Local Info
- Welcome
- This is a nice little intro written by one of our regular users. It's probably not 100% in line with our policies and philosophy and certainly not comprehensive. But it's a very good introduction and so we have decided to go ahead and post it here. Welcome to FORNITS, new posters!
As a new reader of fornits, you might be asking yourself... what is this place all about?
Don’t fret for one minute!
We know it can be confusing at first. Every one of us has been there too. We were once just like you.
That’s why we are making this thread! TO HELP YOU. Set aside your concerns here, we don’t pre-judge.
We are here to answer your questions and help introduce you to the world of fornits with a smile.
First, a word from the fornits founder,This forum is not an activist organization. It’s just a venue for discussion. Think of it as your favorite biker bar. Great place to come and be sometimes. --Antigen
It’s important to remember more than anything, that this forum allows free speech for all. That means you can post all about that program you know about. But be careful. Industry people also peruse these here fora. That means they might try to shut you up via bullying, threats or even lawsuit if you piss them off enough.- Don’t let that get you worried about posting though. The admins here have told us they protect our IP addresses, so I feel safe posting here. So should you, but it never hurts to be cautious when dealing with ruthless industry types.
That is why we titled this thread ¤± F|®|R|Ñ|Î|T|S~ß|Î|K|Ê|R~ß|Â|R ±¤. It really is the most accurate way of describing what fornits is like. Sure the bartender is recently coming out and whispering into some patron’s ears to join him in the back in the secret drinking room. But they have assured us regular folk, that soon the wall dividing us will be torn down.
So what type of people post here? All types!- You got your program survivors. Many anti program survivors, but a few pros. Some hold a middle view that some programs are bad, and others good. Really you got a whole spectrum of opinions coming from survivors. They make for an interesting group as far as discussions go.
- You got the ex-program parents. Some are regretful of using programs, some think the anti program view is ridiculous and choose to remain pro program despite testimony to the contrary.
- You got your visionaries. These are people who have experienced or learned about this industry and want to know what they can do to help change it. Some people refer to them as activists. Others refer to them as dreamers and idealists.
- Got the siblings or family members. Curious as what happened to their brother or sister way back when. Some have a sibling recently taken to a program, and want to find out information. Sometimes aunt’s and uncles wanting to get a kid out. Grandparents, custody disputed children. It runs the gambit just like any other type of poster. Plenty of fake family members asking advice on where to send their kid too.
- The looky loos. They don’t have any real connection to the industry. Never went to a program, or know anybody who did. They find the topic interesting for whatever reason and decide to take sides and argue in favor of their choice.
- Ex staff. You can call them names, make fun of them, or even ask them serious questions about why they worked as staff and what they saw or did.
- Industry types. These are sometimes hard to figure out, because they usually don’t come out and say it. Others do, responding to a post about them without shame. Sometimes they respond not by posting but via lawsuit. Sometimes they are staff working at a program, pro program kids still at a program under control of staff, or just brainwashed survivors or family members who devoted their life to program evangelism.
There are plenty of other people posting, and nobody can be categorized really, but I just want to help you get a feel for who is posting.- Despite it’s amazingness and appeal, Fornits is still just an internet forum on the internets, so you must take everything with a grain of salt.
Could an industry type be posing as a survivor to get insider information? That’s definitely possible. Don’t forget, this is the internet, and anything you post will be preserved forever. The admins of this site respect free speech and demand credibility to their stance. In doing so, this means any posts of industry types hurting, outing, humiliating and threatening survivors will remain. You must keep this in mind. If they were to delete what the industry types post, their credibility of free speech haven would be ruined and nobody would post here.
OKAY! PHEW! *wipes hand across brow* Now that we have THAT out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff!
So, what’s so great about posting on fornits? Why should I bother?
What’s NOT great about posting on fornits, is the real question!
There are many reasons why you should consider posting on fornits.- It can feel good to get things off your chest.
Many people go through programs and don’t give it much thought for years afterwards. A stray google search can lead to a memory spark, which eventually can build into a firestorm of recovered memories. It can help to type out what you are thinking, to people who know what you are talking about. If you feel uncomfortable opening yourself emotionally to the world, you can post in one of the moderated forums which usually solicit less cynical responses. Or you can just post a message that you need to talk to someone privately, and usually someone will do that.
±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤± - You can help educate parents and others about what truly goes on in this industry. That is truly priceless, because people do not believe something as illogical as parents paying to have their children mistreated to coerce them to become the perfect kid. It sounds like a bad science fiction plot, a remake of stepford wives for kids.
Did you live it? Do you know what this theory looks like payed out in the flesh? Then why not share about it?
±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤± - Are you a parent who is considering sending a kid to a program? Look around. Ask questions, and educate yourself to the reality of the program theory. Find out from real life people what the results are. Ask other parents if they would do it again. This forum and those who inhabit it are a invaluable resource of information and experience. You can call a program and be told what you want to hear, or you can find out the truth. The choice is yours.
±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤±¤± - Are you a person who found this forum, but have no formal ties to the industry? Take a look around, read up and see if you are outraged at what is occurring in the private, hidden facilities housing america’s youth. Where does all the money go? Why is something so abhorrent allowed to continue to operate unhindered in a country as advanced as America? How far up does this go? You might be surprised with what you find.
Don’t know what to post? Don’t know where to get started?
Start by introducing yourself in this thread! If you want to post a little about yourself, feel free. If you don’t want to post anything about yourself, that’s your right! Free speech is wonderful thing!
