Fornits

Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

Actually, you know what? I really don't want to waste any more time, energy, or thoughts on all this crap, so goodbye.
I am sorry I cannot say it was a pleasent experience. ::puke::

A bientot. :wave:

Mind control? Yeah, right. You're the one who sounds like the robot here. All you do is go on and on about how bad (you think) it is here, and what terrible things (you think) go on... aren't you 'programmed' to say/think anything else?
I think you're programmed. It didn't take a facility to do it, either; you programmed this stuff into your own mind.
It doesn't pay to focus on bad things.

And by the way... I saw the event or evidence of it in everything I've said to be truth here.

-a child  :lol:

That is my actual thought. It is just written censored as to not scar the minds of any innocent audiences.
I don't expect you to understand that, though, especially if you were one of those cussing up a storm earlier.

This is an OUTRIGHT LIE....none of the 4 kids had a history of drug abuse.

The parents removed these kids because of the issue of CHILD ABUSE!!!!

Actually, two of them had a history of drug abuse; one of them a very serious one. I was good friends with most of those kids.

You know what, Harris? I don't at all doubt that you just got done abusing your child. I think I'll just leave this post at that.

I can't stand child abusers. :flame:

Whoa there, looks like someone is into assumptions... I hate assumptions. Assume = make an a** of u and me.
Don't try to say it like you know it if you really don't. :roll:

There is NO STRUCTURE at Whitmore.

Actually, we have a full schedule that goes from 4:30 in the morning all the way to bedtime. Everyone follows it with exceptions of group trips to town and our travel study. It's on the website if you don't believe me, and it's been there for quite some time. Go look at it. Right now. I dare you.

Cheryl Sudweeks leads the GROUP SESSIONS, many that she starts at all hours of the night...some go on as late as 3AM.

What's wrong with Cheryl leading group? I think she does a great job of it, actually.
All hours of the night? If you consider 7:00 or 8:00 'all hours,' then yeah, sure. Believe me, she loves sleep just as much as anyone else, and she is always at group, awake, the whole time that we are.
About the 3am thing, group ends around midnight at the very latest. I've seen a few go later than that, yes; a few. No more than that. If it goes too late, we sleep later the next morning and we just bump schedule up to fit that time.

Cheryl Sudweeks is NOT a therapist, she does not even have a college degree.

Like I said before, don't talk unless you know the facts. Cheryl graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) of Utah. And why does she need to be a therapist in the first place? Albert Einstein failed math, but still turned out a genius. Someone doesn't need to have a degree or official education in an area to be completely awesome at it. She doesn't even conduct therapy, anyway. Our therapist does.

Tim Lowe, the therapist left in Nov.  A new therapist David was let go by Cheryl Sudweeks.  ONE therapist could never meet the needs of 40 kids.

You're right, those people do not work here anymore. However, something you obviously do not know is that we do have a therapist, and he does work here, and he does do a wonderful job.

These group sessions would mostly target ONE KID to humiliate that one kid.

We do focus on the issues of individual kids at times, but we by no means humiliate them. We confront them on what the problem is, discuss what could be causing it, and figure out how we can solve it. We do this by means of talking; that is, not cussing, yelling, screaming, or violence of any kind.

These kids were sleep deprived daily.

Sleep deprived? We get up early to get an early start on our day and for the self-discipline we learn from it. Bedtime is 10:00pm. I don't see what you're talking about right here, because that is plenty sleep for anyone.

These kids spend most of their day doing chores, and being punished if they do not do them properly.

We spend 15 minutes cleaning our rooms each morning, and then 30 to 45 minutes doing our chores. Is this all day to you? You must sleep a lot or something.

THIS IS A SHAME.

You're right, it is a shame. It's quite a shame that people assume so much without knowing the facts first. It's a shame that some people really do abuse their kids but have to accuse others of bs when they are obviously innocent (I'm talking about the people who do know us and have been here before).

It's also quite a shame that "Anonymous" was the only name I saw on this page, and it was almost full.

Yes, it really is a shame.  :roll:

"So how does this unconditional love for relative strangers come about? There's something missing here. You take a bunch of rebellious, self destructive kids--some brought there by paid 'escorts', obviously against their will--and.... what? What exactly happens to make them all love each other unconditionally and cooperate w/ this program?

When kids first arrive, we love them because we see how they really can be; we can see their potential to be awesome people. It is at first unconditional acceptance for their true self, and they begin to want to work with us because of this. In teamwork, we understand each other a lot better and from this understanding comes love. If you adopted a kid, would you love him or her right off from the start, even if they didn't want to go with you?
By the way, less than half of the kids here were brought by escorts. Most came with their families, and some even by themselves.

And how do these bad kids become qualified to supervise other kids? Is it something in the water?

First off, please understand that there aren't any bad kids. There are only good kids  who have made some bad choices. When someone becomes more responsible, accountable, etc., through fulfilling normal responsibilities like book reports, daily journal, etc., this person can have an intern or prefect job to kind of test them and through tests like that, they learn more.

Cause it just doesn't add up the way you're describing it.

I don't expect you to understand fully. It isn't something one really can't understand from words; it is more something one must experience firsthand to really 'get.'[ This Message was edited by: caitlynloggins on 2004-12-02 05:26 ]

Anonymous, here are the answers to your questions, as well.

Look, based on what I've heard and dealt with regarding my sisters experience there, there are a lot of mixed messages. On the one hand, I can see that Mark and Cheryl do seem to have a heart for these kids and obviously there is a real sense of family about the place.
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What is your sister's name? Chances are, I know her, and could reply to you more accurately if I know who the girl is you are talking about.

