Academy at Dundee Ranch Statement F: From a Former Student
[from the ISAC report]
I arrived at Dundee on January 14th, 2002. I knew I was coming, but what I had expected was something totally different from what I got. I watched a sappy video of teary-eyed parents expressing their devotion to the program, and how it has changed their life so much and they would recommend anyone to the program.
It looked nice, like there were a ot of things to do and see. I chose Costa Rica because I like the culture, and I wanted to visit the country. Well, I didn?t get to see much of anything but the facility while I was there. I didn?t leave for the first 7 months I was there. Not one foot stepped out of those gates.
The first 5 months were the hardest. I quickly fell into a deep depression in which I felt absolutely no hope for anything. The staff and students seemed cold, and unwelcoming, and I had no one to talk to about my feelings and what I was going through.
I distinctly remember several occasions in which I felt so lonely, hopeless and sad that I would search through my things, looking for something I might try to kill myself with.
I was denied contact with my parents other than one letter a week. Many times my letters were lost, or would take 2 to 3 weeks to get to my parents. My parents were told that anything I said that was negative about the program was manipulation and I was just trying to get them to take me home. They lied to my parents.
They taught us themselves that not telling the whole truth is considered lying. Maybe they should practice what they preach. Hey, what has happened now is just the universe holding them accountable for their actions. It will always come back on you.
Anyways, while trudging through my depression there was so much going on around me, I didn?t know how to respond to it all. Rules were changed daily, disgruntled staff would take out their frustration on students by giving them unnecessary corrections, which docked points and set them back.
We were not allowed to speak to each other unless it was during a very strict and limited time, usually never more than a half an hour at the most a day. The rest of the time we had to be absolutely silent, making no gestures or visual communication whatsoever.
Sanitary conditions were terrible. We were made to sleep in rooms of 6-9 girls in one small room. If there was one person who got sick in a room, then everyone would get sick. We would have triple bunk beds with so little room you could not sit up, move around, or even get on or off easily.
Many times there would not be water, so we could not shower, brush our teeth, was our faces etc. We also lacked necessary hygiene supplies like toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste. I remember times when there was no toilet paper for days, and we would have to use notebook paper, or when we would not get items from the storage so we had very little shampoo left.
We also had no laundry soap on several occasions. We had to wash our own clothes by hand, but several times, we would use shampoo to wash our clothes with because there was no laundry soap. Then, when everyone was running out of shampoo, and the scrubbing brushes had lost all of their bristles, I remember having to wash my clothes with conditioner and an old toothbrush.
Then there was OP and Worksheets. OP was a place you went when you broke a category 4 or 5 rule. You could do this by simply having a map of something, by speaking in English to someone, or wearing too many articles of clothing etc. In OP you usually had to lie down on your stomach with your hands behind your back and your chin on the floor. I was in OP a few times. You cannot move, talk, look, itch?nothing.
Sometimes you had to do hours and hours of exercises. Once I had to run with only my flip-flops. I asked several times to get my tennis shoes but they kept saying, no, keep running, you can get them later.
We would also not be allowed to fill up our water bottles when we needed it. Maybe once we were allowed to go and refill our bottles. Kids could spend days weeks or months in OP.
In worksheets you had to write a certain number of words. The number of works you had to write depended on what category rule violation you got. I believe I wrote somewhere around 130,000 to 150,000 words while I was there. I remember at least 2 occasions when I had around 50,000-60,000 words to write, which took me from 1 ½ to 2 weeks to do. Other times I would have anywhere from 16,000 to 30,000 words to write. I have around 30,000 words that I kept and brought home.
We would not have tables to write on, and the rooms were dark to I would have to bend down and write on my lap which would give me terrible back and neck pains for up to 3 days.
School was something that was out of control. When I got there, there were NO teachers NO school administrators, and there were students correcting work and giving credit.
They lost my transcripts when I first got there, and I didn?t know what to do, so for several months I did nothing in school.
Another concern was the Family Representative turnover. I had 9 family reps. In 11 months of being there. Family reps. were our only connection to our parents, and it was hard when they kept leaving about every month because I would just get to know them and then they would leave, and we?d have to deal with the new one and have to get to know them all over again. It was a never-ending cycle.
My overall time at Dundee Ranch Academy was negative experience. I have since done much better at home though, and I have been working hard at school, so maybe just the experience scared me straight. I wouldn?t wish Dundee Ranch on my worst enemy.
