Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => Hyde Schools => Topic started by: Anonymous on October 10, 2005, 04:03:00 PM
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An acquaintance of mine recently told me about this website and the detailed discussion of the Hyde School. I'm a parent of a student who left Hyde at the end of the academic year (in good standing, I should add). I've now taken some time to read many of the postings on this website. Unfortunately, many of the postings seem like an exchange between a couple of angry, impulsive adolescents who are trading insults. I wouldn't pay much attention to these barbs.
But, if you can wade through the postings on this site you'll also find quite a few very thoughtful comments and observations that, in my opinion, capture Hyde's culture very accurately. Yes, some students and families benefit from their Hyde experience. They are very vocal supporters. And, I wholeheartedly agree with those who say that Hyde can be a very, very destructive environment. It's true that the seminars can harm people greatly (in addition to providing some participants with a "growth" experience). If you enroll at Hyde there's a very good chance that some staff and alumni parents will confront you in a very condescending, patronizing, and finger-pointing way, accusing you of not examining your own issues or digging deep enough. You will feel pressured to expose very intimate information about your lives to complete strangers. You can expect to witness seminar participants "lose it"; sadly, the seminar facilitators typically are teachers and alumni parents who have virtually no formal training in the handling of incredibly sensitive matters like these. The consequences can be tragic, although they aren't always. During my years with Hyde I've observed seminar participants scream, yell, threaten suicide, and bolt from the room while other participants and staff merely watched, not knowing quite what to do. I sincerely regret that I exposed my child to this experience. My partner and I eventually recognized our mistake -- late in the game, unfortunately -- and we've moved on. We feel so much better having divorced ourselves from Hyde. My child is functioning SO much better in her current school, which is so much healthier than Hyde in so many ways (the staff at the current school treat students and parents in a very humane way and stay in very close touch with parents -- just the opposite of our Hyde experience).
At Hyde I met some wonderfully sensitive, caring parents and staff. Unfortunately, they were overshadowed by the many staff and alumni parents (the latter volunteer to staff mandatory seminars) who often come across in a very patronizing, insensitive and arrogant manner. That behavior is very common at Hyde and seems to be the "norm." (I encourage you to read HydeFan's postings on this website. That's the style of communication I found to be very common at Hyde -- confrontational, defensive, accusing, with occasional flashes of insight and fair-minded reasoning. If you're not comfortable with that style, Hyde may not be for you.) It's also true that the turnover among staff (many of whom are very, very young and inexperienced) and students is high.
There are a number of schools for struggling teens that are so much more constructive than Hyde. I encourage you to look for them, perhaps with the help of a well informed educational consultant. My partner and I have met many parents who rushed into Hyde because they felt desperate to find a school in the middle of the year, usually while in a crisis state. Often these parents were new to the boarding school world and didn't know how may alternatives to Hyde exist. Hyde's enrollment seems to benefit greatly from the pool of desperate parents. Too often parents don't have the time to consider various schools and carefully examine their strengths and limitations. I've encountered many parents who discovered over time that Hyde is a very poor fit for their child and family and, eventually, looked for a more wholesome environment. There are lots and lots of parents who found a more appropriate school post-Hyde. Taking the time to talk with other parents who have conducted the search can be very helpful.
Good luck.
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Thank you for posting. Your comments are truly insightful.
What I find most interesting is that this theme cross-cuts the entire "industry," not just Hyde. There are a few well-intentioned staff and teachers that do their best to help kids, but simply cannot do so within the framework of the "program."
Unfortunately, these employees are usually ostracized and denigrated by the "true believers" (usually the management) and are "squeezed out" of their jobs, usually to be left with the impression that I got: this treatment modality simply does not work and can be very damaging to the developing mind. This is precisely why one deosn't see "professionals" working at places like Hyde.
Any educated mental health or education professional sees right away that the "program" is bunk and these types of places make a living marketing hope to desperate parents.
In any case, thank you once again for your comments and good luck with your daughter.
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I had both a son and a daughter at wilderness programs/schools and they both had at least one professional available to the participants. Do you mean to tell me as big as Hyde is, (at least 180 students)they do not have any professionals on staff?
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On 2005-10-10 15:03:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I had both a son and a daughter at wilderness programs/schools and they both had at least one professional available to the participants. Do you mean to tell me as big as Hyde is, (at least 180 students)they do not have any professionals on staff?"
You may find this hard to believe, but during our two-year experience with Hyde they did not employ even a single mental health professional on staff -- not a single one. After we were at the school for several months we discovered that an enormous percentage of kids at Hyde struggle with things like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, and so on; we hadn't known that when we started. We quickly found out that Hyde views everything a kid does that's problematic as a "character" and "attitude" issue. Mental health doesn't enter into the equation. We spoke with many parents who had the same reaction we did (although some parents like Hyde's approach). That's one of the reasons many thoughtful parents leave the school. They realize it's terribly shortsighted to treat kids this way. (Hyde did bring in a professional from the outside to run groups for kids in recovery.)
If you think your kid has any mental health issues at all that affect his/her behavior and need to be considered, I recommend you find a school that is sensitive to those needs. Hyde is not. Period.
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For a long while, we had a former therapist from CEDU posting here. You might be able to find his story; he posted as "former cedu therapist", if memory serves.
He had a lot to say about the difficulty in having actual educated psyche professionals working in a LGA style environment. The staff, he said (peer staff, graduates, I guess?) bullied and cowed the therapists and never let them have any meaningfull access to the kids.
If there is a God, he is a malign thug.
--Samuel Clemens "Mark Twain", American author and humorist
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I recall that Hyde had a very difficult time with parents who were in the field of Psychology! Most of them did not buy into the program and for that reason Joe Gauld always had condescending comments in response to their questions. Come to think of it, Joe Gauld reacted this same way to ANYONE who was not in agreement with him.
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On 2005-10-10 15:03:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I had both a son and a daughter at wilderness programs/schools and they both had at least one professional available to the participants. Do you mean to tell me as big as Hyde is, (at least 180 students)they do not have any professionals on staff?"
Good God, please don't post this info on Struggling Teens, the program dependent parents will be terribly jealous that you raised 2 kids in a program(s).
:evil:
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The question was, does Hyde have ANY Psychologists on staff?
