You claim to be willing to answer questions. Let?s recap. I know this is lengthy and will require your diligent attention, but it?s your opportunity to clarify some of your incongruent statements and possibly redeem your credibility.
First, who said that kids on restriction are still eating cheese sandwiches?
You said, ?I also witnessed kids making up stuff about counselors that I knew were lies personally to try to get out of the school?.
**Who, when, and how did you KNOW they were lying?
You said, ?I personally was a witness to the school for 7 years and yes they are licensed, and accredited by several organizations now?. You said elsewhere, ?Hidden Lake Academy was my HOME for 4 of the 7 years I was associated with the school?
**?Personal witness? for 4 or 7 years? Was ?7? and exaggeration?
Who is HLA licensed by? Please post the link that would prove this. They state that they are ?accredited? by two organizations. What does ?accredited? mean?
You said, ?But overall, I never saw abuse, or harassment, or neglect?.
**You admitted to knowing that the kids were given inadequate calories and variety while on restriction. That is neglect. There was obviously a problem with this, otherwise they would not have been required to change it. You were asked previously ?why HLA had to make this change?. You didn?t respond.
You claim kids haven?t eaten cheese sandwiches in over 3 years, and that?s how you know people are posted ?old? information.
Close perhaps, but my son ate them as recently as late 2001.
You were also asked, ?Would you like to give a shot at defending white bread and cheese sandwiches for potentially weeks or months on end? Would you subject your own child to that?? You didn?t respond.
And, ?Do you know the consequences of inadequate protein? Do you know how it affects one's ability to think and process information??
And, ?Was there a dietician when your mil was cook? Or who instructed her on what and how much to prepare and how to determine if it was nutritionally adequate??
You were also given this opportunity, ?Please show me any research that supports the notion that using food as punishment is a useful and humane thing to do. It's not even allowed in prisons?.You didn?t respond except to imply that restriction only last a week and is occasional. That is inaccurate. A blatant lie, or exaggeration, or second-hand information?
You said, ?They werent even allowed to restrain the kids if they ran away off campus?.
**Are you implying that kids were/are not restrained at HLA or that they weren?t restrained when they attempted to run away? Would you be willing to testify under oath that you are absolutely positive that no child was ever restrained at HLA? Hint: you can?t by your own admission.
You said, ?Rudy and Jill were flakes, and were fired because of it?
You were asked, ?Rudy and Jill were fired because they were "flakes"? Ummmm.... wasn't there anything more substantial than that? What did they do that got them fired??
To which you responded, ?I dont remember the specifics of the direct reason they were fired. I just remember alot of folks were glad when they left? and ?I didnt like him, or his wife? and ?since I did not like Rudy, I didnt hang around with him either? and ?So I dont know much about the guy personally other thatn he lived next door to me?.
And that you knew nothing about the more recent headmaster who was there when you claim to have been, ?As far as Greg Lindsey, professionaly I dont know how he behaved. I knew him through living next door to him and his children playing with mine, so my experience was more on a neighbor sort of level.?
When a program is unlicensed, therefore unmonitored or regulated by the state, it is incumbent on the Owner and/or Director to ensure that the policies of the program are being implimented correctly and that kids aren't being mistreated. If Rudy was there two years, and acting inappropriately, what took Dr B so long to get rid of him? Apparently everyone else disliked him and knew what he was doing.
You asked, ?Why dont you find some people who post about the good things that have come about with the kids? Like some of the ones I met who came out of the program with a new respect for themselves and others and who went onto ivy league schools??
**No one here is obligated to find those who are happy with their experience. You certainly are welcome to share about the kid(s) you knew personally. What problems s/he had before HLA. What problem s/he overcame? Which Ivy League college s/he is attending/attended? How often do you speak with this person now?
You asked, ?Do you know about changes made over the past 5 or 6 years? Do you know what is going on at the school RIGHT NOW??
**Do you? Or would you be sharing second-hand information from people who are there and have a vested interest in presenting it in the best light? And elsewhere you divulge, ?I knew ALOT about what went on at the school, while I was associated with it. That was from 1994-2000. I can't speak about anything that may have happened after that because I wouldnt have known the details.? Isn?t the latter more accurate?
FYI, Some of the changes have been reported here by others than yourself.
You asked, ?Ever heard of "growing pains"?
**This is not a case of 'growing pains'. When a program intentionally avoids state licensing and regulations by claiming to be a boarding school, yet advertises to the public as a therapeutic facility... that just smacks of fraud. And if HLA were operating with a license and in compliance with regulations, many of the things that posters here are complaining about, wouldn't have happened. State regs provide guidelines for policies and procedures designed to prevent new facilities from making common mistakes. How arrogant to make the kids guinea pigs for their 'growing pains'.
You asked, ?Ever heard of improving a program? Maybe they already have addressed whatever concerns you guys might have had in the past. Maybe whatever was going wrong has been fixed. Wouldnt that be enough for you guys? Or would you rather slander the whole school and its employees based on old policies, disgruntled ex employees, and exaggerations?
**?Slander? is a strong word. Can you prove that anyone here has done so?
Positive changes are welcomed. I personally won?t be satisfied until they are properly classified as an RTC and monitored by the state on a regular basis; until kids there have reasonable access to a public phone without being monitored or censored; until kids have a right to contact their parents and say what they think- freely without fear of punishment; until their mail is not censored; for starters.
You were given the opportunity to identify which posters you feel are lying/exaggerating and have chosen not to. You are making general claims and refuse to address specifics. In the event that you haven't read it, here's the link:
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... t=80#82739I?ll ask again here:
Would you be so kind as to assign each of the people posting here to the category to which you KNOW they belong?
And the categories are:
some people have an agenda to slander the school because they were fired.
Others are kids who didnt like being put there against their will and want to exagerate what their experiences were.
Other people are parents arent happy with what the program couldnt do for their child.
And still others are only stating what they "heard" from someone else.