Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Anonymous on April 09, 2007, 07:18:40 PM
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I won't excuse my decision to become a "referral agent" with anyone elses actions, I only hope to offer you some insight into how this became in the first place. After all, with all the inconsistent bullshit that surfaced about the kind of person I am, and after all the alliances formed against me, I had two options. I could look stupid and stop what I had already set in motion, or follow through, see it out, and see what happened. I now look back and see how stupid I was to let other people's opinions dictate my own actions. I really felt pressure like I had to keep going to support my ideas and my newfound "hope".
For those of you unfamiliar with this topic (I don't see how that's possible if you visit this forum), here are the events that unfolded since there will no doubt be so much speculation I won't even be able to stomach it all.
1. Kevin August meets Jimmy Pearce (Employee from Magnolia Christian Center) around december or january, im not going to look at when this was.
2. Kevin decides to try out an non formal and non binding agreement w/ no contract with MCC to see where it goes and find out if smaller schools with a slightly different approach can make any difference in teens lives.
3. Little happens over the course of 3 whole months (referring), while "activists" like TSW of Fornits, Angela of the Liberal Terrorist Organization HEAL, and ExitPlan and Dan the Chainsaw man (CAICA) rage on about how terrible of a person Kevin is, Jimmy is belittled and badmouthed about spanking teens with a paddle, though parents are clearly given the option of not using this as option which is still allowed by MS legislature. The aforementioned parties decide a crusade is best to stop the problem and use their personal time to write messages about Kev and Jim.
4. A personal war wages on over mostly nothing for a lengthy period of time, yielding no results from the propaganda and boycotting tactics of several teen youth "organizations" (if you can call them this). Antiwwasp remains stronger than ever and increases it's total forum post count to almost 2,000, far outnumbering most sites of it's kind.
5. CAICA folds under the pressure from other groups to enact some kind of statement and uses it's democratic power to come to a stalemate on the vote as to whether or not to ban my site, i really dont know about this one, it was Chainsaw Man's idea so you know it's useless. Lots of progress there...
6. Kevin gets tired of the pressure and calls it all off.
7. Kevin laughs at the fornits spinoff known as torturedkids.com. What were you guys thinking? It's not as easy as it looks is it? You have more rules over there than spring creek and antiwwasp combined.
Unfortunately or fortunately, however you see it, I have no results to report as I never profited or made any money from this short lived experiment, though several parents contacted me for help, I never did more than forward 2 emails with the parents contact information.
I think this is valuable information though because it shows that anyone with a small stake invested in the internet (ie. a website), can influence parents with just a few paragraphs saying one thing or another. I'll never neglect my responsibility to remain in opposition to these increasingly popular advocate/referral alliances. I decided instead of perpetuating this problem I should seek to unite smaller groups into larger ones, it may be the only hope of our combined voices being heard. Several people I'm not too happy with still, but as I'm asking forgiveness for myself, I'll have to do the same for those of you who blatantly lied about me (you know who you are and it doesn't phase me at all).
I think I'll apologize here and now for anyone who was troubled and alarmed by my decision to start referring parents to programs. It was a decision inconsistent with my actual goals for antiwwasp and it's affiliated websites. I hope to re-align myself with any site administrators willing to overlook my poor judgment and impulsive thinking in this matter, as I have by the time of posting this removed the html files from the teenshelp.us web server. It will remain down and will never again be used for the purposes of making referrals to parents or aiding in the decision making process of parents. I really apologize.
After apologizing I find myself with little else to say, except that I was never forced into doing this, I am responsible for my actions, I'm admitting I was wrong, I hope you all move on now that you have what you wanted at the beginning of this problem. If you'd like to continue to battle me and give WWASP and programs like it more power by fighting among ourselves instead of uniting for at least some common problems, I won't object to it if you find yourself that enthralled in achieving making life hard for me. I really see no reason to post about this again, this was just a statement to quiet the masses of those who doubt me, though I made a mistake I hope it wasn't one too grave to forgive, and I look forward to writing more progressively moving information to keep people informed about this problem. Thanks go out to bill and schuyler for their unwavering support for me and AntiWWASP, even when they had to question themselves at times to do so. - Kevin August, administrator of AntiWWASP.com
PS. I don't think anyone has ever done this (apologize at fornits), but I'm interested to see who makes the first post and humiliates themselves by belittling my genuine apology. TSW i'm awaiting your response first and foremost since you are in some ways the leader of this small rebellion against me, this is my ceasefire unless you're not satisfied.
