On 2005-04-29 15:14:00, Anonymous wrote:
"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have spent the last three days reading everything that everyone has posted as far back as it would let me go. I have been a graduate of this school for almost a year now, and still question how I got through it. Many people think we are trying to be dramatic or get attention when we make cliche comments like that about our experience, but I well assure you, that It is an accurate statement. I look back at those 2 years and wonder if it really happened? How could it have? The only way I found to survive was to become everything they wanted me to be.
Ive been writing since I was young, and have my own certain style and subject matter I enjoy writing about. My journal was found one day by a staff member in a random room search (common) and given to my counselors. From then on they read my journal regularly and confescated it when the subject matter didn't fit to to their liking. That was one of the biggest violations of privacy i'd ever had, and finally just stopped writing. Same with my art, and musical interests. I'd be put on restrictions if any of those areas rubbed them the wrong way.
Countless other incidences occured while residing there but I think the most offensive was feeling like I had to change everything about myself to not be punished. Not negative behavior, not acting out, just simple personality traits like taste in music, and style of art and writing. Its an awful feeling.
You'll hear from me again... Just need to register and stuff. Parents, please dont be hesitant to ask anything. I am definitely against Hidden Lake, but I am also honest. I dont embellish or lie about what went on there, and would like to be considered an objective source for facts about the place. Hah, and then opinions I'll give on my own time.
Oh, and Deborah, Robert, and Dysfunction, thank you for your incredible research and devotion to putting an end to HLA. It helps us who have gone through that place and were told every day we were liars and manipulators to know there is someone who believes us. Thank you.
"
Welcome, young lady/gentleman (?). Thank you for shedding some light on the situation for us. I look forward to your continued involvement.
I appreciate your compliment, but it is really misplaced on me. Yes, Robert and Deborah have done outstanding jobs of pointing out legal/technical facts about HLA's licensure, etc.
As for my part, I have stated facts about HLA's operations/philosophy, etc. drawn from my experience working there at it's inception through the first two years. Of course, I have direct, first-hand knowledge of how this place operates because I was involved in the planning, the formulation of policy and so forth.
As I have stated previously, HLA has a nice, attractive, shiny wrapper, but when you examine it closely, it's a worm-eaten apple. Based on what was expressed to me as their "vision," I did truly believe that HLA would be something special and different to help kids who weren't able to be helped by other means. This couldn't have been further from reality.
I soon realized that the staff were from CEDU, a known highly abusive facility. They were very strange in the way they acted and interacted with the kids. Oftentimes they were outright abusive, verbally abusing children and doing things that made my sense of decency suffer, like rationing food as punishment.
Early on I found that nobody there was actually licensed or educated to perform therapy. Not only that, but the so-called "clinical director" had a phony degree (which was known to the owner, but he did not act to rectify the situation). I routinely saw the rules being changed on the fly to suit a staffer's manipulations.
I saw adults "getting off" on humiliating kids. I saw the Headmaster (no mental health degree and a CEDUite) stand a child up in front of the entire student body and staff and "explain" why he had "the smallest dick in the entire school." The kid was crushed and I was astounded, flabbergasted, and deeply embarrassed.
Eventually, I saw that this ship could not be righted and that nobody had any interest in doing so. It was a contradiction to everything I had learned in college and an affront to my sensibilities, so I left.
Before I left I spilled the beans on the dirty staff, including cocaine use, and again, nothing was done. After the cokehead employee ADMITTED it in front of me and the Headmaster, she was allowed to stay on staff. She simply had too much dirt on the program to be fired, as she might have "told on" some folks (I believe that she eventually ended up in court with HLA and some of their dirty business was exposed, but not enough).
Needless to say, I knew this place was "all wrong," but I had never known before that there was a common thread to all of these places and the methods they use to extract the maximum dollar from duped parents while providing less than the minimum standard of care for their "clients."
I knew, for example, that no student was allowed to "fail" any class. They were simply given a passing grade, regardless of performance. Classes were "taught" by people who didn't have education degrees at all. Group "therapy" was run by staff with ABSOLUTELY NO CREDENTIALS WHATSOEVER, and consisted of berating kids and calling them names like "slut," "whore," "prostitute," and adjectives like "worthless," "incorrigible," even "asshole," and "faggot."
Of course, there is more, but I will truncate my comments because they are available elsewhere on this board. I made every effort to disclose and discuss these issues with the owner of the facility. His ears were deaf. Nothing was changing, and I could see that the money was really starting to pour in, so nothing would change ("Don't fuck with the cash flow" was how it appeared to me).
It was ALL WRONG. And, thanks to your post, anon, I can clearly see it still is...
_________________
"Compassion is the basis of morality"
-Arnold Schopenhauer
[ This Message was edited by: Dysfunction Junction on 2005-04-30 05:58 ]