As far as your cheap shot HydeFan, (so obvious) it is a challenge raising adopted children. You do the best you can but they come with extra baggage. :nworthy:
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Um, help me out here PLEASE! I haven't posted on this stream (until now), don't think I have made any comments about adopted children (which would seem fairly rude to me), and don't really know which cheap shot you think it is I took.
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Last one was me....
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Hyde does have Psychologists on staff. They are active professionals in Bath and Woodstock who see a large number of students on a regualr basis. The psychologists then communicate with the parents and the school. There also are several substance abuse pros on staff at the schools. Gigi's husband is one there's another man named Geno Ring that see's a huge number of students in a group setting on both campuses. There are also people on both campus that have advanced degrees in learning disablities.
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On 2005-10-11 08:10:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Hyde does have Psychologists on staff. They are active professionals in Bath and Woodstock who see a large number of students on a regualr basis. The psychologists then communicate with the parents and the school. There also are several substance abuse pros on staff at the schools. Gigi's husband is one there's another man named Geno Ring that see's a huge number of students in a group setting on both campuses. There are also people on both campus that have advanced degrees in learning disablities.
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Could you please tell me the name of these Psychologists on "Staff." When I went to Hyde, (years ago) I was told Hyde could refer me to someone in the community, but it would be up to my parents to work it out with whoever I went to saw. There was never anyone available on campus or anyone who worked directly with the school.
I think what many people have referred to on this website is the fact that when someone is in crisis during a FLC, Family Weekend, Group, when these parents and kids are pushed to the limit, there is not a Psychologist on hand. These "groups" are run by former parents, young staff, and senior kids. I remember once wanting to run out of a seminar and call 911 because this parents was going ballistic and I thought she was going to have a breakdown. This was always what worried me about Hyde. There was no one there to help these people in crisis.
Please correct me if I am wrong about this. Maybe things have changed and maybe Hyde does have Psychologists hired by the school and on staff full time, but I never saw it when I went.
Also I don't know about staff being trained in Learning disabilities. I had ADD and was never offered any kind of assistance. Again, please correct me if things have changed. It was about 8 years ago. It would be nice to know that things are different
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On 2005-10-11 08:10:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Hyde does have Psychologists on staff. They are active professionals in Bath and Woodstock who see a large number of students on a regualr basis. The psychologists then communicate with the parents and the school. There also are several substance abuse pros on staff at the schools. Gigi's husband is one there's another man named Geno Ring that see's a huge number of students in a group setting on both campuses. There are also people on both campus that have advanced degrees in learning disablities.
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I do not think it's accurate to state that "Hyde does have psychologists on staff." Our experience with Hyde is that the school is willing to refer students to clinicians in the local community. That is VERY different from saying that Hyde has clinicians on staff. Moreover, in our experience the coordination between Hyde and the clinicians tends to be rather superficial in many instances. Also, in our experience the clinician did not commuicate regularly with the school or with us. We received one phone call during an entire year (not that we expected regular phone calls -- we wanted to respect our child's privacy) and the clinician told us he/she had exactly one conversation during last year with Hyde staff.
This is a major problem, given the large numbers of students at Hyde with mental health issues. This is what distresses so many educational consultants and parents who recognize that schools that accept these students need to have appropriate professional services ON CAMPUS (and refer off campus when necessary and appropriate).
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On 2005-10-11 13:47:00, Anonymous wrote:
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On 2005-10-11 08:10:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Hyde does have Psychologists on staff. They are active professionals in Bath and Woodstock who see a large number of students on a regualr basis. The psychologists then communicate with the parents and the school. There also are several substance abuse pros on staff at the schools. Gigi's husband is one there's another man named Geno Ring that see's a huge number of students in a group setting on both campuses. There are also people on both campus that have advanced degrees in learning disablities.
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I do not think it's accurate to state that "Hyde does have psychologists on staff." Our experience with Hyde is that the school is willing to refer students to clinicians in the local community. That is VERY different from saying that Hyde has clinicians on staff. Moreover, in our experience the coordination between Hyde and the clinicians tends to be rather superficial in many instances. Also, in our experience the clinician did not commuicate regularly with the school or with us. We received one phone call during an entire year (not that we expected regular phone calls -- we wanted to respect our child's privacy) and the clinician told us he/she had exactly one conversation during last year with Hyde staff.
This is a major problem, given the large numbers of students at Hyde with mental health issues. This is what distresses so many educational consultants and parents who recognize that schools that accept these students need to have appropriate professional services ON CAMPUS (and refer off campus when necessary and appropriate). "
You're absolutely right. Unless things have changed very recently, Hyde does not have mental health staff at the school. It is very misleading to state that Hyde has psychologists on its staff. Parents should know what they're getting into if they send their kids to Hyde, particularly if the kids struggle with any sort of significant mental health issues.
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You've been very vocal till now Hydefan. So, what gives? You seem to have inside information about Hyde. Is it true that Hyde does not have a full time or part time Psychologist on staff?
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My personal opinion is that I have always thought Hyde should have a closer working relationship with the psychological community and that a least some of the students needed more professional 1-1 help.
In addition to help, what the pros are doing outside the gates should be integrated into the schools approach to the students inside the gates (and with the parents as well).
But the truth is that I actually don't know the details of Hyde's historical or current use of the psychological community.
Annecdotally, however, I think this is an age old problem that goes back to Joe's relationship (antipathy?) with the psychological community.
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It's true -- one of the most common complaints about Hyde is that the school tends to ignore students' mental health issues. Hyde's philosophy is that every misbehavior and struggle is an "attitude" problem or "character" problem. I agree that attitude and character are vitally important. But, there's absolutely no question that many Hyde students have difficulty coping with real, honest-to-goodness psychiatric issues. It's appalling to me, and to many other parents, that Hyde is not willing to acknowledge these issues in a sincere way. The fact that they don't employ bona fide mental health professionals (licensed psychologists, clinical social workers, counselors), when so many of their students deal with these issues, is incredible to me. We've decided to move on to another school for this reason. We had no idea this was Hyde's approach when we signed on, and we had no idea how pervasive these mental health issues are at Hyde. The word needs to get out so that other parents and educational consultants aren't misled, particularly when families beat a path to Hyde's door in the midst of a student's and family's crisis.