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Wrong - I'm making the first post
But, I just don't know what to say, apart from I sure hope you are as genuine as you sound, it doesn't excuse what you've done, but learning from it is as good a place to start as any.... just don't expect forgiveness.
TSW can't realy attck you if you are genuine, he was himself a program staff who now knows how rong it all was/is.
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::boycott::
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Well done. Great decision.
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PS. I don't think anyone has ever done this (apologize at fornits)
:roll:
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1 fucktard down.. 3 billion more to go.
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6. Kevin gets tired of the pressure and calls it all off.
Thanks anons and TSW and the people who kept the pressure up. It's apparent that's why he is taking down the site. No where in this apology does he say it's wrong for him to be doing it. Instead he blames the people who brought this topic up and created the pressure that resulted in this decision. Good job to all who kept up the pressure. It's the only thing that works with people who refuse to acknowledge what they are doing is wrong.
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Well, Kevin, I'm glad you came to your senses.
Also, FWIW, you helped expose this program.
Its funny how whenever they get under scrutiny and the spotlight, all the little bugs start crawling out and running away and their little secrets they don't tell people upfront start to come out, isn't it?
You did a lot of good. You exposed their bullshit and made CATMAN come out and show his ass and help paint a more complete (though abusive) picture of what they really do.
I think that what we learned makes this all worth it. You didn't hurt any kids, you found out a little bit of what its like from the other side, we learned a few things... and you just added another program that was not under scrutiny to the list of those that have faced scrutiny and were exposed as what they really are.
So, again, thank you... and you don't need to apologize.
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Right time to move on. This wanker got more than his 15 minutes of fame and has the balls to complain about it later.
Who is next on the list?
Gimme a name NILES! Gimme a name right now!!!!
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hmm
CATMAN!
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I'm going to have to say this, TSW, you could be so powerful if you weren't so predictable. It's the same fucking thing everytime. How boring is your life to be so rhetorical? Do you have any lasting relationships? Jesus. You undermine yourself at any given opportunity. You do all the work for me.
Fucktard, ooh thats original.
Wanker, I bet you're not even English you fucking biter...
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I'm going to have to say this, TSW, you could be so powerful if you weren't so predictable. It's the same fucking thing everytime. How boring is your life to be so rhetorical? Do you have any lasting relationships? Jesus. You undermine yourself at any given opportunity. You do all the work for me.
Fucktard, ooh thats original.
Wanker, I bet you're not even English you fucking biter...
Oh fuck this is sig worthy!
Keep em coming chief.
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I feel honored to have been mentioned in this glorious apology.
JudgeRoyBean deserves all the "belittled and badmouthed" the internet can throw at him. This guy is a professional teenage paddler, fuck him.
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I feel honored to have been mentioned in this glorious apology.
JudgeRoyBean deserves all the "belittled and badmouthed" the internet can throw at him. This guy is a professional teenage paddler, fuck him.
That and more. From what I gather there are plans to take it to the next level with him also. Time will tell though.
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is there anyone who hasn't been bullied by tsw? kevin you should have nver quit. you were doing a good thing by finding good places for kids to go. fucking sycopaths like and his faggy friends should all shut the hell up.
im really pised off that you quit Kevin. i was rooting all along for you and you punked out.
fuck you kevin.
and fuck you tsw for being such a fucking asshole.
kevin don't give up. keep going and doing what you need to do to help find kics programs where they are safe.
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is there anyone who hasn't been bullied by tsw? kevin you should have nver quit. you were doing a good thing by finding good places for kids to go. fucking sycopaths like and his faggy friends should all shut the hell up.
im really pised off that you quit Kevin. i was rooting all along for you and you punked out.
fuck you kevin.
and fuck you tsw for being such a fucking asshole.
kevin don't give up. keep going and doing what I want you to do to help find kics programs where they are safe.
Shut up, Cheryl! You're shut down!
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Preach the good new sister! Let all our brothers and all our sisters all across the land hear the sound of our paddles striking the pale naked buttocks of the boys at Magnolia! Let them hear the sounds of my rejoicing cries as I ply my trade upon those naked buttocks!
