Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Anonymous on April 17, 2004, 12:18:00 PM
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Saturday, April 17, 2004
Problems plaguing program for youths
By Amy Joi Bryson
Deseret Morning News
Allegations of sexual abuse and assault, which have sparked recent criminal probes here and in two other states, continue to plague a Utah-based program for troubled children.
The trouble linked to programs or services associated with the Worldwide Association of Speciality Programs and Schools (WWASPS) also has a California congressman demanding a federal investigation by the Department of Justice.
Meanwhile, Utah licensing officials say there is little they can do about complaints that come in for programs like WWASPS, which remain unlicensed because they are "boarding schools."
"Unless they are licensed, we do not have the right to go in unannounced, talk to anyone or interview the kids to see what is happening," said Ken Stettler, director of the state Department of Human Services Office of Licensing.
Criminal investigations into abuse and assault have taken place in:
Rich County, where a 13-year-old boy was allegedly assaulted at the company's Majestic Ranch.
Montana, resulting in a former staffer pleading guilty to felony criminal endangerment.
New York, where two men stand accused of assaulting a teen they were transporting to a WWASPS facility in that state.
WWASPS officials say allegations of assault and other mistreatment are fabricated by students who want to go home.
"There have not been any substantiated allegations that I am aware of, ever," said Ken Kay, president. "These kids have a long history of fabricating the truth and not functioning well in mainstream society."
Rep. George Miller, D-California, renewed his plea last month for the investigation to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, asking again that the Justice Department probe WWASPS for allegations of human-rights violations, fraudulent and deceptive advertising, fraud and unjust enrichment under the Internal Revenue Code.
The attorney general, based on a request first made by Miller late last year, initially declined to investigate WWASPS, saying its authority does not extend to WWASPS affiliates outside the country or privately owned facilities. Miller is not dissuaded, saying private ownership is immaterial to an investigation into possible violations of federal law. He is waiting for a second response. Utah connections
WWASPS, based in St. George, was founded by Utahn Robert Lichfield and is an umbrella organization with 11 boarding schools or residential treatment programs, including three facilities overseas.
Here in Utah, investigators with the state Division of Child and Family Services, along with Rich County sheriff's deputies, were called to WWASPS affiliate Majestic Ranch north of Randolph to probe a possible assault of a 13-year-old boy.
The incident, which involved a Majestic Ranch staff member, happened March 3 and had facility management concerned about whether or not "their own use of force policies had been violated," according to a press release.
The Rich County Sheriff's Office, on advice of the county attorney, declined to release the deputy's initial incident report on the allegations, even though it is classified as a public document under the Government Records Access and Management Act. The Deseret Morning News is appealing the decision.
Although DCFS officials say one of the allegations of abuse was supported, the Rich County Attorney's Office declined to file criminal charges.
Assault allegations
In Montana just this week, a man who had been a staff member at WWASPS affiliate Spring Creek Lodge Academy in Thompson Falls pleaded guilty to criminal endangerment, a felony.
Initially, the man was charged by the Sanders County Prosecutor's Office with sexual assault and sexual intercourse without consent stemming from allegations involving a 14-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy.
The county attorney's office said the defendant received a three-year deferred sentence of probation, with credit for 11 days served in jail.
Although the Montana employee did enter a guilty plea, Kay stressed the charge "does not mean anything inappropriate happened."
"It may mean he (the defendant) may have had the child in a predicament or a situation where there was the possibility that something could have happened, not that it did happen."
He said the employee was fired immediately for violating policy ? which prohibits staff members from being alone with students.
In New York, two men were accused in March of assaulting a 17-year-old boy while he was en route to the WWASPS Academy at Ivy Ridge, located near the Canadian border.
Police there say the teen was beaten while in cuffs after he grabbed the steering wheel of the car and caused it to crash.
The men, who have pleaded not guilty, were contracted by La Verkin-based Teen Escort Service to do the transport of the teen. WWASPS officials say Teen Escort is not affiliated with their organization, but is one of three approved transport services that is recommended to parents.
The alleged assault happened after the men woke the boy, handcuffed him and led him out to a waiting car ? a style of transport that investigators said had the parents consent.
The rough way the boy was treated and what officials say is a lack of apparent regulatory oversight, has the case being reviewed by the New York Attorney General's Office. A spokeswoman there said investigators there have not yet decided on the scope of the review.
Legislation sought
But Miller, the ranking minority member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said government needs to take greater action and initiative to protect youth in WWASPS programs in the United States and overseas.
In his letter to Ashcroft, he writes that the only action taken so far by the federal government was a cautionary notice on using behavior modification facilities issued by the state department in January. The notice came after Miller's request for investigation and on the heels of a riot at WWASPS affiliate in Costa Rica.
There, foreign child protection workers and police swooped into the facility, which one local child advocacy group described as a site of "torture."
One woman, a former director of the Costa Rican school, asked the national minister of child welfare to begin an investigation last year.
Utah licensing officials, coupled with the Attorney General's Office, have urged lawmakers to pass legislation imposing more regulatory control on such programs here without success.
"Our concern is that there is currently very little, if any oversight," Stettler said.
While licensed facilities have to meet minimum requirements for health and safety purposes, programs termed as "boarding schools" such as Majestic Ranch are outside the state's purview.
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E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com
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http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?sid=86714&n ... late=print (http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?sid=86714&nid=5&template=print)
Utah Teen Programs Investigated by New York
Apr. 9, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The New York State Attorney General's Office is investigating southern Utah-based programs for troubled youths following the alleged beating of a teen being transported to an affiliated school in New York.
Two men associated with La Verkin-based Teen Escort are accused of beating the boy as he was being taken to the Academy at Ivy Ridge in New York.
The academy is a member program of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools/Teen Help founded by Robert Lichfield of Utah.
A New York investigator told the Deseret Morning News that the business operations of WWASP and Teen Escort have him concerned because of what he says is a lack of regulatory oversight of the transport services.
Officials with the programs deny wrongdoing by the employees and say they welcome an investigation because they have nothing to hide.
New York State Police investigator James Hunt said the parents of a 17-year-old boy hired transporters with Teen Escort to take their son from their home in southern New York on March 22 to the school near the Canadian border.
The parents paid several thousand dollars for the service, which included having their son removed from home while he was asleep in bed, having him cuffed and then escorted to a car in his bare feet, said Hunt, who was quoted in a copyright story in the News.
At one point, the boy allegedly grabbed the steering wheel and caused the car to crash into a guard rail, after which he was beaten about the face, authorities allege.
New Yorkers Leonard Faulstick and Timothy Hurd have been charged with unlawful imprisonment and assault in the incident, Hunt said.
Hunt said Hurd was a contract employee of Teen Escort and Faulstick was subcontracted to help with the transport.
He said neither man had received any formal training.
James Wall, a spokesman for WWASP and Teen Escort, said training isn't needed because it is not an advanced form of criminal handling.
"It's not like being on a SWAT team," he said.
Hunt said private youth programs for troubled kids appear to fall under little control. Officials discovered, for example, that Teen Escort's business registration in Utah had lapsed.
A check of the Utah Department of Commerce's Web site shows the business registration for Teen Escort Services in La Verkin has been expired since 1998. It is also described as a "scenic and sightseeing" transportation service, the News said.
Wall denies there was any assault.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is
proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in
everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
--Herbert Spencer
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http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.ph ... =0&thold=0 (http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=18729&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0)
Utah teen programs investigated by New York after alleged beating
Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 12:00 AM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
SALT LAKE CITY -- The New York State Attorney General's Office is investigating southern Utah-based programs for troubled youths following the alleged beating of a teen being transported to an affiliated school in New York.
Two men associated with La Verkin-based Teen Escort are accused of beating the boy as he was being taken to the Academy at Ivy Ridge in New York.
The academy is a member program of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools/Teen Help founded by Robert Lichfield of Utah.
A New York investigator told the Deseret Morning News that the business operations of WWASP and Teen Escort have him concerned because of what he calls a lack of regulatory oversight.
The parents paid several thousand dollars to Teen Escort to transport their 14-year-old son, which included having him removed from home while he was asleep, having him cuffed and then escorted to a car in his bare feet, said Hunt, who was quoted in a copyright story in the News.
At one point, the boy allegedly grabbed the steering wheel and caused the car to crash into a guard rail, after which he was beaten about the face, authorities say.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D2.
Whenever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.
Thomas Jefferson: Kentucky Resolutions, 1798
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In a letter to lawmakers this last session, Utah assistant attorney general Craig Barlow wrote, " . . . my experience with unlicensed residential treatment programs calling themselves boarding schools is (that) no one knows what occurs in these programs. Children are completely isolated from the outside world and from their parents, and the potential for child abuse and child sex abuse is high."