Families also need to know how Hyde demands that everyone share their "dirty laundry" and very personal family details in seminars. Those who run Hyde seem to think this approach is enlightened. Yes, it may be useful to some, but for many it's horribly destructive, particularly when the seminar leaders aren't trained to deal with a crisis that emerges in the middle of a seminar (screaming battles, suicide threats, intense self-disclosure).
At times (not always) Hyde administrators also provide students and families with phenomenally poor role models with regard to self-disclosure and personal boundaries. Hundreds of people sit in an auditorium and listen to intimate details from the headmaster about how one of his sons (a Hyde graduate) got tossed out of college for misconduct; the headmaster's periodic marital struggles; the school's founder's marital conflicts and family struggles with alcoholism, etc. The list goes on. I fully believe group therapy and sharing with others can be useful. But is it really appropriate for the school's headmaster and founder to broadcast to the world all of these intimate details? Aren't there more constructive ways to encourage parents and students to acknowledge their personal struggles, model APPROPRIATE self-disclosure, and so on?
Hyde claims to be preoccupied with ethics and integrity. I'd like to hear Hyde administrators' answers to these questions: Did the founder ask his wife for her consent to broadcast to thousands of people all the details about her alcoholism and their marital problems? Did the Hyde headmaster ask his son for his consent before he broadcast intimate details about his behavior and misconduct? What kind of ethics is Hyde teaching? What kind of role modeling is this? Isn't it important to expose Hyde's hypocrisy?
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Joe's wife Blanche passed away years ago. I'm sure she'd agree that their struggle could help others.
Duncan's son I'm sure was told that his father would be sharing the family struggle.
I guess there are a lot of people, like you, that keep the family "secrets" tucked neatly away in a closet, until either the family disintegrates or the problem gets so big it's forced into the public eye.
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Alcoholism and marital problems were minor compared to what my famly and young son were exposed to. Had I known this in advance I would have never brought my other young son to the school for "Family Weekend." What he heard was totally inappropriate and shocking. I sincerely do not understand how Hyde can think it is therapuetic for a 13 year old to sit in a group and hear about attempted suicides, threats to kill a parent, yelling and screaming between parent and student, intimidation tactics to get each participant to come up with more intimate details of their lives! There needs to be some kind of disclaimer or disclosure written to warn these parents! It truly is shocking what is exposed in these seminars!
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On 2005-10-12 08:16:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Joe's wife Blanche passed away years ago. I'm sure she'd agree that their struggle could help others.
Duncan's son I'm sure was told that his father would be sharing the family struggle.
I guess there are a lot of people, like you, that keep the family "secrets" tucked neatly away in a closet, until either the family disintegrates or the problem gets so big it's forced into the public eye.
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Your assumption is way off base. In fact, I strongly believe that families should NOT tuck away their personal issues and struggles. It can be enormously helpful to share those issues with others, particularly in settings that are carefully facilitated and supervised to ensure that the material is handled properly. As my comments indicate, my main concern -- and I'm far from alone in this -- is that Hyde insists on exposure to groups of strangers, in seminars and sometimes in large public forums, and virtually no one at the school has formal training in the management of such remarkably sensitive material. The consequences aren't always tragic or destructive, but sometimes they are. This may not concern you, but it certainly concerns me and many, many other Hyde critics.
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On 2005-10-11 08:10:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Hyde does have Psychologists on staff. They are active professionals in Bath and Woodstock who see a large number of students on a regualr basis. The psychologists then communicate with the parents and the school. There also are several substance abuse pros on staff at the schools. Gigi's husband is one there's another man named Geno Ring that see's a huge number of students in a group setting on both campuses. There are also people on both campus that have advanced degrees in learning disablities.
"
I do not think it's accurate to state that "Hyde does have psychologists on staff." Our experience with Hyde is that the school is willing to refer students to clinicians in the local community. That is VERY different from saying that Hyde has clinicians on staff. Moreover, in our experience the coordination between Hyde and the clinicians tends to be rather superficial in many instances. Also, in our experience the clinician did not commuicate regularly with the school or with us. We received one phone call during an entire year (not that we expected regular phone calls -- we wanted to respect our child's privacy) and the clinician told us he/she had exactly one conversation during last year with Hyde staff.
This is a major problem, given the large numbers of students at Hyde with mental health issues. This is what distresses so many educational consultants and parents who recognize that schools that accept these students need to have appropriate professional services ON CAMPUS (and refer off campus when necessary and appropriate).
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My wife and I were kicked out of Hyde washington dc school because we began to ask questions about the school and the money.We were at the school for six years and Joe Gauld rules with an iron fist. :evil:
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On 2005-11-07 10:20:00, Anonymous wrote:
"My wife and I were kicked out of Hyde washington dc school because we began to ask questions about the school and the money.We were at the school for six years and Joe Gauld rules with an iron fist. :evil: "
I'm sorry to hear about your experience with Joe Gauld and the Hyde-DC school. Are you willing to summarize your experiences and concerns with Hyde? Are there issues that parents considering Hyde should know about and take into consideration? Are there issues that the other school systems around the U.S. that Hyde is entering should know about? Are your experiences similar to or different from those reported by parents whose kids were/are enrolled in the two Hyde boarding schools?
I hope you've been able to find a good alternative to Hyde.
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On 2005-11-07 10:20:00, Anonymous wrote:
"My wife and I were kicked out of Hyde washington dc school because we began to ask questions about the school and the money.We were at the school for six years and Joe Gauld rules with an iron fist. :evil: "
Funny you say this because according to the "pro Hydettes" Joe Gauld has very little involvement. I agree with you that Joe Gauld is VERY involved!!
I too am very curious about your experiences at the DC school. I don't hear much about the school other than the headmaster who came to speak at the boarding school and gave a "ra,ra rally!"
Does Joe Gauld or anyone else from the family get involved in the daily life at DC? Is it true that the kids do much better at Hyde DC then the public school system, or is this the same false public relations BS as at the boarding school? Have you complained to the DC officials?
As far as money, what kind of questions were you asking that they threw you out? Again this goes back to the censorship at Hyde. Hyde does NOT want anyone to make waves!
