Ok, well if you're up for it, I'll give you some depth while you're away. Then I'll be busy later and you can give me some homework.
On 2003-12-17 21:54:00, Anonymous wrote:
To both Ginger and GregFL - The evidence is what I learned by my relatives stay there. He is much better off because of what he learned about himself. Instead of the angry, defeated, drug dependent kid that went there, he's very much into doing his own thing now in a much healthier way- he's got a great sense of humor, is working toward his electrical engineering degree, has a healthy relationship with a girl and no longer puts limits on himself if he really wants something to happen. He gained new insights and skills, doesnt dwell on the past and seems to have a great life. And yes, only time will tell, but he's been in college a while and seems to be enjoying his life in a non-destructive way. He's taught me a lot.
I have had the same observation w/ my daughter. But I don't attrubute it to the people who sought to control her over the past couple of years (it wasn't just the boyfriend, the whole extended family is sick; they've all worked for him full time since he was a toddler) I attribute her success to her having had time to think, to grow up and to figure it out and to break away.
That's what usually happens. I have so much broader a perspective on this, having been involved in the industry for, literally, almost as long as I can remember. When I was a little kid, not just my family, but a significant number of families in our area went through The Seed. The program structure was a little different, but the basic method was the same; based on Synanon and very similar to methods used to break down American POWs captured during the Korean war.
For the most part, those of us "blessed" with this kind of "help" have not done as well, by any measure, as those who just grew up without all the "help". Are families are not as close, our careers not as successful, we use more drugs, drink more, are more angry and confrontational, have more nightmares, more divorces, more suicides and accute mental illness than the allegedly bad influences our parents sought to protect us from. Those folks, the ones we were never allowed to be friends with again for fear of getting sent (or sent back) to the program are firemen and city councelmen, business owners and so forth, enjoying life in the same town my whole family left as soon as possible to escape the constant threat of getting put back on front row.
You say that WWASP has only been around for a couple of years and that only one child has died in their care. You probably don't know this, but neither claim is really completely ture.
Here's some sworn testimony from 3 WWASP clients about the one girl who killed herself. It seems unlikely that she expected to survive the leap from the 4th floor. She was escaping, alright, but wasn't trying for the gate.
http://fornits.com/anonanon/docs/wwasp/toc.htmWWASP might be generally very good at avoiding actually killing their charges and at preventing suicide while the kids are in the program. So was Straight. But I never, in all my life before or since, saw so many people cutting themselves or running full speed, head first into walls and steel support beams as when I was in the Program. And, of the 12,000 allegedly successful graduates they claim (most of whom they've never talked to since), we know of 40 deaths, over half of which have been suicides. Among survivors, just take a look around these forums!
The cover story is that the kids are all suffering symptoms of withdrawal; responding to bad feelings about themselves that they brought with them and now are unable to mask w/ drugs. That, friend, is a bald faced lie. These problems simply are not anywhere
near as prevalent among the populations from which these kids have been rescued.
I don't have an answer to the "stupid rules" question, other than my view earlier. I should ask someone that's been there that learned what they're all about. Maybe it's as simple as cause and effect.
I can tell you about how that works. It's not anything like the way they advertize. Have you ever been romantically involved with an insanely jealous lover, supported by his maniacally co-dependent family? Have you ever known someone in that situation? Well, imagine that X100, but you're only 14 and you can't just storm out and go for a walk when the pressure gets to be too much. You are under intense scrutiny at every moment. You become obsessed with fear of forgetting one of the hundreds of rules and rituals. You're afraid to smile at someone or to neglect to notice someone else's minor infraction. The punishments for these minor failings can be extremely severe and you dare not give away the slightest hint of resentment or resistance. Sympathy for another kid who's getting sanctioned unfairly is also a cardinal sin; you dare not respond in any way but entheusiastic solidarity w/ the Program or there's more where that came from.
At any given moment, you might be dreaming of the day, sometime soon, when you'll get that hour off campus or call home or graduation. But you dare not get your hopes up too high because some minor little mis-step, or even a wholely false allegation by someone else, might take it all away. It is
not like the kinds of rules and supervision you'll find in any workplace outside of a Communist bloc country. It is relentless, 24/7/365 and your sentence is uncertain. You're in a situation where everything is entirely beyond your control, and yet everything is your fault.
This is not accidental. This regimen puts most people in a mental state where they're very much more easily manipulated. Add to that, usually inadequate sleep (especially for kids who are under extra sanctions), minimal, often completely inadequate nutrition and the very disorienting effect of being completely cut off from the real world. I was fortunate in that I was familiar enough with the program when I went in that that aspect of it didn't have as big an impact on me. I just kept telling myself "It's all theatre, I'll get out one day".