I think I might write Mr. Barlow a thank you note!
Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
--Winston Churchill
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It's no accident so many programs operate in Utah where land is cheap and oversight minimal. Second, the Saints have a long history of looking the other way when a fellow Saint fucks up.
:smokin:
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Gee, wonder if the ed cons and independent referral services who recommend transport agencies consider this an "isolated" incident? My money says they do, after all, it's kinda hard to make a living in this business without kids!
:flame:
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On 2004-04-17 13:15:00, Antigen wrote:
"
In a letter to lawmakers this last session, Utah assistant attorney general Craig Barlow wrote, " . . . my experience with unlicensed residential treatment programs calling themselves boarding schools is (that) no one knows what occurs in these programs. Children are completely isolated from the outside world and from their parents, and the potential for child abuse and child sex abuse is high."
I think I might write Mr. Barlow a thank you note!
Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
--Winston Churchill
"
More quotes from Mr. Barlow:
http://www.yrfire.com/story/2003/5/27/204329/257 (http://www.yrfire.com/story/2003/5/27/204329/257)
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Although the Montana employee did enter a guilty plea, Kay stressed the charge "does not mean anything inappropriate happened."
A new addition to the WWASP lexicon:
GUILTY: Not guilty
These people have such a way with words.
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Thank you Kiwi - and how 'bout Kay's theory that it might mean the staff member and student may only have been in a position where something Might happen?!
I can't get over it.
And I wonder which program they shuffeled him off to?
Anybody know how to get the *fired* staffs name so we can keep a look out for him? No doubt he's just started work at TB or Casa or Carolina Springs or Mid West. . .
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What's all the "trying to investigate" crap? Rep Miller was invited to "investigate" and called it a dog and pony show, and refused to go. You'd think he would have jumped at the offer, if only to see what it looked like! What kind of avoidance excuse bullshit is that?? What the newspaper doesn't report is that WWASP is Very open to have the investigation. As long as there is no investigation, these newspaper reports and accusations by parents will continue to scare away parents that really need this intervention in their families, for their families, not just their kids. Blame the parents, that's okay. Most know they need help as much as the kids and therapy or other outside help didn't work.
PLEASE get the investigation going!
http://www.wwaspsrebuttal.com (http://www.wwaspsrebuttal.com) tells a more truthful story than these fly by night, dime a dozen newspaper reporters.
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That's a great observation! Rep Miller refused to go and visit, was it Cross Creek Center/Manor? HE said it would be a dog and pony show when reporters are not allowed now due to their sensationalized reporting. Why would reporters want to go and not a politician? That makes no sense. Is he afraid he might find that the kids are in safe and healthy environment and not being abused, emotionally or physically? Is this about being politically correct or politically corrupt?
"The healthy and strong individual is one who asks for help when he needs it. Whether he's got an abscess on his knee or on his soul" -- Rona Barrett
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What's all the "trying to investigate" crap? Rep Miller was invited to "investigate" and called it a dog and pony show, and refused to go. You'd think he would have jumped at the offer, if only to see what it looked like! What kind of avoidance excuse bullshit is that??
You seem to be confusing an investigation with a preannounced inspection. An investigation involves interviewing scores of witnesses, now spread all over the country. A preannounced inspection consists of a single visit to a facility and WWASP showing their guests what they want them to see.
What the newspaper doesn't report is that WWASP is Very open to have the investigation.
No, WWASP is very open to a dog and pony show, like the ones they give to their friends at the embassy every now and then.
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Is he afraid he might find that the kids are in safe and healthy environment and not being abused, emotionally or physically?
No, I would expect them to be safe and healthy and would expect them not to be abused ... for the duration of his visit!
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The WWASP rebuttal page states that in their surveys, almost all of the respondents say they would recommend the program to others. What they do not say is what percentage of parents chose not to respond to the survey....
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On 2004-04-20 04:53:00, Anonymous wrote:
"The WWASP rebuttal page states that in their surveys, almost all of the respondents say they would recommend the program to others. What they do not say is what percentage of parents chose not to respond to the survey...."
They probably only survey parents on the mailing list of "The Source" magazine. Dissatisfied parents would no longer be getting the magazine.
Any satisfaction rate in the high 90s from any organization has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Another way of achieving such a high rate is to remove the middle ground. Most respondents on any survey will check the middle option for many, if not most, questions. If you just give them the choice
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
there is no middle option. They are unlikely to pick one of the "dissatisfied" options, otherwise why are they still with the program?
I had to laugh at the claim about all the letters of appreciation they receive. They don't mention that parents have to write a letter of appreciation in their TASKS seminars.
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Kiwi: you wrote "I had to laugh at the claim about all the letters of appreciation they receive. They don't mention that parents have to write a letter of appreciation in their TASKS seminars."
Is this what you heard or what you know to be true? Many parents do write letters of appreciate during the seminars, but it is not mandatory, contrary to what someone else might say. Many more parents write when they are not in the parent seminars, as evidenced by the letters. The seminars are a small part of the whole picture. I read many letters from parents that had been involved for a while or who have had their child come home. You talk about wwasps like you know the program, but it looks like you had an experience of a different program, so you are believing what you read. Whatever works for you.
As far as Rep Miller, I'm sure if he went there he would see every part of it, some just the waiting room. Parents are there everyday and see everything, especially if they are on campus from morning til night. They eat there, they attend the group sessions, join in the activities, and are welcome at any time to tour the dorms, classrooms and time out areas.
What I don't get is that this Rep Miller wouldn't even accept the invitation. It would be disruptive to the students, but maybe, just maybe he would see for himself that he's been duped into believing what only a handful of people say.
Some would rather believe those, than the hundreds of others who know their kids are safe and their families are healing and dealing.
I don't expect you or anyone else to believe me. What I say is not the issue here. I know the truth. Newspaper reporters don't. They can only assume and most of their info comes from certain individuals with an agenda.
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Just an interesting little excerpt from the http://www.wwasprebuttal.com (http://www.wwasprebuttal.com) page on letters to the Editor:
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"It is unfortunate that the opinions of the press carry such unrealistic, negative views of these programs, and write out right lies about what goes on in these schools, scaring off young people and their families who are in crisis and would be saved by these programs. It is tragic that the press is misinformed and so easily influenced, and almost exclusively carry the opinions of an unhappy few. The tragedy with this kind of sensationalism is that it has caused severe physical and psychological trauma to families and teens who were already in severe crisis in their lives, with no conscious thought of how it might permanently affect these kids. I absolutely do not want my son's progress to be disrupted because of the press or the negative few. I am personally asking the State Department to assist in upholding article # 5 and # 18 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. These programs truly SAVE LIVES AND FAMILIES! I am eternally grateful for the constant love, support and guidance from WWASP and all the staff and administration at Casa by the Sea. I would recommend these Programs to any family whose teen is in crisis. I, and all the parents with students in WWASP Programs, thank you for your time."
************
Obviously this site is for "The unhappy few" - read the rest, if you care to. There's really only a few who have real experience of the WWASPS organization on this forum. The rest are looking for something to gripe about and seem to enjoy singing with the birdies.
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SPOTS: You say that Dace, the Director/Owner of Casa by the Sea is friends with ALL the government officials? This was taken directly from the wwasps rebuttal site. How do you explain a first time official being "friends" with Dace. Blows your "theory" right out of the place you imagined, huh?
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"Recently a government official visited Casa by the Sea unannounced, because of an article written by Mr. Weiner. The official thoroughly inspected the Facility, interviewed students, and staff. While Casa By the Sea has had numerous inspections by government officials, this was the first time this particular official had ever visited the Facility. Based on the news media accounts, she came expecting to see a terrible program. She said she found quite the opposite. She was very impressed with the Program and their care of the students."
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Who wrote that piece? WWASP? Then it must be the absolute truth, huh?
And who was the official who made the unanounced visit?
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The name of the writer of the above article is on the rebuttal site. I don't think the name of the official is important, but it wouldn't be hard to find out who she is. Our HERO Spots knows.
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dog&pony show
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I'm not sure how a dog and pony show can be compared to touring and talking with the kids. Anyway, if Rep Miller feels that's what it would be, that's okay. A complete and thorough investigation would be something he may not have the authority to do, so leave it to those that do. The only surprise would be that they'll find nothing even closely resembling those news articles. Problem is that even with the authorities, juvenile jails are still rampant with abuse even the humane society would shut down. I read that being incarcerated in the city of Phoenix has juvenile chain gangs, as of this week, where the kids are burying deceased homeless people. Talk about community service. That's nothing I would want my own kid to experience. It gives new meaning to PSD.