If you still feel uncomfortale posting, realize YOU CAN STAY COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS!- You DO NOT have to reveal your real name or location, or any information you feel will compromise your anonymity. If anybody asks for this, even under the guise of friendship, be advised this information can never be retracted and might find its way into people who wish to shut you up.
- However honest the word of the site admins, they can be compelled to release IP information if court ordered. If you are worried about this, you can still remain anonymous. Google "proxy" and learn more about how to use a proxy to post 100% anonymously and untraceable. Now you don’t even have to download software, there are free web based proxy sites out there. You can remain safe posting just about anything!
One last thing...
Don’t forget this is a Biker Bar.
That means there will be arguments, loud vocal opposing sides who both feel they are right which sometimes escalates into outright brawls. Don’t let that scare you off, they usually end as quickly as they begin. If you find yourself at the middle of such an argument, just remember, this is just the internet and you can always turn your computer off and walk away. Don’t get too emotionally invested if you can help it. It will save you a lot of trouble in the long run. Why? Well, you’ll just have to stick around and find that out for yourself.
WELCOME!
and remember, HAVE FUN!
Sincerely,
Fornits Unofficial Cordiality Kommittee (F.U.C.K.)
- You got your program survivors. Many anti program survivors, but a few pros. Some hold a middle view that some programs are bad, and others good. Really you got a whole spectrum of opinions coming from survivors. They make for an interesting group as far as discussions go.
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- Terms of use
- This forum is offered to absolutely anyone with any kind of interest in the troubled parent inustry, cults, thought reform or any tangentally related topic. It is a resource to facilitate open, unmoderated discussion relating to the topics designated by individual forum moderators and to promote coordination and networking efforts relating to them. It's also not a bad place to reconnect with old friends from way back when or to look under the bed, so to speak, and find out what ever happened to your own personal boogie-man. As stated above in the welcome, though, please be mindful of your own personal safety and happieness first and foremost. If you feel the need to pour out a lot of sensitive, personal information right off the bat you may want to save that privately and let a little time pass before posting publicly or even trusting another user with that stuff. Once information is out there it's anywhere from difficult to impossible to make it go away.
All of the responsibility for content, legal, moral or otherwise, rests with the respective authors of the words posted herein. Use of this forum (either by posting messages or just by reading them) implies your acceptance of this policy.
This means that, unlike the policies of organizations like Straight, WWASP, Elan, etc., everyone and anyone, even people currently involved in what might be an abusive cult, are welcome to participate in these forums. We (the techs responsible for maintaining this site) are willing to wager that the tactics used by coercive cults will fall flat outside of a controled environment.
Though we can't (and wouldn't want to) control every word posted here, we reserve the right to delete posts and/or ban users at our sole discretion with wanton disregard for anyone's opinion of the propriety of such decisions. As a user of this free forum, you are a guest just as long as you make yourself welcome. We do ask that you follow these few basic guidelines.
Bearing in mind that one man's poetry is another man's obscenity, and that censorship is probably the worst form of obscenity, we leave this to your best judgment. There is really no one 'in charge' of this discussion, and we will not intervene on anyone's behalf nor take responsibility for any reprecussions, legal or otherwise, that arise from anyone's words but our own.
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- Copyright issues
- As with any other issue, sole responsibility for copyright issues rests with the individual posters. However, due to a broad and (in our opinion) poorly thought out law passed in 1998--Digital Millenium Copyright Act or DMCA--we have had to make it our policy to respond to copyright complaints rather harshly. Here is our new policy on DMCA notices.
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- Please do not use the board to post commercial messages
- It's okay to include your organization/Web page in your signature (in fact, we hope you will because it lends context to your words!)
It's okay to announce a site, newsletter, event etc. that may be of legitimate interest to the folks who frequent this forum. But please don't just drop in with a message that boils down to "Hey everyone, buy my stuff!!!" and not engage in the discussion. That's just plain rude!
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- Can you (admin) remove my name from a post?
- More and more often, we're getting requests like this:
" I was under the impression that my time at Straight was anonymous. Anyone who is looking for me can now see that I was in drug rehab and that is certainly not cool. I have left all of that behind me and do want to be a part of all of this crazy backbiting childish behavior. I am 37 not 17!! Can you please go in and delete that posting?? I would greatly appreciate it. "
Technically, sure! we could edit or delete the whole forum. In the same way that, given adequate thrust and pitch, pigs can, indeed, fly. But that doesn't mean they should. We understand your concern. We don't like to post the names of innocent others w/o their permission. However we cannot determine who is innocent and who is not.As our forum is open and unmoderated (see Terms of Use above), we do not take responsibility for what other people post. You may have a valid grievance wrt confidentiality, but your grievance would rest w/ either whoever has posted your name or with the people who convinced us all to place our trust in a confidentiality policy that rested on voluntary compliance for an indefinite period of time by children held against their will.
Although we have made exceptions under circumstances where it seemed to make the most sense, generally we will not go around editing other people's writings w/o their permission. If you have a problem w/ something someone has said about you in this public forum, take it up with the individual who said it. In order to contact the person, just register a name on FHWWF (you need not use real contact info, so long as you are able to receive email notifications to complete the registration process and such like) look for a little email icon under the user's posts and email them directly, send the user a private message through the forum or, if all else fails let us know and we'll try and get you in touch w/ that person.
And, btw, I'm not 17 anymore either. This is just a suggestion of course, but you might stand a better chance of getting cooperation from the person you're dealing with if you can refrain from insulting them in your initial contact.
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- Please Don't Feed the Trolls!
- This is not a hard rule subject to any authority implied in the terms of use above. It's just a subject that comes up again and again and so it bears mention in this FAQ.
Here are a few difinitions:
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