Sister Cheryl do you accept the paddle of Jesus onto thy buttocks?
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Hey Kevin, I figured you'd figure it out eventually. Don't be so quick to judge Gook, though. He may be an asshole, and he'll be the first to cop to it, and he certainly plays rough. But he saved you the trouble of having to find out the hard way what you were getting into.
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Preach the good new sister! Let all our brothers and all our sisters all across the land hear the sound of our paddles striking the pale naked buttocks of the boys at Magnolia! Let them hear the sounds of my rejoicing cries as I ply my trade upon those naked buttocks!
Sister Cheryl do you accept the paddle of Jesus onto thy buttocks?
SLAPP it, catman! Give me that corporal Christian paddling! Shit, make it a good one, I'm having sinful thoughts about opening up a new kid-cage of hell in North Dakota, or South Dakota, I can't tell 'em apart and what difference does it make, as long as they got horses for my man Mark to starve.
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i think it took a lot of guts for Kevin to admit that referring parents is perhaps not the greatest decision. Even better he has stopped when he could have continued to do so out of sheer stubbornness. I know i find it hard to ever admit it If i am wrong. Everyone should stop crapping on the guy and someone should buy him a beer.
::cheers::
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i think it took a lot of guts for Kevin to admit that referring parents is perhaps not the greatest decision. Even better he has stopped when he could have continued to do so out of sheer stubbornness. I know i find it hard to ever admit it If i am wrong. Everyone should stop crapping on the guy and someone should buy him a beer.
::cheers::
I second...
However, for those of us who were part of the idustry (not kids incarcerated in it), it's not enough only to do "nothing" (i.e. "quitting" something).
It's up to us, the only people who really know what happens inside these places - those of us with unfettered access to the planning and execution of program policy to expose that reality for everyone else.
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Angela of the Liberal Terrorist Organization HEAL
:rofl:
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Apology accepted. And as TSW/Dan pointed out on the other thread it's CAFETY not CAICA. Like many of the others here I'm more than willing to bury the hatchet on this one. Thank you for coming to your senses.
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Hello, All!
I was alerted to the libelous statement Kevin August made regarding HEAL through one of our members. As I understand that if one does not reply to libel/slander, at least for some, it creates confusion about the organization/individual defamed. So, I have decided to respond on behalf of HEAL and myself.
Terrorism is a very loosely defined term. The National Education Association, the NAACP, the AARP, the ACLU, and even Martin Luther King Jr. have been defined by government officials such as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former FBI Directors, and even Pres. Bush's administration, as terrorists and terrorist organizations. Since Kevin August is opposed to Constitutional Rights and Civil Liberties, it does not surprise me that he considers those of us, like HEAL, to be a terrorist organization.
However, in these times, the common perception of a "terrorist" or "terrorist" organization is that it is a person or organization that seeks through illegal methods to overthrow established governments or organizations. HEAL does not and has never promoted illegal methods for social or governmental change.
That said, Kevin August has a problem with HEAL because we dared to question his investment in the "troubled teen" industry by becoming a referral agent, posting multiple ads for abusive programs at both antiwwasp.com and teenshelp.us. We visited Kevin August's website antiwwasp.com and under links found multiple links to abusive programs. This was beyond the GoogleAds and teenshelp.us issue. We initially contacted Kevin directly and did not involve any other survivor groups or organizations. But, instead of looking into his own actions and taking responsibility, Kevin chose to viciously and spitefully attack me personally and HEAL. So, we decided to take our concerns to the community leaders. We kept our concerns private. And, because of that, Kevin is once again throwing a tantrum, avoiding responsibility, and defaming HEAL.
I am a survivor of Provo Canyon School as is HEAL's CA-Coordinator Kris. HEAL's MS-Coordinator is John Giesler, a survivor of Bethel Boys Academy and HEAL's NY-Coordinator is Richard Meehan, a survivor of two Aspen Education Group programs. We are aware of the long-term issues, PTSD, night-terrors, and more that survivors experience, because we too experience them. We are aware of the systemic abuse in these programs. Perhaps, primarily because 3/4 of our coordinators are in our thirties, two of which are working on professional degrees. I am working on my Juris Doctorate and Kris is working on a graduate degree in psychology.