By the way, for those of you who heard all those great speeches from the Gauld family about how they don't make much money.....I know for a fact that the school, which is owned by the Gauld's is worth A LOT of $$$$! I'll take 1/4 of their net worth and retire any day!!!
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I am amazed & heartened to see this site. I'm a parent whose child left Hyde last year - after 2 years. He transferred to another boarding school, one we should have enrolled in in the first place. ANY good small school with caring faculty would have done it for us - without the high drama of Hyde. People put their kids into Hyde in a crisis - often on the advice of a consultant. It was negligent to do this. Leaving Hyde was leaving a cult. I won't go on about this - lest I be accused by a Hyde fan of being over- emotional. My son wanted to go to a real school - one that valued academics and didn't use him as a 'proctor'. Hyde pressured him intensely, wanting him to stay and 'face his fears'. I had several horrendous phone calls with staff. At Hyde the first day they tell parents not to believe what your child tells you: Deciding to listen to my son and advocate for his leaving was the best and hardest thing I have ever done. Hyde doesn't want to hear the 'truth' - and when a parent and child decide what's best for themselves, they accuse you of various character flaws.
The 'seminars' - "let go, Let Hyde"... as they say...
With its foreground of "character" being more important that academic achievement, Hyde uses intensive ad hoc group therapy sessions to intentionally intrude into the fabric and balance of the family system. A retreat or "flc' is several days of 3 long 'seminars' a day punctuated by various group exercises designed to break down defenses. This is practicing family systems group therapy without a license. Of course no one at Hyde will admit this! Hyde can't call itself a therapeutic school, of course, because there is no qualified counseling staff running these seminars or working with the kids - despite the obvious needs of many if not most of the kids. With missionary zeal and techniques that you suddenly realize are quite coercive, they push their untested educational theory on families who didn't realize they were captives of the 'process'.
The premise of 'fix the family, fix the kid', and 'personal growth through the Hyde process" could not be more destructive. People end up disclosing intimate and often painful things about themselves. If a family chose to seek therapy, a trained therapist would guide this slowly over time and know what to do with the results. Imagine yourself In the 6th seminar hour of the 2nd day of a 4 day 'retreat' - led by an intrusive untrained leader pushing you to 'Tell the truth! What do you do when you don't go for truth!" - you're unbelievably divulging some intense personal issue (in front of your child...) and then - after hearing 'feedback' from the group (often misplaced, stereotyped and hurtful in itself), your time is up! Dry your tears! It's someone else's turn now! It's no wonder Hyde doesn't have therapist on their staff: no professional would do this to people. The state licensing boards ought to take more of an interest in what actually takes place in seminars. Not just individual psyches are damaged: marriages, sibling relationships - all if it. These people have no right to put families through this in the name of 'education'. And this is only what the parents see: it's the kids, who have to live this psychodrama day after day, who are really stuck. Imagine being an underclassmen and having a posse of 'seniors who run the school' in your room at night accusing you of being 'dirty'. ("Dirty" - their work for 'breaking ethics'). "If you're not dirty, are you willing to sign this paper saying if we find anything on you that you won't go home for spring break?"
As I read this I cannot believe I ever got involved to the level I did. In my region, for a time, I held a leadership position where I was supposed to do this to others. I regret not standing up at these seminars and walking out, I regret any hurtful intrusion I ever made into other people and at some point I will write apologies and explanations to them.
Simplest advice - stay away. If you or your family need therapy, get a good therapist. If you need a therapeutic school, there are many. If you need a boarding school, find one. It's hard to believe Hyde gets away with this. Any why am I anonymous? Maybe in a year I won't be. At the moment I still don't trust the school - I do feel like I've left a cult. I left my brains at the door when I entered, and hopefully my experience will prevent you from doing the same.
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The FLCs's and Family Weekends were HORRIBLE. They have absolutely no business whatsover doing these kind of things. They get away with it because the parents are desperate.
I can't even describe how angry I'm getting just remembering this garbage. I felt violated.
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On 2005-11-09 19:07:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I am amazed & heartened to see this site. I'm a parent whose child left Hyde last year - after 2 years. He transferred to another boarding school, one we should have enrolled in in the first place. ANY good small school with caring faculty would have done it for us - without the high drama of Hyde. People put their kids into Hyde in a crisis - often on the advice of a consultant. It was negligent to do this. Leaving Hyde was leaving a cult. I won't go on about this - lest I be accused by a Hyde fan of being over- emotional. My son wanted to go to a real school - one that valued academics and didn't use him as a 'proctor'. Hyde pressured him intensely, wanting him to stay and 'face his fears'. I had several horrendous phone calls with staff. At Hyde the first day they tell parents not to believe what your child tells you: Deciding to listen to my son and advocate for his leaving was the best and hardest thing I have ever done. Hyde doesn't want to hear the 'truth' - and when a parent and child decide what's best for themselves, they accuse you of various character flaws.
The 'seminars' - "let go, Let Hyde"... as they say...
With its foreground of "character" being more important that academic achievement, Hyde uses intensive ad hoc group therapy sessions to intentionally intrude into the fabric and balance of the family system. A retreat or "flc' is several days of 3 long 'seminars' a day punctuated by various group exercises designed to break down defenses. This is practicing family systems group therapy without a license. Of course no one at Hyde will admit this! Hyde can't call itself a therapeutic school, of course, because there is no qualified counseling staff running these seminars or working with the kids - despite the obvious needs of many if not most of the kids. With missionary zeal and techniques that you suddenly realize are quite coercive, they push their untested educational theory on families who didn't realize they were captives of the 'process'.
The premise of 'fix the family, fix the kid', and 'personal growth through the Hyde process" could not be more destructive. People end up disclosing intimate and often painful things about themselves. If a family chose to seek therapy, a trained therapist would guide this slowly over time and know what to do with the results. Imagine yourself In the 6th seminar hour of the 2nd day of a 4 day 'retreat' - led by an intrusive untrained leader pushing you to 'Tell the truth! What do you do when you don't go for truth!" - you're unbelievably divulging some intense personal issue (in front of your child...) and then - after hearing 'feedback' from the group (often misplaced, stereotyped and hurtful in itself), your time is up! Dry your tears! It's someone else's turn now! It's no wonder Hyde doesn't have therapist on their staff: no professional would do this to people. The state licensing boards ought to take more of an interest in what actually takes place in seminars. Not just individual psyches are damaged: marriages, sibling relationships - all if it. These people have no right to put families through this in the name of 'education'. And this is only what the parents see: it's the kids, who have to live this psychodrama day after day, who are really stuck. Imagine being an underclassmen and having a posse of 'seniors who run the school' in your room at night accusing you of being 'dirty'. ("Dirty" - their work for 'breaking ethics'). "If you're not dirty, are you willing to sign this paper saying if we find anything on you that you won't go home for spring break?"
