Desisto School

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I was sent to DeSisto School in 1979.The things I’ve read are nothing compared to what I went through.
None of the teachers were certified, what school in their right mind would let 13 and 14 yr old children smoke cigarettes? Almost every person was on some kind of psycho-tropic drug. They had something called a limit structure where you were held down or basically restrained by not only staff but students as well. I remember being in one of these so called limit structures and getting a couple of cheap shots from some of the kids. I would not conform to their Gestalt therapt B.S. I was one who fought back against this completely whacko school.

I played games with the staff there and would climb to the highest pine tree, probably 100 feet, and sit there all day and smoke cigarettes and taunt them as they tried to talk me down. I ran away in just a sweatshirt in the middle of winter and hitchhiked all the way to PA just to have my parents hand me a jacket and push me out the front door. The local police picked me up and brought me to my parents who then held me inside and when the police left, pushed me right back out the door. The police picked me up again and actually bought me a bus ticket just to get me back to where the boarding school was.

I was also on the farm program, which was one of the best places you could be while at this whacko school. I had a donkey named Bob and every time someone ran away I inhereted their animal. I got to go off campus every day to get wood chips for the animals and etc. They always hired the craziest staff members to run the farm. They used to take us out on the mountain roads when it was snowing and pull us on innertubes with the farms Greenbriar station wagon. I was the only person that I know of that was ever kicked off the farm when it was supposed to be punishment.I was sheeted at one time and forced to clean the pig pens and animal stalls in just a sheet.

Also, medication such as thorazine, halidol, melleril and many other crazy drugs were being dispensed, not by nurses, but by staff members that were as crazy if not crazier than the kids. The school took away my life of going to high school, going to my school prom, and ruined the relationship between my parents and I. My sisters begged my parents to take me out of the school. And I should add I was sent there by a recommendation from my psychologist that was molesting me as well as many other children on the Main Line in Pennsylvania, which is basically the Beverly Hills of the Philly suburbs.

I smoked pot as a kid and got in trouble like any other kid. But when I was sent there it was like being sent to a prison where I learned from the older kids who also abused me. I recently joined Facebook and to my great pleasure saw that many survivors of this wretched place were still alive and well. Most of my friends have committed suicide or are dead.

They actually hired me as a dorm parent in 1990 with at least 3 felonies under my belt. It's amazing that this place stayed open this long. It was basically a place for the rich and elite to dump their kids off and ruin their lives.

[Anonymous]

I was at this freak show for 6 months.  It pretty much set me up for ending up in prison for 10 years for narcotics trafficking.  My only condolence is that Michael is rotting in hell right now, probably being personally tortured by Satan himself.  Fuck Michael DeSisto, the school, and all involved.  And a warning to parents - never trust someone else's word over your own child's and never let someone else raise your kid for you or tell you how to raise your kid.

[Anonymous]

nothing happened at DeSisto that hasn't happened at every other school."




 :question:

You're an idiot.  Obviously you weren't a student there.  Or you were one of the staff who molested the kids you sick freak.

[Anonymous]

:bump:

[Anonymous]

nothing happened at DeSisto that hasn't happened at every other school."




 :question:

You're an idiot.  Obviously you weren't a student there.  Or you were one of the staff who molested the kids you sick freak.

[Anonymous]

nothing happened at DeSisto that hasn't happened at every other school."




 :question:

You're an idiot.  Obviously you weren't a student there.  Or you were one of the staff who molested the kids you sick freak.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone heard of the Desisto school in MA?  I heard it was an unlicensed residential school calling itself a boarding school, that is now through force of licensing by the state.  I hear now that the parent groups are controlling parents and phone calls are limited, kids are kept in dorms as punishment meals in their rooms, and no activity time except for work or chore related stuff.  I have heard horror stories and am wondering if they are true because a parent is inquiring about this school.   :question:

[Anonymous]

i found this site because i was searching to see what was up with dipshitso these days.i was glad to hear that he does not exist anymore.my story starts in86.i was the basic potsmoking rebel teen from a broken home,in need of compassion.what i got instead was the hell that anyone who has been there knows.