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WWASPS, Straight and the Costa Rican Embassy or
Is the fox in the hen house?
May 27, 2003.
There's an article in the New York Times today telling of the arrest of an American citizen in Costa Rica for running a juvenile treatment program that authorities feel is excessive. According to the article students report that "Children were divided into six levels, the lower ones forbidden to speak freely or raise their eyes, the higher ones free to discipline and punish inferiors. A muscular cadre of minimum-wage staff members enforced the system. Communication between parents and children was barred or closely edited. Parents were told that complaints from children were manipulative lies." This sounds like Straight, Inc. doesn't it?
Well it's not. It is the Academy at Dundee Ranch in San Jose, Costa Rica, operated by Narvin Lichfield, an American. Dundee Ranch is part of the World-wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS) based in St. George, Utah. WWASPS programs in the United States and overseas charge between $30,000 to $50,000 in tuition and fees, generating yearly revenues of $60 million or more. But there have been problems. On May 13 the NYT ran an article about alleged abuses at Casa by the Sea in Mexico, another WWASPS-affiliate program. According to that article over the last seven years local governments and the US state department officials have investigated WWASPS-affiliated programs in Mexico, the Czech Republic and Samoa on charges of physical abuse and immigration violations. A program in Mexico and the one in the Czech Republic subsequently closed down. The Times reported that according to the Utah attorney general's office, six weeks ago, a director of Majestic Ranch, another WWASPS-affiliate, entered into a court agreement to have no unsupervised contact with children after he was charged with misdemeanor child abuse. South Carolina officials have fined Carolina Springs Academy, another WWASPS-affiliate, $5,000 for operating without a license. The Vienna Convention authorizes state department officials to visit overseas programs to check on the well-being of American citizens under 18. In January, after several such visits, the state department issued a notice on "behavior modification facilities" in Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica. The programs may "isolate the children in relatively remote sites and restrict their contact with the outside world", the notice states.
It's strange that the NYT would be reporting today on the controversial Dundee Ranch in San Jose, because also today (and tomorrow) Straight, Inc., under its new name, the Drug Free America Foundation, is co-hosting a conference on drug policy leadership at the Radisson Hotel in San Jose. The conference was announced on May 23 in a press release from the US Embassy in Costa Rica. (Last May DFAF hosted a drug policy summit with the Italians at Ambassador Sembler's Magic Kingdom in Rome.) Two days after the embassy press release, officials from the state child-welfare agency, PANI, accompanied by the police, marched onto the ranch and informed the students that under Costa Rican law children have certain rights like the right to speak privately with their own parents! In fact, the kids were told they had the right to leave Costa Rica, if they chose to do so. After the state officials left, there was a revolt. Lichfield was subsequently arrested, but released after 30 hours in custody. He has been ordered to stay in the country for the time being. He is now considering suing the prosecutor.
WWASPS was founded by Robert Lichfield, Narvin's brother. It is operated by Ken Kay. Last year WWASS donated $215,290 to the Republican Party making it the biggest Republican corporate donor in Utah. I guess Mr. Lichfield does not realize that if he gives another $34,910 he can become one of Mel Sembler's Republican Regents and quite possibly they'll offer him an ambassadorship to Costa Rica, Australia, Spain or even Italy.
A multitude of laws in a country is like a great number of physicians, a sign of weakness and malady.
--Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)
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Program to Help Youths Has Troubles of Its Own
New York Times/September 6, 2003
By Tim Weiner
Thompson Falls, Mont. -- Spring Creek Lodge Academy, home to thousands of wayward children since 1996, calls itself "a safe haven for change." Many parents swear with near-religious devotion that the program, one of the nation's largest, has saved their sons and daughters. Others have come to curse it.
The program is affiliated with the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, or Wwasps, a multimillion-dollar business in the industry of "tough love" programs and "specialty boarding schools" that have flourished, often unregulated, for two decades.
Wwasps affiliates in Mexico, Costa Rica, Western Samoa and the Czech Republic have closed under accusations of cruelty since 1996. The affiliate in Costa Rica, in fact, collapsed in May when students revolted.
A review of seven of the company's largest affiliates in the United States, where it remains the fastest-growing program of its kind, found accusations of misconduct or wrongdoing at four of them.
In Utah and South Carolina, state officials have cited the programs and their staff members for violations including child abuse and overcrowding, and have challenged their right to operate.
Here at the company's largest affiliate, Spring Creek Lodge, the program and its staff have been accused of sexual abuse, physical violence and psychological duress.
Wwasps, whose programs house about 2,400 youths in all, some as young as 10, has fought and denied all charges.
The founder, Robert B. Lichfield, 49, called the accusations part of a difficult business. "When you have troubled kids and troubled parents - any school or program that works with troubled kids has complaints," Mr. Lichfield said in a telephone interview. "We're no different."
He attributed the growth of Wwasps to "the breakdown of the family," saying, "When the family is not functioning, society suffers."
Wwasps has flourished and profited by tapping a deep well of woe in American families, interviews and correspondence with more than 200 parents, children, staff members and program officials made clear.
Parents say they turned to the programs in exasperation, or exhaustion, seeking salvation, or in some cases exile, for their sons and daughters. Many say Wwasps was their only alternative after schools, public health systems, counseling and the courts failed them.
Spring Creek Lodge's associate director, Chaffin Pullan, 32, said, "We're crazy enough to say, 'Hey, we'll take your child, and we'll work on their values.' "
But at Spring Creek Lodge, as at several other affiliates, some of that work takes place under conditions and circumstances that some children and parents call physically and psychologically brutal.
Where state regulators have challenged affiliates, government officials often spend years trying to control or sanction the programs' defiance of licensing rules.
South Carolina officials, for example, after four years of fighting, have barred Narvin Lichfield, the brother of the Wwasps' founder, from Carolina Springs Academy, the program that Narvin Lichfield owns in the tiny town of Due West.
In Utah, officials are wrestling with Majestic Ranch, which takes children as young as 10, and where a program director was recently charged with child abuse, as well as with a new program at the flagship affiliate, Cross Creek, for clients over age 18. Neither program has obtained the required operating license, state officials said.
Robert Lichfield, who once said he believed only Satan stood in the way of the programs' goals, said state authorities were merely reacting to pressure from parents or reporters, adding, "If I was in their position, I would be doing the same thing."
Federal authorities are also taking a look at Wwasps. On July 10, Representative George Miller of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee, asked the Treasury Department to see whether Wwasps received unusual "tax deductions, tax credits or any special tax treatment."
Affiliates gross perhaps $70 million a year, an estimate based on their enrollment, tuition and fees. A company spokesman, James Wall, said it had always filed its federal income taxes properly. But Mr. Wall said Wwasps, which calls itself a nonprofit corporation in Utah, had never applied for nonprofit, tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.
The company says it does not directly own or control any of its affiliates, and claims no responsibility for their programs. But Spring Creek Lodge employees, for instance, say the program sends about 40 percent of its revenues to Wwasps.
Amberly Knight, a former director of Dundee Ranch, the affiliate in Costa Rica that collapsed last spring, said in a sworn statement that the company took 75 percent of Dundee Ranch's income, leaving little money to care for its 200 children. The statement also said company officials maintained "offshore bank accounts," in part to "evade U.S. income taxes."
Here in Montana, where 50 other programs for troubled teenagers have opened in addition to Spring Creek Lodge, the state does not regulate private schools, state officials say.
"We have a tremendous number - an inordinate amount - of these programs in western Montana," said Paul Clark, a Montana state legislator who represents the Thompson Falls area and also runs a program for about a dozen wayward teenagers. But the state lacks the capacity or the expertise to regulate them, Mr. Clark said, adding, "We'll get action after there's a crisis."
Many children from the affiliate that collapsed in Costa Rica wound up at Spring Creek Lodge, where the enrollment has doubled to about 500 in two years, and whose parents pay roughly $40,000 a year and up.
That growth has created an unfilled demand for trained teachers and counselors, staff members say. The program is the largest employer in this corner of Montana, where jobs are scarce and wages low.
As the school has grown, so have accusations of abuse.
A log cabin with tiny isolation rooms, called the Hobbit, sits on the edge of Spring Creek Lodge's compound in the woods. Some teenagers, like Alex Ziperovich, 16, say they have spent months in the Hobbit, eating meals of beans and bananas.
