Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Troubled Teen Industry
Valley View School Abuse
Eliscu2:
:wall:
throwaway:
Was I a problem child? Yes. Was VVS good for me? NO.
I attended VVS and I have very negative things to say about it. The night staff have the permission to physically "detain" kids and while they don't use it often, some were out of line. While they eventually left, it was pretty horrible. The day staff (teachers) were a lot nicer and more professional, and I actually learned things from them. However, what happened after VVS was a disaster for me.
I ended up essentially "being asked to leave" my next school (Dunn) and I was completely unprepared for a real world environment. I ended up by accident in a small private school for highschool which was a godsend (they were all about emotional wellbeing). If it wasn't for that school, I doubt I'd be where I was today. I ended up failing my first three semesters at college and dealing with crippling depression for the next year and a half. I'm now 23 and doing extremely well, but only because I've moved out and have been attending REAL therapy.
Now, you could say "well throwaway, you may have been unique, more of a 'failure' then the other students". Well, the school I attended after Valley View was Dunn. There were 4 other students from VVS there. Two of them were expelled, one "chose not to return'' in the middle of the year, and the last was a known troublemaker.
When I left VVS, they were courting younger students in an attempt to no longer deal with the more troubled students of the past. This seems like a huge goddamn mistake as the staff didn't get any easier. Also, when I left, phil spiva was in the process of being replaced by rick bulgar, and scott longvall can burn in hell.
tldr, you send your kids to VVS, they WILL receive physical and emotional abuse, they WILL be forced to work in a work program, and there's a good chance they'll be unprepared for the outside world
(i attended two years from 2002-2004)
throwaway:
--- Quote ---The person who posted such an unfounded attack on Dr. Spiva should be ashamed. Valley View, under Dr. Spiva's leadership and guidance has helped countless young men find their way in a world that seemed totally against them. Is the program tough? Yes. Does it ask a lot of the boys?Yes. Does it teach them tolerance, resposibility, respect for themselves and others? Yes And how to cope in the world? Yes.
I personally know several young men who probably would not be in this world today if not for their experience at VVS and who are doing very well in their lives. To insult the program and especially Dr. Spiva with such despicable accusations can only be the actions of a malicious person who failed to learn the valuable lessons avaliable to them while at VVS. Dr. Spiva you have my total support.
A parent of a successful VVS graduate.
--- End quote ---
The program is tough. It did ask a lot of us. It also taught us that "faggot" is a good word, that if you do something wrong and you'll get screamed at and thrown around. Like I mentioned above, pretty much every student I went to school with from VVS ended up "leaving" under negative circumstances.
Yeah, I sure failed to learn lessons. Six years later, with REAL therapy, I'm a straight A student who is a year and a half from graduating. You were lucky that your son was so resilient or knew how to play the game going in.
So yeah, it can ONLY be the actions of a malicious failure. Thanks for painting everyone who disagrees with you that way.
Eliscu2:
My brother Mathew B. Eliscu (chumply) is having a few problems with the Valley View School Alumni.
When he pulls the needle out of his arm he might remember begging me to help him expose the abuse at Valley View School.
Meanwhile I'll be laughing my ass off at the fact that he still bothers to threaten to ruin my life.... :-)
PeterStrom:
I found 3 reviews here: https://plus.google.com/105607162811790217090/about
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I sent my son to vvs to help him with some behavior problems he was never depressed i found out after 2 years of paying 70000 / a year he was being betten and abused and the staff encouraged that it was like prison the mentallty and how life was there when he came home he was completely messed up he was 20x worse then when he went in he was mentally destroyed he couldnt function in daily life and last week he killed him self and left a suside note blameing vvs i found out this happend multiple times DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE OR HE WILL DIE
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DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE THEY ENCOURGE BULLYING AND PHYSICAL VIOLENCE THEY WILL MAKE SURE KIDS BEAT UP YOUR KID AND MAKE HIS LIFE MISERABLE IT LOOKS GARTE ON PAPER OR WHEN YOU VIST BUT THE WORSE COMES OUT WHEN THE PARENTS LEAVE YOU WONT KNOW TILL YOU GET A CAL FROM THE ER BEACUSE YOUR KIDS WAS BEATEN WITH A HOCKEY SSTICK AND STABED OR BEACUSE 10 KIDS GANGED UP AND BEET THE CRAP OUT OF A INCENT KID THEY WILL COVER IT UP AND VALLEY VEIW IS GETTING SUED BEACUSE OF THIS THIS IS AWEFUL PALCE MY KID NOW HAS PTSD PTSD. For years, HE nightmares in which he was back in the valley view dorms. Loud noises and voices caused me to flinch even into his 20s, and any time someone was angry with he immediately got a fight-or-flight response: he didn't want to be picked up and thrown or restrained. --- Valley View's only saving grace is that it is far less horrible than Elan, but there are still better things out there.
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I am an ex-student who was sent for 2.5 years (graduating around 2002). After I left, I was fortunate enough to eventually end up in a school that focused on positive reinforcement. Without that, I would be in a very different place than I am today. --- Between that fortunate school and VVS, I attended another boarding school with 3 other VVS graduates. All of us but one were expelled or "left" within the first year; the last was a known troublemaker. I don't know what happened to him. --- Valley View School left me with what I think was basically PTSD. For years, I had nightmares in which I was back in the valley view dorms. Loud noises and voices caused me to flinch even into my 20s, and any time someone was angry with me I immediately got a fight-or-flight response: I didn't want to be picked up and thrown or restrained. --- Valley View's only saving grace is that it is far less horrible than Elan, but there are still better things out there.
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Short to say. Sounds like what you could expect from such a place.
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