[Anonymous]

i was kidnapped thrown in a van and put on a plain to howey.im glad iwas an expirienced hitchhiker,because i found myself on the road 5 fucking times in less than a year.i relied on the kindness of people along the way.when i wasnt on the road,my freinds and i spent most of our time on the farm.the farm at howey was apart from campus.we formed our own society there.we were tight knit.there was lots of good times with them.that is the one thing i think that got me through.that and the will to do anything to escape.i hitched from howey to maryland,and to miami.at one point ther were 50 of us staying in that shoebox they called the farm.at some point we decided this was bullshit,and decided to have alittle protest.we marched through town chanting abe(anti butterfly establishment),and fuck desisto.we made our way down to the water,when we confronted by staff,and some lev 4s.a brawl ensued.my freind cameron ended up breaking desisto's second in commands finger.we were all kicked out.alot of kids parents took them took them home.mine did'nt.the school said i had to go to a teen psych ward at chicago lakeshore hospital in order to return.that place actually made desisto look mild.i got thrown in the quiet room for smiling on my birthday.but i got out still determined to liberate myself.the ordeal ended on my fifth time on the road.i hitched to miami and stayed with my farm freinds.eventually after months iheaded back to my home near d.c.i was homeless until a social worker threatened to call the authorities if he didnt take responsibility for me legally.i had spent my 17 bday in at lakeshore,but i was still a minor.i had wanted to get a job,but my parents were withholding my social,and i had no i.d.finally with the threat of legal action they took me back.it was over.im lucky i didnt die in the process.so thats the short version.now 23 years later obviusly it had a dramatic affect on who i am and how i view the world.my expiriences at desisto showed me a microcosm of the real world in some ways.i see the level 4s not unlike the lying bankers and politicians.willing to be kiss asses and roll over on anybody to get more.then when they achieve power and trust,they are quick to be discovered to be more corrupt than imaginable.so finally a shout out to all the farmers jason,nicole,cameron,and all the rest who resisted.much love and i hope you are still fighting the good fight.basically level 2-4 and any and all staff.go fuck yourself!you probably got jobs trafficing in stolen organs or working for dick cheney.   im out.peace.

[NoRx4Me]

Hey 86 farm rioter,
Are you still around (almost a year since your post)... I found this site because I'm about to take a trip to FL and I have the urge to drive by DeSisto, even though its been 24 years, so I was looking for the address. Your post interested me because we were there close to the same time, I think I was there in the summer of '85. I'm from Northern Virginia, ran away a couple of times, sent to the farm once, eventually made it back to VA. I wish I could remember more names. There was two Mike's and a Jason, Geramy, a girl named Jamie and Missy, Suzi Shrum. I remember her because she was from VA too. Anyway... thought I'd post and see if this forum lets people know of updates.
Becky

[86 farm rioter]

becky,
           hey it was good to read your post.i knew all the people you mentioned.some were really good freinds of mine.back then i was known as lee.but my real name is eli(ay-lee).i do have some info about the school.i also am thinking about a trip to fla.iwould really like to get in touch with you.ive tried looking up some others like my freinds jason and nicole,.but was unsuccssessful.i can't figure out any way to get in touch off this message board without leaving my email.so here it is [email protected] look forward to hearing from you soon.
                   take care,
                             eli

[TM1992]

i read that Desisto was forced to close after a student swallowed razer blades and wasnt taken to the hospital for quite a while.
Whoever wrote this qoute is ABSALUTLY correct...It is so true as to why the experiances were different....bravo for expressing, so well, what I want to write too!!!!! PS I was there in 93.....


People report different experiences becasue their experiences were different. It was a "lord of the flies" experience. The strong emotionally integrated kids ganged up on the weaker kids. The people who were strong only suffered the physical deprivations which were tough but not genuinely terrible. While the kids who were marked for bullying lived in a horror land where they would clean all day and then get screamed at by about 19 kids their age about what discusting horrible worthless people they were.