"He came out 35 pounds lighter, acting like a zombie," said his mother, Michele Ziperovich, a Seattle lawyer. "When he came back, he was worse, far worse."
In March, the county prosecutor charged a 20-year-old staff member with sexually assaulting two boys in the Hobbit, one 14 and the other 17. He denies the charges.
In June, a girl was beaten by students with a shower-curtain rod; in September 2002 a student bent on escape beat a guard with a vacuum-cleaner pipe and shattered his cheekbone, said Mr. Pullan, Spring Creek Lodge's the associate director, and several staff members.
The September assault followed a similar attack three weeks earlier; Thompson Falls residents say escape attempts are rising.
Mr. Pullan said the academy was curtailing use of the isolation rooms. He called the recent violence against staff members unusual and "horrific." But he is said he was convinced that the academy was helping the vast majority of its children.
He acknowledged that it had been hard to hire and retain skilled local staff members.
One former staff member, Mark Runkle, who worked for two and a half years at the academy, said he became skeptical of some practices, like taking children into the woods at night for psychological tests of will.
"They take kids down to the Vermillion Bridge at night, blindfold them, and push them off into the river; they take them off into the woods, and they come back hurt," Mr. Runkle said. "They claim it's a mind-increaser. I think it breaks the kids down - breaks their will down. Mentally, they do damage. Emotionally, too."
Despite such accounts, parents continue to turn to such programs. The reasons that the parents, children, staff members and program officials cite are the crises common to American family life: fractured marriages, failing schools, frantic two-job couples with no time to devote to children.
The accelerating pace of adolescence and a "zero-tolerance" culture leave teenagers no margin for mistakes, experts say.
Managed care has cut insurance coverage for residential treatment. Reduced federal and state support have hobbled community-based counseling. A new White House study calls state and federal mental health programs a shambles.
Some parents of children damaged by drugs, drinking, depression or divorce say Wwasps programs were their sole alternative.
"We refer to it, my husband and I, as the program of last resort," Debbie Wood said. She and her husband moved from Seattle to Thompson Falls in March to be near their son, Sam, now 17, at Spring Creek Lodge. "I don't know of another program that would fill our needs the way Wwasps has," Mrs. Wood said.
Other parents, too, are satisfied. Deb Granneman, of Saline, Mich., said: "With my son it worked; it's not going to work for every kid. When you send your kid there, you're giving them the last chance to turn their lives around."
Mr. Pullan, along with 37 parents, children and staff members interviewed personally, by phone, or through e-mail, say few Spring Creek Lodge children are delinquents.
Perhaps one-quarter are drug users or drinkers, Mr. Pullan said, while "about 70 percent are not hard core - they cannot communicate at home." Many children say they were sent here after a parent died or departed, or a new stepmother or stepfather rejected them.
A crucial part of the company's effort to shape its success is a requisite series of emotional-growth seminars for parents. "The seminars are the most important thing we have experienced as a family," said Rosemary Hinch, a teacher in Phoenix.
"It was painful; it was hard," Ms. Hinch said. "They teach you to take a really good look at yourself."
But the seminars persuaded Michele Ziperovich to pull her son Alex out. "It was 300 adults screaming and beating on chairs, three days of no sleep, and after that, you'll buy into whatever they say," Ms. Ziperovich said. "They berate you, they scream at you, exhaust you. It's basically mind control."
The question of control also arises among staff members and children who say many teenagers at Spring Creek Lodge are sedated, night and day. "There are girls on so many antidepressants given out by the program that they can't move," said Lauren Meksraitis, 18, of Tampa, Fla., a former Spring Creek client. "They can't get out of bed. They are like dead animals."
A company spokesman said a visiting psychiatrist prescribed the drugs, which are dispensed by a nurse or "other staff members."
But Ms. Meksraitis said: "The Spring Creek staff members responsible for family contacts don't tell your parents the truth. They lie to parents and tell them their kids are going to get fixed."
Her father, Michael Meksraitis, a lawyer, agreed, saying: "They misrepresent the program. They take advantage of parents in a very vulnerable position, who don't know what to do with their kids, who are at the end of their rope."
Robert Lichfield, who dropped out of college and became director of residential programs at a Utah institution for teenagers that was subsequently closed by the state for cruelty to children, says he has learned some lessons from a quarter-century of experience in the business.
"Kids think they ought to be able to do whatever they want," he said. "And if they can't, that's abuse."
Note from poster:
The program that Robert Lichfield started at was PROVO CANYON SCHOOL. There is a petition to shut it down found at: http://beyondbusiness.net/index2.htm (http://beyondbusiness.net/index2.htm) There is not a "fragment" in all nature, for every relative fragment of one thing is a full harmonious unit in itself.
-- John Muir
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Jeeez...who can you believe? Tim Weiner :rofl:
http://www.wwasprebuttal.com/nytimes.html (http://www.wwasprebuttal.com/nytimes.html)
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These WWASP programs have absolutely no scientific basis for their untherapeutic, punitive, abusive and sadistic mind control programs. They also do a good job of reprogramming parents.
I read the WWASP rebutt - I prefer to believe Tim and the dozens of over truly OBJECTIVE reporters who have done an excellent job of disclosing the horrors behind WWASP and other similar programs. This was written by a Pulitizer prize winner. It is entitled "Desparate Measures" - a must read for all parents of teenagers.
Qualified to help?
Few staff members at the behavior modification camps have academic credentials in behavioral science or psychology.
"We hire people with good youth leadership," Lichfield said.
"The staff in Jamaica care about these kids incredibly much," Lisa Swan, a Portland, Ore., mother of a 17-year-old boy at Tranquility Bay, told the News. "Our family rep, Miss Davis, puts her heart and soul into assisting them. While we were visiting, we saw tall, gawky teen-age boys give her hugs and tell us how much they loved this lady. It was evident from watching other staff interact with the kids that they want them to succeed in life."
But lawsuits against Teen Help by former clients charge that staff members -- particularly those in foreign countries -- were woefully untrained.
Workers at Tranquility Bay in Jamaica inflicted "the most sadistic and unwarranted physical and psychological abuse" on teens, charges a lawsuit against Teen Help filed by Donna Burke of Houston.
"The so-called case workers were untrained, unlettered and uncredentialed natives." The suit is pending.
Teen Help said Burke's suit "is really about the mother trying to involve the program in an ongoing custody battle she has had with the father. ... This is a nuisance suit with no credibility."
But Kay, who ran Brightway and is now president of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs, a Teen Help umbrella organization, earlier this year acknowledged the controversy about the qualifications of Teen Help's staff.
"They are not clinicians," he said. "So their job is very important to them because the option a lot of times is a minimum-wage job someplace. And so it's very hard to get them to talk or to talk bad about the program or tell the truth about the program, actually."
Kay said there isn't enough clinical staff to ensure that the program is "headed in the right direction."
Despite the harsh criticism, Kay rejoined Teen Help in March -- this time as a vice president. He said he would work to change the organization from the inside. "I don't remember having a lot of doubts about the program," he said last month. "I've always thought that the program served a great purpose."
Kay became president of the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs June 1.
This is about money - not helping kids. That's why Kay is back - FOR THE MONEY. :wstupid: Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves
--Ronald Reagan
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RU Brainwashed? You read newspaper articles and say the reporters are objective? Anybody can write anything they want to. It's called freedom of the press, doesn't have to be accurate.
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You advocates keep bringing up "Desperate Measures" Wasn't that written in 1999?
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Actually it was! It was quite comprehensive and accurate. Fortunately a few WWASP programs have been shut down since then. So ANNON and ANNON - why do you support the WWASP abusive philosophy? Do you really think all of the abuse and punishment is necessary to somehow HELP someone? Seriously, if we were allowed to construct a torturous isolation room and be allowed to legally use it to control our teenagers, few would have problems.
Jay Kay once bragged to a reporter that the longest a child had been face down in observation room was 18 months in Tranquility Bay. If a parent had done this - they would be arrested and the story would be broadcast on the 6 pm news. It's hard to even imagine how a human being with any sensitivity could support WWASP. They are the liars and manipulators who don't want to give up their huge incomes from human torture. They have found a way to brainwash parents through their seminars. This is how they stay in business. When a child does not have a parent as an advocate they are a sitting duck for abuse. Too many children have been permanently damaged emotionally and psychologically from these programs. They are abusive. Provo Canyon School is one of them. There are many others not associated with WWASP - they all employ the same abusive measures to warp minds and change behaviors and values.
http://www.teenliberty.org/Torture.htm (http://www.teenliberty.org/Torture.htm)
http://www.beyondbusiness.net/childtortureusa.htm (http://www.beyondbusiness.net/childtortureusa.htm)
http://www.house.gov/georgemiller/shalala.html (http://www.house.gov/georgemiller/shalala.html)
http://www.nospank.net/msgulag.htm (http://www.nospank.net/msgulag.htm)
http://brutalitybay.blogspot.com (http://brutalitybay.blogspot.com)
http://www.isaccorp.com (http://www.isaccorp.com)
http://papmugz.tripod.com (http://papmugz.tripod.com)
"In extreme situations when human lives and dignity are at stake, neutrality is a sin. It helps the killers,not the victims."