As an undergrad at the Univ. of WA in Seattle, I double-majored in Philosophy and History. I focused on Philosophy of Law and Ethics in my Philosophy Studies and on Human Rights, Civil Liberties, US-Latin American Relations, and Black History in my History Studies. Intentionally, or not, I believe that Kevin August is ineffective and a probable provocateur disrupting the movement to shutdown abusive programs by confusing parents looking for help. Here is HEAL's position (as conveyed to parents) on the entire "teen help/troubled teen" industry:
The residential treatment and wilderness "therapy" programs have been denounced by the National Institute of Health as being harmful to children and families as well as ineffective in dealing with teen problems. There are multiple resources that expose the fraud and abuse of this industry. Some authors to check out are Dr. Peter Breggin, Alexia Parks, and Maia Szalavitz. Dr. Peter Breggin is author of mutiple books regarding appropriate treatment for teens (see Reclaiming Our Children by Dr. Peter Breggin). Alexia Parks authored "An American Gulag" exposing the "teen help" industry and Maia Szalavitz has written two great books exposing the fraud and abuse inherent in this industry, "Tough Love America" and "Help at Any Cost".
We suggest parents do not remove their children from their home environment unless they pose an immediate threat to themselves or others. Leading expert in adolescent psychology and head of the Department of Psychology at the University of California--Berkeley, Dr. Margaret Singer, has spoken out against these programs in great detail saying that they make a child's worst nightmare of abandonment come true and that the people who run these programs are slick businessmen with no training or expertise in helping teens appropriately. Maia Szalavitz, author of "Tough Love America", cites the National Institute of Health studies on these programs that have determined that they are harmful and not helpful to teens or their families. Szalavitz also stated on the Jan. 18th, 2005 episode of Montel Williams that even when children/teens pose an immediate threat to themselves or others that at most a short stay (1-4 weeks) in a local psychiatric hospital to deescalate the situation is what is needed followed by intensive out-patient family counseling.
The "schools" listed on our site are either suspectedly or confirmedly abusive. We recommend no one send children to a facility that matches any of the criteria on our warning signs list at www.heal-online.org/warn.htm (http://www.heal-online.org/warn.htm) (see also www.isaccorp.org (http://www.isaccorp.org) ) . We have successfully exposed the abuses at Bethel Boys Academy, Bethel Girls Academy (now closed), CEDU Family of Programs (all programs now closed), Mountain Park Boarding Academy (now closed), and many others. We had proof of abuse at CEDU programs up over 4 years ago and they were just closed down on Friday, 3/25/05. The system sometimes takes too long to catch up with justice and truth. That's why we exist. We exist to warn and protect families from abusive behavior modification programs.
You should also be aware that none of these programs are regulated by any outside agency. Child Protective Services, Law Enforcement, and Social Services do not inspect these programs. Right now, there is a bill in congress, HR 1738, entitled the "End Institutionalized Abuse of Children Act". The abuse of children in these programs is so common that Congress is making it a Federal Case. The bill has a way to go before it reaches the floor for a vote. And, in the meantime, risking any child's safety in any program is not recommended. You should also be aware that Educational Consultants and other professionals often receive a 10% commission on any children they successfully refer to/enroll in a program. If the contract with the program is for a minimum of a year at a cost of $24-60,000 than the referring party receives 10% of that. Participants/parents are often brainwashed in parent seminars and are also often given the incentive of a free month of the program for every parent they convince to enroll their child. They are not exactly objective references.
Please purchase or check out a copy of "Reclaiming Our Children" by Dr. Peter Breggin. It will help you understand the bounty of alternatives to residential treatment/behavior modification. Also, if your child has been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD/etc. and is on any type of medications for these disorders, you should be aware that the prescription medication he/she is on may be what is causing the behavioral problems. If you are dealing with this type of issue, please see: www.ablechild.org (http://www.ablechild.org) . --end
HEAL takes a holistic approach to "healing" the world. One of the reasons we include a variety of "causes" on our site is to help inform all conscientious activists on the connection between the issues HEAL acknowledges. Think of a website or organization that conveys action alerts for human rights, environmental issues, and animal welfare issues that primarily focuses on teen liberty. When people search for animal rights or environmental or human rights organizations in CA, WA, MS, and NY they find HEAL. And, the first thing they see is information on teen liberty. This is a great way to connect the issues and help inform conscientious activists about the issue we all care deeply about, teen liberty.