As I read this I cannot believe I ever got involved to the level I did. In my region, for a time, I held a leadership position where I was supposed to do this to others. I regret not standing up at these seminars and walking out, I regret any hurtful intrusion I ever made into other people and at some point I will write apologies and explanations to them.
Simplest advice - stay away. If you or your family need therapy, get a good therapist. If you need a therapeutic school, there are many. If you need a boarding school, find one. It's hard to believe Hyde gets away with this. Any why am I anonymous? Maybe in a year I won't be. At the moment I still don't trust the school - I do feel like I've left a cult. I left my brains at the door when I entered, and hopefully my experience will prevent you from doing the same."
Thank you for taking the time to write this wonderful commentary. I really appreciate these insights; indeed, parents considering Hyde need to read this. I'm very glad you found this website.
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I attended Hyde for a summer session and a school year (not by choice) a few years ago. Admittedly, at the time, I was a bad kid, getting into a lot of trouble, and messing around with alcohol and drugs- this resulted in my expulsion from the local public high school. At the time, Hyde felt like hell on earth, but I've had several years to gain perspective on the situation, and this is what I've learned- Hyde was hell on earth. The only two things it provided that definitely helped me was making me tougher, and the fact that being somewhere else physically makes you gain perspective on where you were. But the Hyde process itself is, if you'll excuse my language, complete bullshit. I was forced to be lectured to all day by older students' parents who thought they knew everything, and first year teachers (I'd say at least 50% only stay for a year) who obviously don't know anything. Their perverse form of therapy definitely left me with insecurities about myself and screwed me up emotionally for a couple years- years that have had a huge impact on my life looking back, as a 22 year old man. We were forced to degrade ourselves and humiliate our families based on their opinions (i say opinion because, as posted above, have not ONE legitimate therapist there), and if we disagreed, we punished, harassed, and humiliated further until we complied. I would strongly recommend anyone considering sending their kids there to evaluate other options, because this place won't help them- in all probability, they'll walk out with a whole new list of problems.
On a side note, I attended the Woodstock campus, and an adult coach of one of the sports teams was caught partying with students, messing around with the females, and selling them and a few teachers on campus cocaine. All the students were punished severely- the coach was let go quietly, and his main teacher customer was still teaching class the next day. Shows where Hyde's moral compass is really at- what would happen if it was a public school?(This is a 100% true story, I'm not making it up for revenge- i've made my own mental peace with that place, I just want you to have a full understanding of what they're really like before you subject your children to it.)
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Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to check back and lend your perspective! I'd venture that in another five years, or ten, you might even have a bit more to say about it all... I've been out quite a few more years than that, and my perspective as to the the damage done has increased, rather than lessened.
As you so correctly point out, Hyde Schools has NO PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL skilled in the psychological or psychiatric arts on board (I hardly think that one administrator between two campuses, who went back to school to get a Masters in Addictions Counseling, can even begin to qualify). In fact, Hyde has a tremendous disdain for such professions, maintaining that the only qualification necessary -- to pass judgment on other people's "character" and how they live their lives -- is that one "cares."
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One of the reasons why desperate parents (and desperate kids) sometimes do benefit from Hyde or stay at Hyde for as long as they do is because life at home is not pretty. The yelling in seminars can seem appropriate compared to the yelling at home, and having an environment that is fairly predictable can provide stability to a family that has completely fallen apart. If the home life is bad enough, Hyde can be the first place where people feel safe and feel cared for. There are faculty who take a true interest in the kids, and there is a feeling of a community in which, attacked or not, every person exists. I'm saying this because I went to Hyde when my family life was horrible. We had many issues, some of which my family dealt with semi-privately in seminars, and some of which we did not deal with at all.
I left Hyde with different problems, some of which developed there or were exacerbated by that environment. I became even more self-critical. I felt ashamed about every little mistake I made and took criticism too personally for many years. It made me fear public scrutiny and try to proactively avoid "mistakes" that would bring me negative attention, even if I disagreed that those decisions were mistakes... That said, Hyde was the best alternative for me at the time if the alternative was living at home. I cannot say what would have happened if I had gone to another program. I can say that I was living in a private hell at home. My family pathologized me, blamed me for everything, and verbally abused me. If I had not gone to Hyde, I would have gotten pregnant, run away from home, or killed myself-- I was that miserable. For me, Hyde was my great escape. My parents only let me go because the parent program assuaged their guilt for sending me away.
I am grateful that Hyde did not pepper me with psychological labels. I do not see myself as damaged goods now, although I have sought the help of mental health professionals from time to time to make sure I am dealing with my issues. I think that if I had been in an environment that called me a crazy kid, it would have been just another attack on a person who was already under fire. I found seminars helpful if my family talked about their reactions to things and not specifics. When families end up discussing specifics, some of these topics are inappropriate for that environment, but no one was told to gauge that boundary, which is and was scary. I do see that for some people, it was a totally unhealthy environment, and even for people who benefitted from Hyde, there are some definite negative effects. I would not send my own kids to Hyde, and yet it is a place to which I feel eternally grateful... it is a strange dichotomy, but I feel that if I ever have kids, I won't treat them badly enough that they need Hyde to be their safe space.
Hyde's current state makes me really sad. I think that it is useful to talk about character issues. It is not useful to be forced to share every self-examination in a public forum, but the questions Hyde raises could be helpful in and of themselves. I am angry at Hyde for forcing me to be in an environment that was intensely drug-focused-- I am not an addict of any kind-- and that made big dramatic displays all of the time as a crisis-focused school.