The function of the press is very high. It is almost holy. It ought to
serve as a forum for the people, through which the people may know freely what is going on. To misstate or suppress the news is a breach of trust.
--Mr. Justice Brandeis
[ This Message was edited by: cherish wisdom on 2004-04-27 22:22 ]
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Something smells fishy here, and no, I am not a wwaspie. PCS has attracted negative publicity for years and personally, I find it hard to believe any so-called medical professional would not be aware of the history of this institution PRIOR to placing their child in their care and custody.
Come on now, ISAC, PURE, WWASPS, all these outfits have an agenda. What's yours Cherish Wisdom?
Truth or Consequences.
:idea:
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You might want to get more accurate information regarding WWASPS programs being closed down. They closed, but not for the reasons you are insinuating. Parents are not brainwashed in seminars. Parents realize they are part of the problem, as a family unit. Go to one. THey aren't just for parents of kids in a wwasp program. They're not for everyone. You've gotta want to take a look at yourself, and sometimes that can be the hardest thing you've ever done. Most of the critics have never gone, maybe because they actually think they'll walk out of there some kind of program zombie! Why do I support WWASP? I support personal growth, being comfortable in my own skin without drugs/alcohol/addictions. If it wasn't for WWASP being there, my kid would be digging graves in Phoenix. Some choice! Yes, I was a mom that bailed him out time after time, until I admitted we both needed help. I'm not some newbie to this, my kid has been home for over 4 years. The assumption that I will post here to drum up business won't wash. I haven't posted my name or anyway to contact me. ANd, no he was never abused, physically or mentally by his school. He did that to himself prior to going.
What is your "real" purpose for posting here?
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If you want an answer why don't you be honest and let all know what your motive is annon? I'm just a private person - affiliated with no organization - though I respect some for what they are doing. Like Alexia Parks who wrote American Gulags - I stumbled on this by accident - and I'm still reeling in disbelief and horror that institutionalized child abuse can occur in this country with all of our laws, freedoms and rights. These children are disenfranchised and need people to take a stand for them. I believe that mass public awareness is necessary because there is political and governmental corruption involved in this industry. It must be exposed and abolished. Can I do it alone? Absolutely not! But I'm not the kind of person who can look the other way when I see something horrific and evil.
Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.
Mahatma Gandhi, My Autobigraphy, p. 446
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Hmmm. Turning your back on something evil and horrific? You know it's okay if you want to dedicate your life to your cause. We all have them in one way or another. Instead of posting on forums, you might want to do something that will actually make a difference. What does that look like to you? Please let us know what you are willing to do outside of posting links to websites.
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Hey ANNY - why don't you come out of the closet and let us all know what your motives are! My motives are to educate those who come to this site for information. My goal is to heighten public awareness regarding the abuses that are occuring in these programs. Nothing more, nothing less.
Here is an informative site for all interested:
http://www.rickross.com/groups/teenboot.html (http://www.rickross.com/groups/teenboot.html)
p>Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
Mark Twain
_________________
"If you lack wisdom ask of God and it shall be given to you."[ This Message was edited by: cherish wisdom on 2004-04-27 23:22 ]
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So HOW are you going to heighten public awareness. The sites you've posted have been around for a long time. Anything new?? Be careful, though. WWASPS has a tendency to sue for defamation and win.
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"TRUTH IS AN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENCE FOR DEFAMATION"
Teen behavioral centers push 'tough love'
Utah-based network's program draws many cries of outrage
Scripps Howard News Service/July 21,1999
By Lou Kilzer
Denver -- A tall, crewcut 16-year-old boy stares into the video camera and tries to stifle a sob.
"Dad, I miss you," Eric Stone stammers, his chest heaving. "I love you, Dad. I love you a lot.
"I miss you, and I never want to go through this again." Eric is speaking from Spring Creek Lodge, a private behavior modification camp for teen-agers in a remote part of Montana. His mother sent him there.
A camp official taped the 11-minute video to persuade Eric's father, who is divorced from the boy's mother, to keep him there.
The tape has the opposite effect. Craig Stone barely recognizes his son. The once happy-go-lucky boy now seems distraught.
Armed with custody papers, Stone drives from his home near Seattle to Thompson Falls, Mont., and contacts the county sheriff. The sheriff calls Spring Creek Lodge, and soon Eric goes free.
Eric's story involves a Utah-based network of companies operating a far-flung chain of facilities designed to break teen-agers of behavior that has driven their parents to desperation. The companies are commonly known as Teen Help. Teen Help's style is not for the faint-hearted. It helps some parents arrange the seizure of disruptive teen-agers, even from their homes in the middle of the night. T Government regulation of these programs is spotty, and for now, teens sent to these facilities have little legal standing to challenge their confinement. Teen Help was started by Robert Lichfield, 45, a southern Utah businessman who lives on an estate in the spectacular canyon country near St. George.
He hired David Gilcrease to create a behavior modification program to all but guarantee parents would see a change in their teens.
Gilcrease had been trainer from 1974-81 for LifeSpring, a company that perfected a form of encounter session called "large group awareness training."
"Do I say that it's for everybody in the world?"
Gilcrease said. "No, but I don't think everybody in the world needs a psychological examination, either."een Help then ships them to far-off compounds where the message is simple: Cooperate or you won't see Mom, Dad and the outside world for a long time.
They can't do anything, including talking or using the bathroom, without permission.
The aggressive methods have spawned allegations of child abuse, prompting authorities to raid or investigate facilities in Mexico, the Czech Republic, Utah, South Carolina. Facilities in the first three locations closed. Parents pay the company $26,000 to $54,000 a year to modify the behavior of their children. The company does that with methods that include intense group encounter sessions run by "facilitators" who generally have little academic training in psychology or similar fields.
Teen Help has many admirers. Hundreds of parents and teens credit its programs with producing spectacular turnarounds in troubled young people, even saving their lives.
"If we could expose all of our children to this environment, there truly would be peace on earth," Marsha Mandrussow Gallagher, whose son, Collin, lived at Spring Creek Lodge part of last year, said in Teen Help promotional material.
Speculation has reverberated among parents, mental health experts and social commentators about whether Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold could have been helped before they murdered 12 fellow students and a teacher and killed themselves. The debate about Teen Help centers on whether its brand of "tough love" is appropriate for adolescents stumbling through one of the most emotionally vulnerable periods of their lives.
Several psychologists and psychiatrists expressed skepticism and alarm about Teen Help's methods. "There's something very creepy about this," Seattle psychiatrist August Piper said. "It's kind of frightening. It sort of smacks of brainwashing, doesn't it?"
Reputable news papers are very careful to not print libelous information. So is 60 minutes. Did WWASPS sue the New York Times or CBS? How about the Associated Press, The Salt Lake Tribune, Congressman George Miller, Newsweek Magazine? You must understand the law. When someone or an organization has voluntarily thrust themselves into the public eye they have very little recourse when it comes to law suits for defamation. See the law case: New York Times vs. Sullivan for the law. WWASP will be hard pressed to sue anyone for libel or defamation especially when the Costa Rican, Mexican and Czech Republic closed their facilies due to child abuse and endangerment. Even the Utah authorities closed Brightway hospital for failing to report child abuse and other violations. WWASP has a notorious reputation. This poster is not afraid to expose their criminal acts that have already been exposed by numerous reporters in this country and abroad. The public has a right to express opinion on this international child abusing organization.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The people who ran straight had the best of intentions. I hope they reached their destination.
James Lloyd
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Okay, you're right. Especially since you said you are NEW to this and you originally posted regarding Provo Canyon School. You've had ample time in the last couple of days to read links and come to the conclusion that if the news reports it, it must be accurate and true.
I'm not doubting what you believe, I think you truly do believe it, with an agenda attached.
All I'm asking right now is to post the official, documented (not heresay and news articles) about the confirmed child abuse. You'll find all kinds of news articles, but the only thing that matters is what was proven in a court of law.
Have you seen this one yet? http://www.purerebuttal.com (http://www.purerebuttal.com)? Are you associated with them? :wink:
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NO!
