was considered a big escape risk.  once back at pcs i was put in my rack, and be it not for some friends sneaking me food, i would have most likely died there.  my parents finally checked in on me, i was released to their care for several weeks after they threatened a lawsuit.  once back in the hospital i was told that i had suffered a life threatening contusion of the frontal lobe.  i would imagine that utah valley hospital would still have these records.  from what i remember it was called provo canyon boys school at the time, and the owner's last name was williams?  there were no girls there at that time, and the school consisted of "intake" "investment" units 1-6 made up the "outs?.  Is this the same place? (yes)

[Anonymous]

The emotional, mental and physical torture I experienced there has haunted me since the day my father finally came to the campus, saw the truth for himself and took me out immediately. That was 4 years ago and still to this day I have nightmares of screaming girls being drug into the cold concrete rooms they called "observations". They would be drugged against their will with a shot in the butt and put to sleep. I remember being told to "get on a chair" where I sat for about 2 hours straight before any staff acknowledged me. Finally, one of the staff came over to speak to me. The first words out of her mouth were

"You are a disease and anyone you speak to...anyone you look at...anyone that gets near you is bound to catch your disease."

After that she put me on a "no talk" standing order where I was unable to speak whatsoever for 2 months straight.

Today I am 19 years old and have been out of Provo Canyon School for 4 years. I live 10 minutes outside of Hollywood and am working with a Miramax producer who is very much interested in my story. Right now we are almost finished writing the screenplay and will be working on a film within the next year or two. If that doesn't open up the eyes of parents across America I don't know what will.

[Anonymous]

I am appalled by the methods employed at this institution. The "behavior modification" techniques reported by the students to be utilized at the school are archaic and unethical. The use physical punishment, forced confinement, and other punishment is inappropriate unacceptable. Testing attitude and future intentions by the use of a lie detector is offensive and inhumane.As a human rights advocate and a parent, I demand that this institution be shut down immediately. The individuals who have run this institution and supported these practices should be punished and barred from ever having a role that can impact young people again.We must send a message that prisons treating adolescents inhumanely will not be tolerated or condoned.

[Anonymous]

I was sent to Provo in 1999.  It's 2005 and I am still haunted by that place.  I had just turned 13 years old.  I felt as though i was being held prisoner.  What had I done to deserve this?  Everything I did there was considered to be "wrong".  Nothing was ever good enough.  The floor was never clean enough.  The sheets were never tight enough.  The toilet was never shiny enough.  There was still dust on the window sill after having cleaned it 3+ times.  I remember one time a peer (who has also signed this petition) and I cleaned the isolation rooms, both on our knees scrubbing the hard concrete floor.  I was not allowed to talk to my parents and the 10 minute phone calls that I did have every other week were monitored.  The staff and therapists made me carry around a coin and with every statement that I said I was made to flip the coin; the side of the coin determined whether I was lying or not.  I had to do this for at least a week.  What they had done is a very high level form of cult abuse.  Their whole program is inhumane.  I'm sorry, but being stripped down of your clothes, tranquilized, and strapped to a bed then told by one of the staff members that you are "ruining her night because she was supposed to meet up with her friends to go somewhere" is not what I think of as humane.  We were punished for everything.  I kept quiet for a very long time.  There is so much more shit that went on that i struggle to talk about today.  I was looking through this petition and found at least 4 names of girls that were at Provo Canyon School with me.  That, in itself is helping me to realize that everything that I remember is true and did happen and that Provo Canyon School should be shut down.  I am in shock that it is still running today.  I do not understand how the United States of America can overlook such a place and just let it stand as though it is doing no harm.  Provo Canyon School should be done away with.

[Anonymous]

pcs survivor-

i too am a former inmate of pcs.  i was there from june of 1998 thru october of 2000.  i am 22 years old now and still think about the horrible things i witnessed and was subject to, even after being there for just 20 minutes.  i'm in the army now.  i just wanted to let you know that if your script gets produced, i would love to see the outcome.  i've always wanted to do something like that to let parents out there know the truth about these places.  good luck...

anonymous 187

[Anonymous]

look, you're obviously a replier that has never been to pcs.  maybe those families turned their lives around because the kid was so scared that he didn't know what else to do.  i've heard and read about more negative results than positive from pcs.  i'm not saying all placement centers are like pcs.  i know that pcs is not a place that anyone should be sent to.  they do things there that are illegal to do in prisons.

[Anonymous]

i am in total support of having pcs shutdown.  i was a "guest" there from june 1998 thru oct 2000 and witnessed and was subject to all types of abuse, physical, mental, verbal and spiritual.  the first 20 minutes there i witnessed a measly 120 pound kid get his face smashed repeatedly into the bench in investment resulting in 37 stitches to his chin and continuous beatings even after he had passed out.  i was denied medical attention after having surgery and denied my meds.  SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN!!!!  i am a soldier and it astonishes me that everyday i risk my life for a country that supports these types of places.  it hurts me.

 

sincerely, stewart s. pegues, PFC u.s army

[Anonymous]

The time I spent in this facility changed me in ways that I am still struggling with, fourteen years later.

[Anonymous]

This was the worst 8 months of my life, i was doped up, beaten, and abused physically, and mentally. when i hear "dial 9" i freak and still have issues about asking to do everything that drives my wife nuts. worst experience ever and will do whatever i can to close the atrocity

[bandit1978]

Yeah, for sure the worst experience of my whole life.  Totally embarrassing, too.  I have to sort of make some things up, to fill in the blanks, when asked about my schooling.

[bandit1978]

Oh yeah, just want to add (as usual), PCS is run by the most unqualified, uneducated, unworldy, ignorant, and sadistic group of people- indeed, I have never met such a number of said people.

[Anonymous]

I spent four months at another residential treatment facility in Utah called Red Rock Canyon School.  I was lucky enough to get out early.  I'm also lucky my treatment was not as bad as what people have experienced at Provo Canyon School, but after my experience with Red Rock I am disgusted with these facilities.  They falsely advertise themselves to the public.  You think you're being sent to a place that will help you, but it ends up being the worst experience of your life.  I hope to see every last one of them closed down for good.  It sickens me to know that human beings are treated this way.  What did the kids do to deserve it?  Because they had problems?  Any parent who sends their child to any of these programs should be ashamed.  I'm in awe of the evils that exist in this world.  It's unbelievable

[Anonymous]

There was a program called Red Rock Ranch Academy in Utah but it closed down after a girl died there.  Were these two programs related?

Who referred you to Red Rock Canyon and who was the admissions director (if you remember)?

Thanks!  Great post! These programs are nothing but a cash cow for the owners, operators and the people who REFER TO THEM!  Disgusting and very EVIL.

moo

[Anonymous]

I am the girlfriend of a PCS survivor and at first I never really took to heart any sarcastic comments from my boyfriend about his experience at this "institution". When he called this place a prison I brushed it off thinking he was being over zealous and dramatic. After reading some of these stories I now know why he is the way he is. He is constantly on guard, paranoid of someone coming to take him away from his family, or hurt/attack him for no reason. He has problems socially interacting with others and with looking people in the eyes. I now know why his confidence and self-esteem is so incredibly low when in fact he is truly a beautiful, amazingly compassionate person with so much potential to give to the world. I can only pray that facilities like this, that demean individuals and completely strip them of theeir human rights are not only shut down, but for those individuals who run them pay the price for what they have done to their victims.

[Deborah]

Here's the poop on the Red Rocks:
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... um=9#21084