I do think that the ethics are appropriate for high school students, that having students participate in sports & performing arts is a good opportunity for raising a balanced kid, etc. I like that there is a tight-knit community within Hyde of people who do really care, and for me, my experiences with those people were much more common than the ones with the overly-aggressive faculty. It really is a love-hate relationship. I think I will always feel conflicted about Hyde. It is a strange place, for sure. I wish that Hyde would deal with its gross-oversights in its application of its own principles so that people could benefit from what it has to offer, instead of needing to recover from it afterwards. I also think that I would not be who I am today without having had to struggle through all of the moral nuances it intentionally and unintentionally provides.
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One of the reasons why desperate parents (and desperate kids) sometimes do benefit from Hyde or stay at Hyde for as long as they do is because life at home is not pretty. The yelling in seminars can seem appropriate compared to the yelling at home, and having an environment that is fairly predictable can provide stability to a family that has completely fallen apart. If the home life is bad enough, Hyde can be the first place where people feel safe and feel cared for. There are faculty who take a true interest in the kids, and there is a feeling of a community in which, attacked or not, every person exists. I'm saying this because I went to Hyde when my family life was horrible. We had many issues, some of which my family dealt with semi-privately in seminars, and some of which we did not deal with at all.
I left Hyde with different problems, some of which developed there or were exacerbated by that environment. I became even more self-critical. I felt ashamed about every little mistake I made and took criticism too personally for many years. It made me fear public scrutiny and try to proactively avoid "mistakes" that would bring me negative attention, even if I disagreed that those decisions were mistakes... That said, Hyde was the best alternative for me at the time if the alternative was living at home. I cannot say what would have happened if I had gone to another program. I can say that I was living in a private hell at home. My family pathologized me, blamed me for everything, and verbally abused me. If I had not gone to Hyde, I would have gotten pregnant, run away from home, or killed myself-- I was that miserable. For me, Hyde was my great escape. My parents only let me go because the parent program assuaged their guilt for sending me away.
I am grateful that Hyde did not pepper me with psychological labels. I do not see myself as damaged goods now, although I have sought the help of mental health professionals from time to time to make sure I am dealing with my issues. I think that if I had been in an environment that called me a crazy kid, it would have been just another attack on a person who was already under fire. I found seminars helpful if my family talked about their reactions to things and not specifics. When families end up discussing specifics, some of these topics are inappropriate for that environment, but no one was told to gauge that boundary, which is and was scary. I do see that for some people, it was a totally unhealthy environment, and even for people who benefitted from Hyde, there are some definite negative effects. I would not send my own kids to Hyde, and yet it is a place to which I feel eternally grateful... it is a strange dichotomy, but I feel that if I ever have kids, I won't treat them badly enough that they need Hyde to be their safe space.
Hyde's current state makes me really sad. I think that it is useful to talk about character issues. It is not useful to be forced to share every self-examination in a public forum, but the questions Hyde raises could be helpful in and of themselves. I am angry at Hyde for forcing me to be in an environment that was intensely drug-focused-- I am not an addict of any kind-- and that made big dramatic displays all of the time as a crisis-focused school.
I do think that the ethics are appropriate for high school students, that having students participate in sports & performing arts is a good opportunity for raising a balanced kid, etc. I like that there is a tight-knit community within Hyde of people who do really care, and for me, my experiences with those people were much more common than the ones with the overly-aggressive faculty. It really is a love-hate relationship. I think I will always feel conflicted about Hyde. It is a strange place, for sure. I wish that Hyde would deal with its gross-oversights in its application of its own principles so that people could benefit from what it has to offer, instead of needing to recover from it afterwards. I also think that I would not be who I am today without having had to struggle through all of the moral nuances it intentionally and unintentionally provides.
Thank you for your post. It is clear that you put a great deal of time and care into making it. It certainly took me back to that nightmare of punitive "self-reflection." I can't say I agree with everything you say, but then, I'm sure you don't agree with my take on Hyde School in every detail, either!
In light of everything you've been through, including your home life before Hyde School, you might find this thread (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=26624) recently posted in the Straight, Inc. forum to be of some thought-provoking use...
Could you please expand on the following a bit more... I wonder whether the focus on drugs per se (as opposed to it along with a host of other forms of juvenile delinquency) has become more intense or indiscriminately school-wide than it used to be. Perhaps Hyde School takes in more students with alleged "drug issues" than it used to?
"I am angry at Hyde for forcing me to be in an environment that was intensely drug-focused-- I am not an addict of any kind-- and that made big dramatic displays all of the time as a crisis-focused school."[/list]
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Could you please expand on the following a bit more... I wonder whether the focus on drugs per se (as opposed to it along with a host of other forms of juvenile delinquency) has become more intense or indiscriminately school-wide than it used to be. Perhaps Hyde School takes in more students with alleged "drug issues" than it used to?
"I am angry at Hyde for forcing me to be in an environment that was intensely drug-focused-- I am not an addict of any kind-- and that made big dramatic displays all of the time as a crisis-focused school."
Perhaps the early years of Hyde may have had busts that consisted of lying, sex, and smoking, but in my days, students were getting busted for real drugs on more of a regular basis. In conversation, I learned about more drugs, like ecstasy, LSD, etc. I remember kids getting busted for huffing. There were lots of groups for alcoholics... It was hard to get through school without being accused of being an alcoholic... and many kids were quite proud of their drug track record. Even after graduating, it was common to hear of kids who did not make it, who died or got into major trouble as a result of drug use. The administration tacitly explained this by saying that Hyde prepared kids to have their lives together by age 30, or something strange like that. But what of the kids who don't make it? How much do people become negatively impacted when all of the delinquents congregate in one location and swap trade secrets? How many kids lost their innocence by being around such talk and dangerous activity? If your kid was a normal kid, would the typical Hyde kid be a good or bad influence?
Our parents sent us to Hyde because they believed in something good: in the hope that there might be a better type of school that could meet our needs in a way that a public school could not. We were not thriving at home. We needed something different. The true believers at Hyde, those who come back as alums, really seem to believe in their utopia. They needed someone to yell at them in a way that they could hear. They zealously dole out the same medicine that worked for them because it made them better people... at least from their perspective. There still needs to be a place for those who do not respond well to "abuse" but who also do not respond well to public school. Many people on this site have identified schools that were a better alternative, but that does not tell us two things: 1.) How do we separate Hyde-appropriate kids from Hyde-inappropriate kids if their admissions staff clearly does not have a very good weeding out process? 2.) More importantly, what qualities make a good school for kids who are somewhere between a public school and a wilderness program, (or even for kids who just aren't satisfied with all that is cruel and impersonal about mainstream education?)