Never let your sense of
morals get in the way of
doing what's right
--Isaac Asimov
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Really. You responded too quickly. You didn't even have time to read the site! You're busted.
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No, you aren't associated with PURE (I think you are) or No, you can't or won't post legal documents showing your allegations as proven?
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It's so ironic for people who do not identify themselves to want to identify another person. As I've said in prior postings - I stumbled on all of this by accident because we sent a child to PROVO CANYON SCHOOL - the child was injured and abused. I've heard of PURE - and I think I've been to that web site while searching for information. What's up with PURE anyway - are they your enemy for some reason? I'm just surfing this interesting web-site - amazed by the thousands of posts here - nothing more,nothing less.
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use
--Galileo Galilei
[ This Message was edited by: cherish wisdom on 2004-04-28 00:23 ]
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Cherish,
Even though we all do it, it's pretty futile to debate with program supporters, particularly the WWASPies. You will never get a straight answer and their standard lines are always, "That's old news and No charges have ever been filed".
In case you haven't found them yet, here are a couple of good threads. They will give you some insight into what you can expect.
Apologia - Serious debate only, please!
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=3865&forum=9 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=3865&forum=9)
Another debate?
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=3891&forum=9 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=3891&forum=9)
These were good too- prime examples. Watch them wiggle around answering or just completely ignore and scream that they're being 'attacked'.
AAAbundant Life Academy
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=4819&forum=9 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=4819&forum=9)
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=4983&forum=9 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=4983&forum=9)
BTW, Welcome! Keep spreading the word. As Ginger says, Rampant Talking. It works.
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Red Herring's come in all different colors and sizes. What kind of medical professional locks their kid up in a psych hospital and then complains about abuse when THEY of all parents should have known better? Personally, I am appalled and feel very badly for this child who was victimized by her parent and the institution she placed her in. Stop passing the buck, Cherish Wisdom. For someone who claims to have been "in the dark" you sure had no trouble "enlightening" yourself about the teen hurt industry vis a vis all the negative information/links you have posted here. So what's
your REAL agenda? To close PCS and ALL schools to protect kids or to unburden yourself of your own guilt?
Professional Parents ... what a joke!
:roll:
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I'm no program supporter, in fact, I think the whole industry should be given a huge enema to flush out the toxic programs. This person, Cherish Wisdom claims to be a medical professional but locks her kid up in an abusive psych hospital? Bullshit! Sounds just like the reformed anti-WWASPS pro-PURE mantra to me.
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Most parents assume that their child will be treated with respect and dignity, that programs are running above board and monitored by a state agency, that their kid will not be abused under the guise of 'therapy' or 'help'. They trust the 'professionals' employed by the program to act with integrity. Some wake up to reality, some don't. Kudos to CW for doing so. Another parent willing to open their eyes and to speak the truth of their experience.
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I have seen too many so-called "professional parents" place their kids in abusive bm facilities to believe they don't know the inherent risk. PCS is a lock-down psych facility with a checkered past. If the parent didn't know, they should have known. Especially a parent who works in the "medical" industry.
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Unfortunately, most people don't know about the abuses in this industry. Most medical professionals work with the public in the acute care setting where patients are treated with compassion and kindness. I obtained my degree in Utah and did clinical work at Utah State Hospital and American Fork Training School. Provo Canyon School was in existence then - and I never once heard about it. I never saw human take downs and forced druggings. I've worked with the elderly in gero-psych - and again these folks are treated with extreme kindness and compassion. I have never laughed at another's pain. "Do No Harm" is the medical motto. This does not apply in the problem teen industry.
As an American one has an expectation that State and Federal laws will protect them and their families. It's also expected that all medical facilities will respect the inherent human and Constitutional rights of their patients. Provo Canyon School is listed as a hospital on the Utah dot Gov official site. As a medical professional I expected the staff to treat children with the same dignity that I and others in our profession treat patients. This did not occur. Instead my child was injured, humiliated, isolated and drugged against her refusal. No one notified us of what was occuring to her. Had they we would have immediately called the police and asked them to put her into protective custody until we arrived on the next plane to Salt Lake City. Most parents are not aware of what goes on. Due to a lack of communication these kids have no way out. That is why so many attempt to escape, often with tragic outcomes.
The authorities must given the children a WAY OUT if they feel their rights are being violated. I'd like those who support these types of programs to understand what it is like to punished in an observation room. To do this - put a sweat suit on with no shoes. Go into your garage and sit on the concrete floor for five hours. During this time you can get up for two five minute intervals to use the restroom and stretch. Make sure that the temperature is between 50 and 60 degrees. Stare at the wall, do not look at anyone or talk to anyone.
Of course none of you are going to subject yourselves to this - yet this is what children at Provo Canyon School and other problem teen programs endure day in and day out. Some are kept in obs for days. Jay Kay, of Tranquility once bragged to a reported that the longest a child had been "on their face" in the concrete observation room was for 18 MONTHS. How can anyone in thier right mind think that this type of treatment is any way therapeutic.
I've talked to many people about this - the only one that knew something about it was a doctor who specializes in adolescent medicine.
This is why I am trying to inform people about the horrors that exist in this industry. Yes, I made a mistake. Did I take my child to Provo Canyon by escort in handcuffs - absolutely not. It is what she wanted to do to escape the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. Instead of being treated with kindness, sympathy and respect - the staff blamed her for getting herself raped and treated her with more abuse than one can immagine. Provo Canyon must be closed - they are potentially abusing or otherwise terrorizing more than 300 children per day. All of the facilities in Utah must be better regulated and the children must be given more access to the outside world.
All of this abuse would end if these facilities allowed visitors for one hour per day and installed pay phones for student use - with toll free access to report any abuse they were witnessing or experiencing.
The authorities are as much to blame as the facilities - they turn a blind eye to most reports of abuse and violations of law - until someone dies - then they may do something. How many more must die? Locate the blind spot in the culture--the place where the culture isn't looking, because it dare not--because if it were to look there, its previous values would dissolve.
Terence McKenna
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Cherish, among the people you have spoken to, would that include anyone from the PURE organization? Just curious ...
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Cherish, do you honestly expect people to believe that someone who works in the med profession is not aware of the high potential for abuse in residential treatment centers, psych hospitals, bm facilities, NURSING HOMES, etc? Come on, if this is going to be your excuse for abuse, fine, but I personally am not buying it. Your argument is legitimate, but your insistence that the wool was pulled over your eyes is lame. The more restrictive and custodial the facility, the higher the potential for abuse. That is COMMON SENSE 101 ....
:silly:
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By Cherish's reasoning .... one might expect that prisoners are treated humanely and justly by the correctional/penal system too. After all, these are professionals and they have a duty and an obligation to provide quality care for their population of convicted felons.
:roll:
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And of course, the safest programs of all are the ones who use JESUS to define their S.O.P.'s (standard operating procedures), right Cherish?
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On 2004-04-27 23:46:00, cherish wisdom wrote:
"Do I say that it's for everybody in the world?"
Gilcrease said. "No, but I don't think everybody in the world needs a psychological examination, either.
Then...
"If we could expose all of our children to this environment, there truly would be peace on earth," Marsha Mandrussow Gallagher, whose son, Collin, lived at Spring Creek Lodge part of last year, said in Teen Help promotional material.
Well.... which is it???
(BTW, Art Barker and Straight, Inc. did the same doublespeak. Depending on the context of the question and the audience in attendance, the Program was either a last resort for the truely desperate or it was the magic slave to cure all of mankinds ills.)A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another; shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement
Thomas Jefferson
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On 2004-04-28 07:39:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I'm no program supporter, in fact, I think the whole industry should be given a huge enema to flush out the toxic programs. This person, Cherish Wisdom claims to be a medical professional but locks her kid up in an abusive psych hospital? Bullshit! Sounds just like the reformed anti-WWASPS pro-PURE mantra to me. "
Cherish, this person probably is Carey Bock. She's not a program supporter, but twists every statement on the planet into an anti-PURE thing. She used to post under her own name, but things got pretty nasty when she took money from WWASPS for selling private emails to their lawyers. She's got a vendetta against PURE that guides her whole life, and it's hard to carry on a conversation about abusive behavior modification facilities. Think, debating at a lunch table about President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq, and having someone run around in the background, singing "la-la-la, the Pentagon pays $600 for toilet seats". Totally off the wall. It's like fighting a marshmallow in a paper bag. There's nothing there to hit...so we'd suggest you just bypass it.
