Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Hyde Schools
Information about NEASC investigation of Hyde?
Ursus:
--- Quote from: ""Guest"" ---Doesn't NEASC have an obligation to investigate valid complaints? How many people who are distressed about Hyde have shared their views with NEASC? Maybe NEASC would respond if they discovered how many people have been harmed by Hyde's practices. I just looked at the NEASC complaint procedure. My impression is that they take complaints seriously. Perhaps the people who are providing details here about their horrific Hyde experiences should alert NEASC.
--- End quote ---
The subject of NEASC (and AISNE) accreditation of Hyde and what that might actually mean (from the standpoint of holding Hyde accountable for their actions or inactions) is also discussed on a few pages in the 'Hyde's Mr. Burroughs' thread, starting at about here:
http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p=299958#299958
It does appear to me that Hyde feels that it has the authority to live by its own code of dishonor, rather than by standards ordinary folk presume to be in place.
Anonymous:
They don't report everything to the authorities, but in all honesty it usually benefits the kids. There's a lot of shit they could report that they choose not to, which could land the kids in real trouble (drugs, etc.).
They are pretty tough about sports injuries, but a lot of kids are fakers. I had a hard time with them when I genuinely injured my shoulder for a week or two from wrestling. I was barely given pass, since I had never given them a reason to doubt my honesty.
Ursus:
--- Quote from: ""Guest"" ---They don't report everything to the authorities, but in all honesty it usually benefits the kids. There's a lot of shit they could report that they choose not to, which could land the kids in real trouble (drugs, etc.).
They are pretty tough about sports injuries, but a lot of kids are fakers. I had a hard time with them when I genuinely injured my shoulder for a week or two from wrestling. I was barely given pass, since I had never given them a reason to doubt my honesty.
--- End quote ---
Here are my concerns about sports injuries vs. "faking": What are the consequences of taking a "faked" injury too seriously? Somebody's "character education" gets delayed? On the other hand, what are the consequences of presuming a real injury is nothing more than overt complaining? Perhaps some real long-term damage that could otherwise be sanely avoided?
Also, what about the environment that is created by those kinds of judgments? Kids are less apt to bring things up than they otherwise would. It is not just the outer judgments that I am talking about, it is the inner ones – a kid's assessment of themselves – that I am concerned about here. What about James Roman, who died there of a brain aneurysm, think maybe there might have been some symptoms which would have enabled Hyde to get him to a hospital on time?
Ursus:
Here's an old post I found, which is kind of pertinent to this theme. I think this was a couple of years before we even had our own forum, but the thread got stuck in here afterwards, 'cuz it contained so many Hyde posts.
This person only made one post (at least when she was signed in), but it tells quite a lot. Personally, I think it is pretty fucked up to conveniently "forget" a student's prescribed medications when they are sent out on outpost for an "attitude readjustment," not to mention trying to strong arm or coerce her out of seeing a prescribed psychologist (and when unsuccessful, telling her that in order to see the therapist she needs to sign away her doctor-patient confidentiality privileges).
--- Quote from: ""On Mon Jan 20, 2003, melindafromhyde"" ---Hi, I am glad to see that this issue is being discussed on the web. Where to start... I attended the Hyde school in Bath, Maine in the 90s and had many experiences similar to what tommyfromhyde had in the 70s. My parents decided to send me to the school after I was diagnosed as bipolar and attempted suicide the previous spring. The program promised to "build character" with "the five words and principles" through academics, sports, and performing arts. Besides the sports, I found the aspects of the program Hyde advertises to be quite lacking. The academics were very poor--especially the American history, math and science programs. History was a review of Jr. High, we did not do proofs in our geometry class, and did not balance any more than basic chemical equations (no acid base or redox reactions).