HEAL is an ethical organization. We have an online shop, accept donations, and work with ethical companies, such as downbound.com, as an affiliate to raise funds to cover costs and work on getting more media exposure for the teen liberty campaign. We have never and will never use GoogleAds, link to or advertise for behavior modification programs/boot camps/rtc's/etc., or compromise our position.
These programs are scared of any regulation and are working with the Bush Administration to insure HR 1738 is re-written to remove its bite or quashed entirely. See:
"Andrea Barthwell, M.D., former White House Deputy Drug Czar for President George W. Bush kicked off the activity at NATSAP’s annual meeting where she encouraged attendees to join forces with others who devote themselves to families’ needs for effective care and education of its young members. “While H.R. 1738 is a bill to ‘End Institutionalized Abuse Against Children’ and intends to improve the quality of care in therapeutic settings serving our young people, its most recent iteration could have caused a collapse of the system of care that your clients depend upon."
You can read the entire press release, submitted by Provo Canyon School (which, this year (2007), has put a girl on full life support --see: www.heal-online.org/ashley.htm (http://www.heal-online.org/ashley.htm)) at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Provo_Can ... 508537.htm (http://www.prweb.com/releases/Provo_Canyon_School/treatment_facility/prweb508537.htm)
I'm assuming the majority of you know that NATSAP is an organization founded and run by owners of abusive programs and is a ruse to give the appearance of legitimacy to those who tortured many of us and continue to do so.
So, if our distaste for the cover ups and abuse encouraged by Republican leaders (see Mel Sembler/Bush Family Relationship, Bush Admin support of NATSAP and Provo Canyon School, etc.) makes HEAL a "liberal terrorist organization", then so be it. But, in our opinion, we are pro-democracy, patriotic, and working to protect children and families from fraud and abuse.
Sincerely,
Angela Smith
HEAL Coordinator
http:www.heal-online.org
heal@heal-online.org
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Awesome post Angela and thank you for shedding some more light on Kevin's infantile behavior. Not that we really have needed anymore notice of his purile antics, but it does help to know that there is more of a history in this affair than some of us suspected.
Hopefully Kevin will have taken away from this the beginnings of what it will take for him to grow and into a responsible mature young man with a greater sense of civic responsibility. At the very least he will learn to be a bit more respectful and in control of his irrational behaviors.
Can he do this?
Only time will tell.
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Also, if your child has been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD/etc. and is on any type of medications for these disorders, you should be aware that the prescription medication he/she is on may be what is causing the behavioral problems. If you are dealing with this type of issue, please see: www.ablechild.org (http://www.ablechild.org) . --end
The link isn't working? What does it say about about the medication causing the behaviours - personally I've found Concerta to be a God send for my son, he feels far more in control of himself, able to concentrate, sit stil for a good 20 seconds instead of 2 and it has raised his self esteem as he is able to behave himself on it and make some decisions he seemed to be unable to make before. Hes even taking an interest in trying his hardest to learn to read where as before, he just did not want to even try, it was all too much for him
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Just a formatting problem. I fixed it in both places.
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Hey Angela! Thanks for dropping in. I don't think any sane people took Kevin's assignation seriously. I sort of got a good laugh out of it. Why, I'd consider it an honor to be called a terrorist organization by the likes of anyone affiliated w/ NATSAP or the creepy Bush people.
But it is very nice to see a concise, comprehensive run down of what you do. I still don't put much stock in regulating our way out of this, but efforts do do so are, by definition, one potent, high stakes kind of dialog and nearly always help to generate more of the wilder varieties.
Thans for the advertising tip, too. Checkin that out now....
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Angela Smith I believe just layethed the smackdown, I applaud your style....
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Just a formatting problem. I fixed it in both places.
Thankee, that works now
Yes, interesting - in the fact that I cannot believe that all parents aren't informed of all this tuff in the first place!
My son wasn't prescribed concerta for months after being diagnosed, we did and still do the whole behaviour thing, diet, shopping for certain foods without additives, no fizzy drinks, brain exercises, physical exercise, al of this and the information in that ink was made very clear to me from the outset - I had no idea that other parents were just given the drug and sent away, it's not a miracle cure, it has to be treated with respect & parents should know why it is prescribed and how it helps your child....wow I'm gobsmacked that everyone doesn't know this stuff