BTW, it is really obvious that you, as a medical professional, did not lock your kid up in an abusive psych hospital. You enrolled her in a facility which presented a picture you believed, not hard to do when you and the rest of the world don't expect anything as truly evil as these secret programs are. Please continue your rampant speaking out. Judging from the raw nerve you have touched in some Anons, it's working!
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On 2004-04-28 09:36:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Cherish, do you honestly expect people to believe that someone who works in the med profession is not aware of the high potential for abuse in residential treatment centers, psych hospitals, bm facilities, NURSING HOMES, etc? Come on, if this is going to be your excuse for abuse, fine, but I personally am not buying it. Your argument is legitimate, but your insistence that the wool was pulled over your eyes is lame. The more restrictive and custodial the facility, the higher the potential for abuse. That is COMMON SENSE 101 ....
:silly: "
Just for comparison, try telling a police officer that another police officer beat hell out of you for no good reason. Do you think they'll believe you and investigate? Nope! Either they know this sort of thing goes on and they approve or they've never seen it themselves so they don't believe it's possible.
Same thing goes in the medical profession. When my youngest was born, I spent the entire time trying to prove to my doctor that I really didn't need the first c-section and didn't need one that time either. It wasn't until immediately after her birth (which went quickly and w/o any trouble or drugs) that he finally conceded that I, the mere layman patient, might be right. He would never even think of performing a c-section w/o a good medical reason and didn't believe that other doctors would.
Just look around at some of the advertising these programs put out. They promise all kinds of nice things and activities. Any discussion about the reality of what goes on is either condemned as manipulation or kept strictly secret.
If quitting drugs means joining the war on terrorism, does this portend the fire bombing of Amsterdamn ?
--Felton Manifestation
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On 2004-04-28 00:14:00, Anonymous wrote:
"No, you aren't associated with PURE (I think you are) or No, you can't or won't post legal documents showing your allegations as proven?"
Please tell me exactly why you think Cherish Wisdom is affiliated w/ PURE. You must have some reason to believe it. Please share?Emotions rule the world; Is it any wonder that it's so mucked up?!
Bill Warbis
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These sissy WWasp anon supporters see PURE behind every post negative to a wwasp facility. I have proof of the faliciousness of that train of thought.
So here it is, Wwasp assholes. Fuck you and fuck Pure. You both are like minded groups of delusional shitty parents in my opinion.
And Cherish Wisdom, who admitedly made a mistake by placing her kid in an abusive facility, and now intends on atoning for her mistake, I would just like to say the world needs more people like you. Keep up the good fight.
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Ok, I have to give away a little info here. The most persistant anon making the laughable claim that all criticism of WWASP owes back to PURE (or, alternately, is old news if it's dated prior to PURE's incorporation) is not Carey. It's somebody else out of Phoenix, AZ.
On 2004-04-28 11:44:00, Anonymous wrote:
...so we'd suggest you just bypass it.
Who's we?
To err is human; to forgive is simply not our policy.
-- MIT Assasination Club slogan
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Interesting. However, Antigen, I see that the PURE website speaks for itself. It says NOTHING about the schools they refer to. It's 99% about the "horrors" :razz: of WWASPS.
I agree, and have seen the news articles, however, until PURE came to be, they were few and far between. Now there's a network of people associated with them that are contacting newspapers, t.v., local schools, politicians, you know the drill.
They're like the boy that cried wolf. They will get blamed for what is said here, because they've done it so frequently. After what they've done in the past, who can really distinguish?
There are some folks on this board that know what I mean, but are so full of hate, they can't see the forest for the trees. It's hard to believe this one woman show has so much power and influence over others as some kind of savior.
What would she be if they all quit being followers and she was left all alone?
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Ok, but why and how do you think Cherish Wisdom is affiliated w/ PURE and who comprises the "we" to which you make reference in your prior post?
Truth resides in every human heart, and one has to search for it there, and to be guided by truth as one sees it. But no one has a right to coerce others to act according to his own view of truth.
--Mohandas K. Gandhi
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I agree, and have seen the news articles, however, until PURE came to be, they were few and far between. Now there's a network of people associated with them that are contacting newspapers, t.v., local schools, politicians, you know the drill.
This also answers why they tell the same stories. They tell what they have been told. This is what has hurt those who may have a valid case of abuse.
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Thanks, Antigen, for the info on the PURE broadcaster. Apologies are in order to Carey, as she does not seem to be the one spamming this board.
Interesting that the Phoenix/Scottsdale WWASPS support group, like the Seattle-area group, is extremely "active". Read their web sites. It seems both groups have about 10 people (some married to each other, therefore representing less than 10 families) as a core of fanatics. The Seattle group has one family who shills for WWASPS, even though they have lost contact with their youngest daughter, a former WWASPS inmate. Their explantation? Something about how they hope in the future that she will come to her senses, realize the gift given her by her imprisonment, and return to the family fold. Fat chance.
Could it be that one or two folks from disparate locations in the US are clogging this and every other forum, hoping to stop the flood of criticism of their chosen solution to their parenting failures? Talk about the Dutch Boy being drowned! Stand back! The only defense for persons attacking victims (or trying to stem the tide by diverting floodwaters to PURE) is...Anonymity.
One would think that if you are proud enough of your philosophy to attack strangers, you would at least register under a screen name.
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This is a report from a teenage survivor of Tranquility Bay (name with held)
Alright, i was sent there for backtalking. ya thats all, my parents didnt know what i was , they only say the programs(which it looks like beautiful beachest and smiles on the students face)i arrived there around 8 pm sat in a room for 2 hours having these 2 jamaicans going through my stuff told me to strip and put these shorts and white t-shirt and flip flops on, at this point it didnt seem bad..time we got done it was around 10 pm than i went to my room..the rooms was terrible had up to 7 kids in a small room. some sleeping on the floor, also people in OP sleep in the hallways in the light(it was never ever dark in that place)the next day when i woke up had like the staff yelling at everyone get up get up now u was awlays on a time limit to do stuff, grab ur little bucket with ur shower things in it and run fast as u can outside to stand in a line for headcount. than after the headcount u start to exercise for 5 min or so.
The Showers, Was terrible u get like 2 minutes to hop in strip down wash yourself dry off and get back in line and also showers at 6 am with that ocean breeze and ice cold water ..didnt feel good at all. that place was always quiet..you couldnt talk to no one it seemed like.Oh ya forgot to mention a week b4 i got there a girl commited suicide.Alright after the showers you hang up your towels about sewer pits, worse smell ever.Also when your walking to place..and u see the girls comming. u must stop and look away your never allowed to look at the girls there.
Its bullshit there, The Family chounselor.i think what she is called she checks ur mail, and most of the time if your freind or girlfreind sends u stull she wont give it to you, she wants to make it so your freind/girlfreinds dont care about you and is cheating on you.Mrs Gordan the girl u talk to for a hour would play mind games with you, She would try her best to emotionally break you down so you would cry in front of everyone, making you talk about anything that you dont want to. When i was the i had 2 family memebers die when i was in there, and she never told me they was dead.
The Food there, i dont even think its eatable its always cold, nothing is ever cooked it seems like all hard and cold, also Your have to take notes while u eat on tapes you listen to while u eat.Also you can never carry a pen or pencil around with you..its considered a weapon.
One of the worse feelings is when u write home.Because your family gets this handbook It tells them that your gonna say this place is hell and u hate it here and handbook says its all a LIE that your making it up to come home.Most Parents have no clue what place looks like or what is going on there. If your just even say a Cuss word Somtimes they would take you in a room lock it and pretty much break your arm when you get restrained.Late nights when your in bed you would hear kids screaming for help when they get restrained for the stupidest reasons.
Study Hall Is a little room where u sit close together and your never allowed to look up, your head always as to be looking at your desk where your paper is at, and its super hot in there.Your there most of the day, depends on how many Cat2's(punishment) you got, just imagine sitting in a hot room for a day looking at 1 spot on your desk
Well For me i still wake up scared sometimes i am gonna be sent back, its been over a yr since i been there i am still have flashbacks everyday, I Got to go right now, ill write more later.