I would like to know sincerely where we disagree and what you would recommend we change about education for kids who are like who you were.
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Perhaps the early years of Hyde may have had busts that consisted of lying, sex, and smoking, but in my days, students were getting busted for real drugs on more of a regular basis. In conversation, I learned about more drugs, like ecstasy, LSD, etc. I remember kids getting busted for huffing. There were lots of groups for alcoholics... It was hard to get through school without being accused of being an alcoholic...
Okay, in my day, from what I remember, it was alcohol, pot, hash, shrooms, maybe some acid if you were lucky or well-connected. Cocaine and heroin were generally only accessible by an older age bracket or those more deeply committed to the perceived state of teenage rebellion. Huffing and poppers were part of the scene too, I guess, but Ecstasy and Meth hadn't become available yet. Maybe that was the particular environs I grew up in; I have no doubt that other of my Hyde classmates had somewhat different backgrounds.
That said, from what I remember, the "big drug issues" at Hyde back then were mostly alcohol and pot. Joe's lectures/seminars/school meetings or wherever he would occasion to pontificate were primarily focused on those. AA lingo and slogans permeated everything. That's where I learned most of them. I'm guessing that that aspect hasn't changed much. Some kids did go off campus to AA meetings in Brunswick back then, but it sounds like this extracurricular activity has been ramped way up these days. Do they still show that 1936 cult classic, Reefer Madness, or, going a bit off-topic here, Cool Hand Luke?
Even after graduating, it was common to hear of kids who did not make it, who died or got into major trouble as a result of drug use. The administration tacitly explained this by saying that Hyde prepared kids to have their lives together by age 30, or something strange like that. But what of the kids who don't make it? How much do people become negatively impacted when all of the delinquents congregate in one location and swap trade secrets? How many kids lost their innocence by being around such talk and dangerous activity? If your kid was a normal kid, would the typical Hyde kid be a good or bad influence?
By age 30? What a hoot! This is like Hyde School simultaneously absolving themselves of any mishaps that occur or misdeeds committed in the first years post-Hyde, as well as taking credit for normal growing up and biological and psychological development that occurs afterwards! Kinda arrogant, dontcha think?
Do you know of kids who died in their first several years post-Hyde? I guess if they didn't reach that 30-year mark, their "character development" hadn't "reached its full potential" yet, probably due to their "lack of commitment." Hence, Hyde School is not at fault. And if they're past 30, then they've passed the warranty period. Sorry, outta luck here, it's all their own fault now, certainly not Hyde's.
Here's another thought, in response to your mention of the potential negative impact of adolescents "swapping trade secrets." What about the negative impact of being informed that "you have a problem," which may, in fact, be nothing more than teenage experimentation? Moreover, what about the negative impact of the way that kind of moral judgment is meted out and remedial action is "taught" at Hyde School?
Personally, I think that by far the best "drug-education" a kid can get is a thorough bias-free scientific introduction to how the various substrates affect one both physiologically and psychologically (and both pro and con). That way a kid can be forearmed with the knowledge to make an informed choice, and to experiment wisely, if he/she chooses to do so. That may well sound or even be naive on my part, but it worked for me.
It seems to me (an ignorant armchair psychologist) that as far as "unwise" experimentation goes, the primary underlying causal elements usually have to do with personal problems plus poor self-image, etc., and putting kids through a punitive emotional wringer filled with reasons for more self loathing and disrespect only delays said excess, it does not prevent it. It might even make such endeavors even worse (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=26291) or more extreme than they might have been otherwise. After all, now... they're due to "lack of character," a "bad attitude, "not reaching one's potential," being "a loser, not a leader," or whatever other florid permutations of similar concept that the ever-evolving Hyde lingo is of late... (Btw, what is it of late, or at least, while you were there?)
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Advice to Parents Considering Hyde School:
If you interview at Bath walk along the road by the frog pond. There are two stones with woman's names. One is the founders wife. Ask the staff about the other woman.
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Here's another thought, in response to your mention of the potential negative impact of adolescents "swapping trade secrets." What about the negative impact of being informed that "you have a problem," which may, in fact, be nothing more than teenage experimentation? Moreover, what about the negative impact of the way that kind of moral judgment is meted out and remedial action is "taught" at Hyde School?
I do think that the labels people give kids at this age linger into adulthood. That is one area in which Hyde is simultaneously helpful and not helpful. Hyde does not believe in tailoring its curriculum to your particular psychological diagnosis, which I think is helpful. Many kids get stuck with labels early because their acting out in their families. Some of this acting out is not a sign of being crazy. It is a sign of not being crazy. It is crazy to act normal in a crazy family. It is good that Hyde does not reinforce the societal message that the misbehaving kid needs more meds. Maybe this kid needs a break from Mom and Dad!
It is not helpful, however, that they do as you said: they give kids new labels, like "smiling zero." This was my particular favorite. It was a label given to a child that was hiding by not getting in trouble, not showing leadership, and avoiding the spotlight. It felt similar in nature to the student-coined term "NUP" (No Unique Potential.) This was what the loser kids were called. There was little to stop this. It was not a self-esteem builder, but then again, every school has cruel kids... Having cruel names is not unique. It is more intense, however, at Hyde due to the emphasis on constructive criticism. Just like the correlation between spanking and child abuse, encouraging kids to be intensely critical of each other increases the unproductive criticism that is closer to abuse.
Hyde claims that it does not give people labels, and that confronting the attitude is not the same as criticizing the person. However, some of the "bad attitudes" criticized were personal. They amounted to the person's values and differences of opinion. Hyde claims to help kids develop their potential and their individualism. People like Mr. Cox and Mr. Duethorn did give kids philosophical foils that they could use to analyze their opinions and thoughts. However, this mission ran counter to the overall mission of creating temporarily well-behaved kids. How often were our attitudes confronted so that the group would be better behaved, and not so that we could develop our character?! I think of the quote, "Well-behaved women seldom make history." It is one thing to get students to behave for the sake of expediency. It is another thing to teach children to behave in the name of character development. True critical thinking rarely walks in the path of the majority. This is why Hyde can feel like brainwashing. We have to do what they say and believe in it at the same time. That is really weird.