But self growth and self discovery also tend to include an aspect of critical thinking. Is that being taught? Those supporters of the program seem to accept it without question.
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Are you asking if critical thinking is being taught? I don't quite understand your question, but yes, we do both teach and practice critical thinking here.

Also, if there are kids there with REAL psychological conditions, there should be someone there with REAL mental heath certification, education AND experience helping them. If the place only wants to take on teens that need a straight path, got caught up in the wrong crowd/wrong thing, maybe they are fully capable of that, but are they capable of dealing with a real disorder? I'm starting to wonder.
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We do have therapists here. It is true that one does not work here anymore, but he was immediantly replaced and things remain this way. It is my belief (I am not representing the Whitmore Academy in this) that a lot of 'disorders' come from kids being kids, and psychologists/therapists/doctors wanting to make something out of it (like a bunch of money). Look at that woman in Texas who drowned her five kids in the bathtub a few years ago, for example. Her doctor prescribed her some crazy medication she didn't need, and look what ended up happening. Also, when someone is told they have a condition, they begin to act a lot more like this accusation is true. This is why we have disorders most of the time. However, I also believe there are some who do have disorders, and yes, I also believe that we are capable of dealing with them. We have before, several times.

I also wonder why all of the support here comes from the students. Why aren't staff members talking or even more parents?
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The staff are busy dealing with other things. They really don't have the time for something like this right now. A lot of parents don't know about this forum, and I'm not going to be the one to spread the word. We don't want to bother them with something like this, anyway.

I asked a mundane question recently to the "inquiry" link on the website only to get a very suspicious reply from a student. That again raises a flag for me regarding professionalism.
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Please further explain this to me. What question did you ask, and what did the reply say? How was it suspicious, and how do you know it was a student?

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned the fact of this kid's behavior on the few hours before he left the Whitmore Academy. He had spent time at a local boy's house drinking alcoholic beverages, and when he did return, he only acted like he was drunk after someone told him that they thought he was. Then, he exaggerated drunken behavior by falling all over the place. If he truly had been that messed up, he would have been acting like that from the time of his return to the Whitmore (at least 15 minutes before).

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Here's something I believe we should pay some attention to; the boy left without permission, drank alcoholic beverages, and attempted to manipulate by making himself seem wasted (when it was obviously was not true).
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Knowing of this local boy who drank with the kid, we called the police, hoping to find out what we could do about this underage drinking. When the cop arrived, the kid attacked him, swinging and just about going crazy, resulting in the police having to restrain him.

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Okay, there's another thing everyone in the universe seems to have forgotten to include in their accusations and assumptions. The kid in question assulted a police officer, which if you do not know is a very serious thing.
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That night, this same boy left again without permission for the final time by running away. We have not seen him since.

Something else interesting about this, by the way, is that the day before all this went down, this boy wrote us all a letter. In this letter, he described the games he plays with people's heads. It is quite ironic that only a day later, took it upon himself to give us a little display of what he was talking about. He knows what he did. He meant to do it. Yeah, he's messed up, and yeah, he's got his problems. However, there is still no excuse for that, and there is also no excuse for you all to feed into this little monopoly he thinks he?s running. You have your opinions, I have mine. Jourdan has hers, Chris has his, as does the other Chris. Want to believe us? Good, I encourage it. Want to continue to make false accusations? Sucks to be you, but you can think for yourself. It?s not like you?re still in diapers or anything (at least, I hope not).

By the way, for those of you with less common sense, I am currently enrolled in this school, and I like it just fine. If anyone has a problem with that, I am politely asking you to please refrain from assuming, criticizing, accusing, or judging any of us until you know the facts ? all the facts. Since this is very near to impossible unless you know us personally, I?d like to simply suggest the option of leaving us be.

Just a question, but how would you like it if someone came into your house and searched for anything from a piece of mouse poop to a set of boxing gear, or even a video camera used to make home movies? How would you like it if one day, cops came into your home, dragged your siblings to the station and interrogated them about things like abuse and neglect? What if several of your brothers and sisters were taken unwillingly from your home and put into another? How would you feel about that? What would you do ? what could you do ? if suddenly there were a bunch of people talking crap about your family, comparing them to others completely unlike it?

Testify of what you know is true, right? And that is just what we are doing.

Yeah, you?ve been through crap. BFD. Get over it. That was over twenty years ago. There are bad things going on now, but what is sitting at a computer talking about it with other ?victims? going to do but increase your anger towards the situation and people involved not to mention deepen self-pity and possibly depression? Writing articles like you do is a good idea. Writing to congressmen and such is also a good idea. Telling CPS or DCFS on those evil places is also a good idea. However, just make sure you?ve investigated, have firsthand experiences to prove something is up, and know what you?re doing.

I don?t doubt those things about you. I believe that all this crap-talk going down on this forum about the Whitmore is nothing but that; talk. Rumors, gossip, whatever you want to call it? it isn?t truth, and you have no proof it is. We do have the proof, however, that all these bad things being said about us are lies. Two witnesses make a fact, and we have just about twenty times that. You?ve seen a few of us tell you what?s up. Still, it seems you persist with your futile argument of what you so strongly believe is true, yet have never seen a bit of it with your own eyes, nor have any proof or evidence that it is real.

Must I go on? I think you see my point.

However ridiculous this ongoing, chaotic debate has been, you do put up a good argument with some things. There are good excuses behind your assumptions and insults on some things. It doesn?t fly, though. We?re a good place, no matter who believes us on that. I know it in my heart, and if you look in yours no matter how broken it may be, you too will see this.

Sorry, but the horrible things said about the Whitmore Academy are wrong. I?d know. I live there.

Peace. ::rainbow::
Caitlyn Loggins