Please Never Send your child there, The End Result for me was i came back and was in worse shape than i came there . after i heard taht my parents sign over 49% to a third world country and pay all this money to make me feel that i am some peice of shit and i dont deserve to live. pretty much how u feel there
The author of this was a survivor of Tranquilty Bay. Unfortunately what he is saying is very common for most of the BM programs in our own country. This abuse will continue as long as no one does anything. Write letters, call and mail government leaders in this country and abroad. This abuse must stop.....A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
-- William James
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I would like to thank the employee of ivy ridge who posted. About the only intelligent post here. I especially like the part about give your kids up for adoption. How true. The mother of my kid stuck her in ivy ridge to get out of paying me childsupport. I'm pissed. I am 46yrs old. I was placed in a real boarding school when I was 6yrs. old Iwas there till I was 14 and told my mother to go to hell. I t took me 2 weeks and a threat to her mother to finally find out where she had put her. It took another 2weeks to get the tour of the place. I have filed for custody.Is there abuse going on a ivy ridge. I guarentee it. I could see it before I ever left my house for the 6hr ride to get there. I have the letters from my daughter telling me not to take her mother to court and try to get her out of the "school" This pissed me off. A real "school" would never have allowed her to know what I was doing. Ask any counselor in the world and they would tell you it was wrong. Excuse my french but read your fucking handbook that you were given on page 12 about manipulation. I was then allowed to go to the school for a tour. I have been a few places in my life. I was an over the road truckdriver. Odgensburg, NY . Been there before the middle of nowwhere. Real onehorse town. ivy ridge will put this town on the map.Probably one ofthe largest employers in the town I do the tour bullshit. I was walking down the hall and the kids would sneak glances at me. I asked about that. I was told until they get to a certain "level" you can't talk. Holly shit, you take a dog to obiedence school and at least he can bark. You know what, I don't have the time to tell you dumb ass parents about it .I have been in Jail (for childsupport) and boarding school for 9yrs and ivy ridge. That is also the degree of dificulty. Jail is a piece of cake . Boarding school sucked and ivy ridge is the bottom of the fucking barrell. If you are a parent reading this, use your fucking yuppy head. You tell your kids you don't want them to grow up and work in Micky D's, Who do you think is taking care of your kids. I went to a bar whileI was there and talked to some people.what a joke.Think of this, where you work, you have good and bad employees. Do you think this shit hole is any different. I went to a so called respectable boarding school. There was sexual abuse there and this was in the 60's. Get you head out of your ass. Can you really be this fucking stupid. You work at a job what happens when you have somebody with power. Your boss, or somebody elses boss. Do some of them abuse the power?? Do cops, judges,teachers and even the asshole security guard abuse there power. Put anybody incontrol of somebody and there is the potential for abuse. Now, take the mentality of some of the employees of ivy ridge. You dumb asses. Do you honestly think that one of these hillbillies wouldn't take a blowjob for a smoke. Hell,our one fucken president did it. Where was the secret service?? This place is supposed to be above that? I have been there done that. Do I still have the scares from when I was in a boarding school. Hell yes, 35 yrs later. You ass holed have more money than brains. Insted of the 2cars and the big house you should of spent somemoney on learning how to be a parent. You invented the word TIME OUT. Now you assholes invented the saying, My kid is out of control. Never heard that when I was growing up.Hey, put the kid on ridlin, he must have a problem. You are the fuckin problem. ivy ridge says the kids made poor choices. The kid had no choice to have a stupid parents. Sorry to go off but I hate yuppys and stupid people. They both blame others for there problems. I used to see the yuppies at my daughter's sports events, Usually standing there talking to another ashole about there job, there new house, cars,... Hey, asshole , your kid just scored a goal. They are the ones who say that they don't know what went wrong with so and so's kid . He came from a good family. Nice neighborhood and gave him or her everything. You know who you are. You sent your kid to a place, Not a school. They cheat to get your kid through school. Your kid is home schooled. If you are so fucking smart, have one of the parents stay home and teach the kid. Save the $ 40,000.00 plus cash. Remember this is equal to making$60,000.00. No don't, you were dumb enough to send your kid to ivy ridge your too stupid to educate them. Shit you too stupid to be a parent. Remember, you are the minority, there are a hell of alot more good parents than bad. Hey, the next time you go out to eat at Micky D's or the country club look at the person who waites on you and tell him that you have more money than him but, he will probably be a better parent. And, for the kids who got out of these places. When you turn 18 get a lawyer. Sue you parents, they fucked you. They put you on this earth and didn't do there job. They had choices. abortion, adoption. But they chose to fuck you up themselves. If your still in ivy ridge, I know you wont be reading this. Also, I would be glad to take a couple kids at my house. You give me custody will call the $40,000.00 childsupport and it will be tax free to me. I will teach you kid what he or she needs to know. EPa3437202@aol.com
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I would like to thank the employee of ivy ridge who posted. About the only intelligent post here. I especially like the part about give your kids up for adoption. How true. The mother of my kid stuck her in ivy ridge to get out of paying me childsupport. I'm pissed. I am 46yrs old. I was placed in a real boarding school when I was 6yrs. old Iwas there till I was 14 and told my mother to go to hell. I t took me 2 weeks and a threat to her mother to finally find out where she had put her. It took another 2weeks to get the tour of the place. I have filed for custody.Is there abuse going on a ivy ridge. I guarentee it. I could see it before I ever left my house for the 6hr ride to get there. I have the letters from my daughter telling me not to take her mother to court and try to get her out of the "school" This pissed me off. A real "school" would never have allowed her to know what I was doing. Ask any counselor in the world and they would tell you it was wrong. Excuse my french but read your fucking handbook that you were given on page 12 about manipulation. I was then allowed to go to the school for a tour. I have been a few places in my life. I was an over the road truckdriver. Odgensburg, NY . Been there before the middle of nowwhere. Real onehorse town. ivy ridge will put this town on the map.Probably one ofthe largest employers in the town I do the tour bullshit. I was walking down the hall and the kids would sneak glances at me. I asked about that. I was told until they get to a certain "level" you can't talk. Holly shit, you take a dog to obiedence school and at least he can bark. You know what, I don't have the time to tell you dumb ass parents about it .I have been in Jail (for childsupport) and boarding school for 9yrs and ivy ridge. That is also the degree of dificulty. Jail is a piece of cake . Boarding school sucked and ivy ridge is the bottom of the fucking barrell. If you are a parent reading this, use your fucking yuppy head. You tell your kids you don't want them to grow up and work in Micky D's, Who do you think is taking care of your kids. I went to a bar whileI was there and talked to some people.what a joke.Think of this, where you work, you have good and bad employees. Do you think this shit hole is any different. I went to a so called respectable boarding school. There was sexual abuse there and this was in the 60's. Get you head out of your ass. Can you really be this fucking stupid. You work at a job what happens when you have somebody with power. Your boss, or somebody elses boss. Do some of them abuse the power?? Do cops, judges,teachers and even the asshole security guard abuse there power. Put anybody incontrol of somebody and there is the potential for abuse. Now, take the mentality of some of the employees of ivy ridge. You dumb asses. Do you honestly think that one of these hillbillies wouldn't take a blowjob for a smoke. Hell,our one fucken president did it. Where was the secret service?? This place is supposed to be above that? I have been there done that. Do I still have the scares from when I was in a boarding school. Hell yes, 35 yrs later. You ass holed have more money than brains. Insted of the 2cars and the big house you should of spent somemoney on learning how to be a parent. You invented the word TIME OUT. Now you assholes invented the saying, My kid is out of control. Never heard that when I was growing up.Hey, put the kid on ridlin, he must have a problem. You are the fuckin problem. ivy ridge says the kids made poor choices. The kid had no choice to have a stupid parents. Sorry to go off but I hate yuppys and stupid people. They both blame others for there problems. I used to see the yuppies at my daughter's sports events, Usually standing there talking to another ashole about there job, there new house, cars,... Hey, asshole , your kid just scored a goal. They are the ones who say that they don't know what went wrong with so and so's kid . He came from a good family. Nice neighborhood and gave him or her everything. You know who you are. You sent your kid to a place, Not a school. They cheat to get your kid through school. Your kid is home schooled. If you are so fucking smart, have one of the parents stay home and teach the kid. Save the $ 40,000.00 plus cash. Remember this is equal to making$60,000.00. No don't, you were dumb enough to send your kid to ivy ridge your too stupid to educate them. Shit you too stupid to be a parent. Remember, you are the minority, there are a hell of alot more good parents than bad. Hey, the next time you go out to eat at Micky D's or the country club look at the person who waites on you and tell him that you have more money than him but, he will probably be a better parent. And, for the kids who got out of these places. When you turn 18 get a lawyer. Sue you parents, they fucked you. They put you on this earth and didn't do there job. They had choices. abortion, adoption. But they chose to fuck you up themselves. If your still in ivy ridge, I know you wont be reading this. Also, I would be glad to take a couple kids at my house. You give me custody will call the $40,000.00 childsupport and it will be tax free to me. I will teach you kid what he or she needs to know. EPa3437202@aol.com