Hey, thanks for posting! Nice to find someone actually willing to engage in some debate.
I went to Hyde about a decade ago. It is hard for me to see the 2-4s and 5:30s as torture, as some people have suggested. Unless things have changed, it is possible to mostly avoid having to participate in these things if you refrain from drinking, smoking, drugs, cheating, lying, or knowing about people who do any of those things. (Let's face it-- Brother's Keeper is easy to avoid if you tell people that you don't want to know. Not a big deal.)
...I am also hearing many people claim that 2-4 and 5:30s were the problem. Being on 2-4 and 5:30 is a choice, akin to putting your hand on the stove: if it hurts, move your hand. I think that some of the ways in which Hyde is "not good" for kids comes from the ways or intensity with which they dole out consequences. All I'm saying is that it is possible to choose to live within the Hyde framework without drawing negative attention/ negative consequences to yourself.
With all due respect, the whole issue of the work crew/2-4 and 5:30's is but one of the more obvious and physically tangible aspects of the abuse. I agree with you that it is usually possible to avoid them, but there have been cases where Hyde was wrong about the presumed culprit and refused to believe the word of a kid they wanted to teach a lesson or two.
Let's face it, unless you fall within the parameters of the desired personality type, how Hyde School adjudges a "bad attitude" is a highly subjective thing. And if they don't like you, it really doesn't matter what "the truth" of the matter is. A witch hunt can be commenced for any premise or fantasy they can think of. Consequently, you can actually be a "true believer" and
still reap the burden of being a pariah in their midst.
I do see that shy kids were at a greater disadvantage than outgoing kids and that sporty kids were at a greater advantage than non-athletic kids.
I totally agree with you here. I would go further to say that Hyde School does attempt to
rewrite certain (generally introspective) kids' personalities, which is a
very dangerous thing to do, from a psychological perspective, not to mention that it is being practiced by complete hacks with a missionary agenda on their minds.
I do not think that a person has to compromise his or her integrity to live within the Hyde framework in most cases... Maybe I'm cynical, but I can't imagine a single school unblemished by scandal. Without minimizing other people's experiences, that was my perspective when I was there, and that is my perspective now.
Seriously, the amount of sexual predation that goes on at this place is substantially more than the average school's scandal or two. And these are just the cases that have come to light. Given Hyde School's penchant for squashing the truth and for bullying and humiliating victims of sexual assault, let alone brainwashing them into thinking they are at cause, I think it stands to reason that the 'known cases' to 'actual cases' ratio is considerably less than it might be under less coercive circumstances.
And when these cases
do come to light, do you actually believe, even for a wishful school spirit moment, that any bona fide educational institution would still treat these cases as Hyde School continues to do, year after year, nigh on thirty-five years since the first known case? If Hyde School cannot succeed in traumatizing the student in question into silence, they will discredit him or her in the eyes of the entire Hyde community, sweep the facts under the rug and/or
completely lie about them, pay off the lawsuits, and go back to business as usual. There is absolutely zero concern for what happens to the victim. (What do you think
does happen to these victims?)
All this from an organization that portrays itself as
the family-oriented expert on integrity and parenting. Lol... Quite frankly, I could have learned more about honesty and integrity from Crazy Eddie.