Hyde requires all of their new students to attend a 12 week summer program before entering for the fall term. During my summer at the school I witnessed many acts of both physical and emotional abuse, including a male student being forced to run three miles on a rough dirt road with a broken foot. Only after the run was he allowed to go to the doctor; when he came back he had a cast on for the remainder of the summer. In addition, they sent all of the "really bad kids"--i.e. the kids who were resistant to the program-- to secluded Sequin Island off the coast of Maine. I was sent there and had to clip a 1/2 mile long trail with garden shears, run up and down the same trail at least five times, move boulders 1' in diameter off of the beach, and swim out to a buoy and back in 50* ocean water. When I was allowed to come back to the school campus, I had pneumonia. The faculty at the school ignored all medical complaints from the students--many times resulting in the worsening condition of the child.
During the regular school year, I was disciplined for having sexual relations with my boyfriend (admittedly a bad thing for a 16 year old to do). Instead of addressing the reasons behind my promiscuous behavior (low self-esteem and feeling abandoned and unloved by my parents) they humiliated me in front of the whole school by publicly discussing my actions and setting me apart from the rest of the student body cleaning and participating in harsh workouts (called "2-4") in silence instead of attending my classes. Finally, after a couple of days I refused to participate further with my punishment, and just sat down.
The faculty responded by sending me out to the woods in a program called "outpost"--which is similar to, but not quite as severe as a wilderness program (they work you just as hard but feed you more than S.U.W.S., a wilderness program I attended in Idaho when I was 14). Besides going through further emotional abuse by the faculty member leading the outpost program, I was also deprived of my lithium, an anti-manic drug prescribed to me by my psychiatrist. This made me even more susceptible to their abuse.
In general, Hyde had a very backwards viewpoint on the advances in medical treatment of chemical imbalances, including medication and therapy. They did not monitor whether or not students took their medication, "forgot" to pack my medication both times they sent me to outpost (I was sent again in the spring), and made it very difficult for me to see a therapist off school grounds. In order for me to do so, my psychiatrist had to write a note to the school telling them I had to be allowed to see a psychologist and that their own visiting psychiatrist (who came three times a year) was grossly inadequate for an adolescent who recently was diagnosed as bipolar and had attempted suicide. Even after they reluctantly let me go, they sent me to a therapist of their choosing and wanted me to sign away my doctor-patient privileges, threatening that I had to do so in order to see the therapist. I refused. The faculty didn't push it for too long--we both knew it was illegal for them to require such a thing.
In general, the Hyde School in Bath, Maine participated in many cult-like practices. It was a totalitarian closed system with the head of the school as the sole authoritarian leader with the faculty as his minions. Since most of the FACULTY as well as students had had histories of emotional and/or drug problems, they were susceptible to being controlled through cruel practices of only being shown love, appreciation, and good will if following the "words and principles" as determined by the head of the school through the faculty. A false sense of student participation in the organization of the school was created by so-called "student leaders", who were given special status as long as they helped to spread the "words and principles" and confront students who questioned or did not follow the system as it was determined. These "student leaders" were instilled with the fear of falling from grace by the faculty if they did not do enough confronting and "narc"ing, or if they questioned any part of the practices of the school themselves. This system created an almost political maneuvering within the student body, where no real friendships or other healthy relationships could survive for long. In fact, each student lived in complete isolation and fear of being singled out by their teachers, councilors, and peers--further scarring them and making them even less prepared to work out their problems and become a productive and successful member of society.
In short, instead of giving a troubled adolescent with emotional and/or drug problems a supportive and safe environment to work out their problems while getting back on track emotionally and socially through success in acedemics, extracurricular activities, and social interactions with peers, the Hyde school did the complete opposite.
In the end, the Hyde School only left me one thing: the knowledge that I can survive at least a year in a cult.
--- End quote ---
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=8269#8269
Dove:
They should definitely be more careful about student injuries; last year Lino Cowdrey got frostbite on outpost. He complained that he was in pain, but again he was basically ignored until they were done. He came back with black fingers, and couldn't use a pencil. He was basically in-and-out of class for a month or so. They didn't push him too hard or make him lose credit for schoolwork, as it wasn't his fault. I'm surprised they haven't learned to take the well-being of their students seriously.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version