Action to take now that the beast is dead.

[Anonymous]

A lost of kids went to other programs while I was there.  I think CEDU hung on to them a little bit longer than necessary in some cases when they clearly did not belong.  Was it giving the kids a chance before sending them to a hospital or a lock down or getting more money out of the parents.  I don't know.

[Anonymous]

In what time frame did cedu start sending kids out to other programs? When I was there, in the early 90's, the only kids sent out were those who actually tried killing themselves. Then they were sent to a private or public hospital and shortly returned to cedu (after stabilization). Otherwise, kids were frequently sent to ascent (72 day wilderness trek). However, this was also when cedu was only starting to venture into taking kids who were on meds with true psych problems. So maybe after I left they started to recognize the need to send kids out. Wish they had recognized the need to send me out. oh well.

[Son Of Serbia]

I was also at Cedu in the early 90's: the only kids Cedu turned away are kids who ran out of money and couldn't pay tuition anymore, those kids certainly dissapeared real fast!

I did in fact know plenty of kids who really didn't belong at Cedu. I'm not just talking about kids on meds either (and there were
a few of them).

I specifically remember a student at Cedu middleschool who had severe turrets. Also I often heard about a mentally retarded kid who left right before I got there.  There was no chance in hell either one of these kids could ever get something out of the Cedu program!

Clearly Cedu accepted many kids they couldn't help, but as long as any kid's family could pay, Cedu was "the best place for them."

[Anonymous]

In 1984 RMA had 3 or 4 bulimic, one severely mental disturbed child, several kids who simply had trouble with dealing with schoolwork, and 2 (gasp!) Gay People (...hope they were "cured") mixed in with all sorts of others who probably didn't belong. But I am not a psychiatrist, so I can't speak more on that.

Of course, in 1984, there WERE no psychiatrists on the staff that interacted with the kids, so how could they have been properly diagnosed anyway.

(It was commenly belived (by the students) that the mother of that severely mental disturbed child simply needed a baby-sitter, and RMA was happy to take the job for what she paid.)

[Anonymous]

wow, that is amazing.  I guess you were there in 84... how are you doing now?  Hope you are doing well.

[shanlea]

Definitely, Cedu turned no one away who could pay, and at the time I attended, there were no psychiatrists/psychologists on staff.  No one was getting proper treatment if they had some type of medical issue.  And, frankly, no one was getting any kind of healthy, ethical, individualized help anyway.

I distinctly remember CEDU manipulating some parents into thinking kids needed the program when they didn't, and for many people, CEDU was just an overpriced babysitter.  

The only time CEDU kicked out two boys were when they concocted an active plan to commit arson and burn down the school, and someone ratted them out.    They were deemed a safety risk to the school.

[Anonymous]

But apparently those parents wanted an overpriced baby sitter. I'm a parent now.  Who would I beleive some high school graduate or GED counselor or the boundless research on child deelopment by experts.  CEDU was a dumping ground for quite a few parents.

[Anonymous]

If all these charges of abuse against indivduals like Guy Bonnano, Russ Decker, Donna Dillman and Patrick Stambusky are true,(and I have every reason to believe that they probably are.) And if all the people on this website made the claims they said they did to the authorities and followed through with it...all those hours spent in the D.A.'s office, etc.  Why is Bonnano now a principal in a public school?  He would need a teachers' credential and an administrative credential to pull that one off.  If the appropriate authorities were notified of his past abuse...he would have had one if not both of his credentials pulled.  The same with Decker... if he committed those crimes as a juvenile, his records would be sealed.  However, any abuses after 18 would be considered adult...he wouldn't be able to become a therapist or whatever.  Stambusky wouldnb't be able to open up another school after a background check, etc.  As I said I have no doubt that these individuals were power mad and controlling, but I have reasonable doubt that all those who claimed to have right the wrongs by reporting ever did.

[sabro]

I never reported anything specific about those you mentioned because I never saw or had specific knowledge about abuse. But I did file two reports and spoke to the DA about a third case- in all three, I was told that there was insufficient evidence. I never contacted the CCTC about anyone's credentials either. People with firsthand information need to do the reporting or nothing will happen.

Where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy.
http://lfb.com/?stocknumber=FF7485&code=10247' target='_new'>Thomas Jefferson: Kentucky Resolutions, 1798

[Anonymous]

Exactly, insufficient evidence. However, you did jump on the get Bonanno, Decker and Stambusky bandwagon pretty damn fast! If all the others who whine and complain and carry on who did have first hand information, maybe these people would loose their credentials or licenses or whatever, but its just so much easier to whine and complain.

[Anonymous]

I got kicked out of CEDU middle school when I was 10 years old...lol.


Evan

[Son Of Serbia]

On 2005-08-06 12:33:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Exactly, insufficient evidence. However, you did jump on the get Bonanno, Decker and Stambusky bandwagon pretty damn fast! If all the others who whine and complain and carry on who did have first hand information, maybe these people would loose their credentials or licenses or whatever, but its just so much easier to whine and complain."

Well Evidence really is the key here, isn't it?
And why is there insufficient evidence? That's easy: because the kids at Cedu had no independent way to document what was happening to them, not when their whole lives consisted of a cubby hole and a few drawers underneath their bed (both were inspected by staff and other students daily).

Why did cedu require that we have our private journals reviewed by staff on a weekly basis?  

Why couldn't we have tape recorders?

Why was it a priveledge to own a camera?
Why was it required that cedu staff develop all of our pictures (and charge our families for their time), rather than just sending the film home for our parents to develop?

Why did cedu staff read our letters before we mailed them?  Why were our telephone conversations monitored?

Why was our communication restricted only to people cedu approved of and had direct contact with?

Why did cedu need to brief & debrief our parents
before & after every visit with us?

Why did Cedu staff routinely downplay the uses of psychology, and discourage students from sharing with the Doctors (therapists) who worked
there from time to time?  

By the way, I don't recall ever seeing one of the doctors invited to a rap, why is that? I imagine it was because real doctors/therapists have ETHICS.

I could go on and on, but I've made my point.
The whole cedu environment was designed to protect their secrets from those outside of the program. Simply knowing what we saw or heard is not enough to make the authorities take serious action against those monsters.  Criminal courts want proof, as in names, dates, times,places, and other specific facts.  Our diminishing memories of events that for some of us happened a lifetime ago, just won't cut it.  The only people who could've documented the program independently were the cedu staff themselves.

Unfortuately for all of the Victims (staff and student alike), Cedu did a splended job of burying evidence.




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[ This Message was edited by: Son Of Serbia on 2005-08-10 07:19 ]