I figured out the key to this "diverging experience" issue by reading the post of one of my contemporaries Heather. She came to my house with 1 other girl and 5 other men and dragged me into a van. She was the biggest bully there. I remember her ordering around the younger girls (she looked about 21) with such gusto. She "silenced" another girl and then would announce she was kidding the girl would speak and Heather would yell at her and "silence" her again. SHe really got off on confronting people. Anyway, she looks back at this time fondly because like a nazi who enjoyed ordering around jews she enjoyed ordering around and having complete poewer over other kids. Power is something people are really attracted to and some people really relish it when they get it.

The place obviously changed so much and so much for the worse over the years. The things you describe are like night and day from the school I went to (late Lake Grove/early Desisto). So many different concepts and rules, new boys, regular boys, levels, intensives, living at the mansion, sheeting, farms, punching, organized bullying, confined or starved for long periods etc. etc. .... wow, none of that shit went on in my day.

[Bellina]

Today has been a rough day.  I was watching Intervention and one of the subjects had went to some Desisto like schools which prompted me to look up the hell I survived in 1993.  This was the same year Saiz went to jail for molesting students.  I found the demons that have been tucked away all those years.  I didn't blend well with the Desisto School.  The brainwashing didn't work on me.  This did not bode well with the staff or Michael.  All of the stories are true.  From the very first day I came to the day I left I was leashed.  I never took one shower or went to the bathroom without someone watching. Hah that was when I was actually allowed a shower.  I was eventually 24hour leashed.  I forgot the term for that.  I remember a girl sleeping by each window and door and one watching me in the dark.  I don't remember attending school more then once.  Instead I remember hours upon hours of manual labor.  I vaguely remember a fire and carrying extremely heavy bed frames across campus.  I was not allowed eye contact with others and when my Dad finally came to get me my dorm parent actually admitted that she had singled me out and abused me.  The rapes, starvings, the restraining, the beatings, they all happened.  And Jesus the kids that ran away over and over only to return because they were so brainwashed they didn't know what to do once they got out.  Why my parents  never did anything I'm not sure.  Perhaps the brainwashing had more effect on them then they realize.  Honestly like many kids who were left there to be forgotten about I think they didn't want to deal with the atrocities that they were essentially responsible for.  To this day I cannot bring it up.  The terms alone, the farm, cornering, sheeting make me want to vomit.  I sit here with tear stained cheeks and a lump in my throat wondering what ever happened to those kids.  I remember only a few names.  Dana, Joy, Logan, Clair, Sloan.  Jamal he was from NY.  And this other kid who was in the gang Latin Kings and was known by his street name though I can't remember now.  I am 35 my name is Bonnie. I was there when I was in h.s.  I was never the same.  No one that hasn't been there can understand what we went through.  Though we may never be "right", we are survivors.  I came across this on the web.  http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/ar ... to-school/.  The only breath of relief I have is that Desisto and his so called school are both dead.  May the horrors we experienced die with them.

[micheldell]

I am new here and am very happy that we found a place where people recognize cults are shocking. I used to participate in the college. Thereputic appointed DeSisto School. Yes, it was a cult. Key in the background made this a terrible place for thousands of dollars in  bad parents of children who are victims of this cult of the school.

[Lonegoddess]

I was there between 1991 and 1992 (unfortunately I was there when the Al Saiz molestation horror occurred). I was a dorm parent and remember being told to make sure the boy's twin brother didn't make it to the farm to mete out revenge on Al. I was sick to my stomach and wanted the kid to be able to beat the crap out the guy who did that to his brother. I left the school before making my two year commitment. I was effectively under house arrest the last week I was there since Michael wouldn't allow me to interact with (or say goodbye to) any of the students. Sadly, my own depression has blotted out names and other memories, but I would welcome anyone who was there at the same time as me to contact me. I can be reached at lonegoddess at hotmail dot com.