If anyone is thinking about possibly sending your child to HLA, please listen to what I am about to say...Okay. I'm not sure really where to begin. I'll start with why I went there... I was court ordered there for assualt and battery on my parents during a cocaine overdose, unruly child; dropping out of school & living on the streets, and a few drug paraphenalia charges due to proof of parents. I was 16 at the time of my conviction, to then turn 17 just a few days on entering HLA... That was in 1997. I am currently 23 and do have control over my life, which is an aspect very different from my dark days. I consider my self to be well educated and have been very succesful with relationships, including my parents... There are some hangups though. I have suffered from Social Anxiety disorder upon leaving HLA. No matter who I've talked to, I just can't seem to get past it. I also suffer from pretty disturbing nightmares & bouts of spontaneous depression. Luckily, I have people in my life that love me for who I truly am... Ever since I have turned my life around, I've done my best to help those when it seems applicable & even when it doesn't. I have this quote I like to say, " I am so full of Love because I know so much of Hate."... About HLA... Although there is the one point I can't ignore, if I hadn't been admitted to HLA I probably would be dead, there is still the fact that after walking in there to rid myself of problems, I exited with a whole new set of problems... So, when it comes down to it, I don't really know what to say. HLA is Evil. There's no doubt about that. They're exploiting young minds for the sake of profit and for even stranger deeper personal control issues. Brainwashing is also definately involved. There were things they had done to me that I hadn't realized till much later, when I realized that a decision I had made wasn't what I wanted to do, but what HLA had programmed me to do, and not in a good way. For parents who have kids there & it seems to be working, trust me, it will, but only for a short while. After one starts adjusting to their natural environments in society again, it will all be realized and,sadly, there will undoubtedly be problems again. Why? Because they are not really themselves. They all were broken down in the same ways, and they were all built again with the same techniques used on everybody. Nobody is the same. That's why programs range anywhere from 3 wks. to a few years. I was there for 10 of the 18 mo. I still feel to this day that I was ready to be released at around 4 mo. ANything thereafter was very very unhealthy for me. Nobody is the same. EVeryone thinks and percieves differently. If you don't believe me, go to
http://www.personalitypathways.com and take the Myers-Briggs online type indicator test. Hopefully these tests will be given more regularly in schools while children grow up, so as to avoid things like this and so everyone may respect each others differences more wisely... I told myself I wouldn't talk specifically about any certain incident at HLA, but I do want to give you one example that'll hopefully terrify you. When HLA found out that I was trying to get my court order dropped & that I'd secretly written the judge, they tried in many ways to get me, or should I say make me, stay. One specific incident included me, 3 of what I like to call psycho-manipulators, one of these being MIKE WITHERSPOON, and two other kids who'd been placed as dorm heads and had been at HLA longer. Almost every kid there would sell you out very fast for special privledges, and these two guys just happenned to be that way. Long story short, they all took everything I said & did & turned it around to make me think I was suicidal. They knew that if I tried to kill myself w/ them interveneing or had a written statement, that I wouldn't be able to leave. I had been there for around 5 mo. at this time. Well sure enough, I tried to slice my wrists open with a pair of scissors. Let me just say this, I knew something was up when they were talking to me like they were in that little room, but I have always considered myself a trusting individual & so I was not aware to what these people who're supposed to be helping me were trying to do... Now, that is pure evil. There is not one person who wouldn't have done what I did. That is there job, they are psycho-manipulators who have a backup & excuse for everything. When I told them what I knew they had done & busted out into tears, there was no feeling behind those eyes...none... The only reason I changed at HLA when it comes to the problems I had previous to this place, was because I realized that I was a good person inside & only I could change my life. It truly had very little to do with the program, well, except for the motivation to get out of there... SInce HLA, I have been successful in everything I do, but everywhere I go, I constantly fight horrible feelings. I always fight & I always win, but they are always there & I wonder if I'll ever be able to push through them... If you care at all about your child, do not send them there. In fact, I am so adament to having these facilities that you only see in movies shut down, that I'm willing to offer giving my best advice to whatever the situation may be in which you are consulting this site for. My E-mail is
[email protected]... Trust me, before sending your child to a place as such, please consult me to discuss further options. I have a friend who is now a child psychologist and a former HLA student. He is putting out a book about his life and the crime, hate, and illusion of love that went into HLA. Please, if you Love your child, don't send them to a place like this. ALthough things may seem good for awhile, it is inevitable that they won't stay that way. For your child is no longer him or herself...
