http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/ma ... world.htmlScandal hits America's 'Dotheboys Hall'
By Julian Coman in Washington
(Filed: 01/06/2003)
British children familiar with Nicholas Nickleby know about the horrors of Dotheboys Hall, run by the sadistic Wackford Squeers. Last week, shocked American parents found that they had sent their children to a modern equivalent of literature's cruellest boarding school.
Unfortunately for the 200 teenagers enrolled at Dundee Ranch in Costa Rica - which closed last week - it was no work of fiction. It was one of 10 schools supervised by a private American educational network that promised "tough love" for unruly teenagers. American lawyers, surgeons and businessmen seeking solutions to their children's misdemeanours were charged between $30,000 (£18,750) and $50,000 for a year's tuition.
At Dundee Ranch, the solution turned out to involve alleged physical torture, filthy living conditions and the loss of basic human rights. After a raid by Costa Rican police officers, Narvin Lichfield, the school's owner, was arrested on May 22 for alleged physical and psychological mistreatment of pupils.
A Gothic picture of cruelty has since emerged, prompting the American State Department to issue an official warning to parents about "overseas behaviour modification programmes". One girl from Salt Lake City was sent to Dundee Ranch in January 2002, after using drugs. The school website said that she would be attending a jungle paradise, "nestled amid lush gardens of tropical fruit trees, plants and flowers". Student rooms, according to the prospectus, were "well-appointed, with air-conditioning, ceiling fans and individual hot showers". Staff were "highly trained and bi-lingual" to offer pupils a new direction in life.
"The website was completely misleading," the girl said. "It made out that the school was strict but fair and that it was quite easy to live a normal life there." In reality, she claimed, the regime was overly harsh. "There were six 'levels' and at the first three you were not allowed to speak to your parents. A lot of the time you were not allowed to speak to anyone."
Every pupil feared "being sent to OP". "The name stood for 'Out of Population'," the girl said. "That's where you were sent for persistent offences. The OP room was small. You were isolated and made to kneel in the same position for hours without moving." She claimed that some boys were kept there from before breakfast until after dinner. "They came out with swollen knees and bruises," she alleged. "You could hear the screams and moans as you went past."
According to the pupil, the staff also made them lie down with their hands behind their back and their chin on the floor for hours. "You weren't allowed to move, although bugs were crawling all over you," she said.
Stories abound that pupils were made to walk 500 times around a swimming pool in the midday sun as another punishment. Teenagers allege that those who resisted were held in arm locks for up to 30 minutes.
Dundee Ranch was based in Costa Rica where staff costs are low. With the exception of Mr Lichfield, staff were mainly hired locally and untrained. They spoke little English and are said to have delighted in showing pupils violent videos.
"A lot of it was like Chinese torture and Holocaust stuff," said Geoffrey Bock, 17, who was removed from Dundee last October.
Amberly Knight, a former Dundee administrator, told the Costa Rican authorities that she believed that unfiltered drinking water had led to widespread stomach upsets with large numbers of pupils being sent to hospital. "There were 10 to 12 girls sharing a tiny room to sleep," she said.
"Officials from the American embassy sometimes came to inspect the school but they always announced their visit in advance. The day before the embassy came we were given a day off to wash our clothes and ordered to clean up the whole school."
The harsh regime was interrupted when Costa Rican lawyers entered the grounds accompanied by police. Officers told pupils that they were free to leave if they wished and a riot allegedly ensued when school staff refused to let the children go. Mr Lichfield, who was released after his arrest, may face criminal charges .
Dundee Ranch belonged to the World Wide Association of Specialty Programmes and Schools based in Utah. The association claims that, although all of its member schools - there are others in Mexico and Jamaica, as well as America - are affiliates, the Utah headquarters has no direct control or responsibility for particular schools.
Ken Kay, the head of the association, declined to comment, but privately appears to support Mr Lichfield. In a leaked email to parents, Mr Kay wrote: "I feel bad that you don't recognise what Narvin was trying to do."
A former association alumnus Jaryd Burn, 21, who attended a different school after drug problems, agreed. "The American adolescent mentality is, 'do what you want, do what you feel like'. The association's programme is the opposite. You have to earn your freedom. It was a tremendous help to me," he said.
At Dundee Ranch however, it seems the 'tough love' ethos will be remembered with fear by pupils and their parents.