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As far as the grave thing is concerned, I am curious. Can you tell me more, or is it just another ghost story, like the polio victim ghosts in the mansion? That was something fun at Hyde... so much folklore, conspiracy theory, etc.
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As far as the grave thing is concerned, I am curious. Can you tell me more, or is it just another ghost story, like the polio victim ghosts in the mansion? That was something fun at Hyde... so much folklore, conspiracy theory, etc.
More on the Michelle Correa memorial stone here:
viewtopic.php?f=43&t=20746 (http://fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=20746)
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http://www.minionsweb.com/images/hyde/92correa.jpg (http://www.minionsweb.com/images/hyde/92correa.jpg)
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Are they planning on putting more stones there? I can think of a few names.
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As far as the grave thing is concerned, I am curious. Can you tell me more, or is it just another ghost story, like the polio victim ghosts in the mansion? That was something fun at Hyde... so much folklore, conspiracy theory, etc.
More on the Michelle Correa memorial stone here:
http://fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=20746 (http://fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=20746)
http://www.minionsweb.com/images/hyde/92correa.jpg (http://www.minionsweb.com/images/hyde/92correa.jpg)
Thanks for the pic of Michelle's stone.
As far as Guest's question about the graves is concerned, were you perchance referring to grave-digging (by students)? If so, more on that in the Cool Hand Luke thread, here:
viewtopic.php?f=43&t=25904&p=318916#p315958 (http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=25904&p=318916#p315958)
You might find some more material by doing a search of just the Hyde forum for grave* (with asterisk to include both singular and plural forms, as well as any compound descriptives there may be).
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The two strands -- gravedigging and memorial stones -- come together in Michelle. Back in '74, Michelle and a few Hyde friends went on a joyride that went terribly wrong: the brakes of the car gave out while she was roaring down Highway 1 and she threw the car into reverse to bring it to a grinding halt. The group was taken back to Hyde and told to start digging 6x2x6 foot pits. Michelle is thus the only Hyde student who both dug her own grave and was honored with a memorial stone.
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The two strands -- gravedigging and memorial stones -- come together in Michelle. Back in '74, Michelle and a few Hyde friends went on a joyride that went terribly wrong: the brakes of the car gave out while she was roaring down Highway 1 and she threw the car into reverse to bring it to a grinding halt. The group was taken back to Hyde and told to start digging 6x2x6 foot pits. Michelle is thus the only Hyde student who both dug her own grave and was honored with a memorial stone.
The thing about Michelle and the stone is that she was Joe's/Hyde's big success story. She was a wild child. When she starred as Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" she did not have to act to throw those tantrums. Joe saw him self and the hyde process in the role of Anne Sullivan. The Irony was that Michelle was at deep level unchanged by the experience. She was troubled for the rest of her life and died in, "not a good place." So Hyde has set a memorial stone to one it's most spectacular failures. The other queer thing is that that stone is so close to Blanche's stone. They were both woman on the short side, slender, dark complected, long black hair and lived right in Joe's blind spot. If anyone from back then reads this and it hurts your feelings I am sorry but it is the truth. and you know what JC said about the truth. Free yourself baby.
Go in peace
Fr Tim
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Michelle was an amazing person and she acclimated herself very quickly at Hyde. She had many friends who loved her very much.
I knew her parents from the regional meetings. Gracious, charming hosts from the city’s most affluent suburb. Where were they in her hour of need? Hey, your daughter’s living in a Boston slum! Hey, your daughter’s husband is beating the shit out of her again! Hey, your daughter’s shooting up again! Hey, your daughter wants to be a dancer at the age of forty-two! Hey, your daughter’s committing suicide!
Why did Michelle die?
Because family-based character education does not address real family dysfunction.
Because between the ages of fourteen and twenty Michelle lived in a highly structured environment. Then she was released into the world and was unable to make the right choices.
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There is a brief shot of Michelle's stone in this...er..."enthusiastic" YouTube clip:
Hyde Homecoming Reunion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGj-p6jK87w (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGj-p6jK87w)
Fall 2008 montage of Hyde's Homecoming/Reunion Weekend[/list]
I liked the cardboard mock-up of Joe, though...somehow it doesn't look a whole lot like him here:
(http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/download/file.php?id=56)
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Michelle was an amazing person and she acclimated herself very quickly at Hyde. She had many friends who loved her very much.
I knew her parents from the regional meetings. Gracious, charming hosts from the city’s most affluent suburb. Where were they in her hour of need? Hey, your daughter’s living in a Boston slum! Hey, your daughter’s husband is beating the shit out of her again! Hey, your daughter’s shooting up again! Hey, your daughter wants to be a dancer at the age of forty-two! Hey, your daughter’s committing suicide!
Why did Michelle die?
Because family-based character education does not address real family dysfunction.
Because between the ages of fourteen and twenty Michelle lived in a highly structured environment. Then she was released into the world and was unable to make the right choices.
Hyde gave her an identity that she could not care into the real world. When the stone was dedicated a group sang "For a Dancer" by Jackson Browne and changed the lyrics from
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But youll never know
to
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
Will lie a reason you were alive
And youl've got to know know.
While I am not a fan of Mr Browne's lachrymose navel gazing I would have to say that it really distorts the notion that we pass our passion and love for live from generation to generation, and if there is a time when your place in that dance has some special significance you will probably never know it. The wisdom of God surpasses the ability of Man to understand it ... except at Hyde. At Hyde you have to know it. Of course Hyde is the place that quotes Jesus without attribution and appends cute little tag phrases. I hope that make you miserable Joe.
Via con Dios
Fr Tim
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Michelle’s stone is a monument to cognitive dissonance. I’d be interested to know how Joe and “the class of 1978” rationalize the tension between the contradictory ideas of Michelle’s astounding success at Hyde and her equally astounding failure in the real world. Comparing the 2002 and 2008 pictures, I’m not surprised to see that the grasses and weeds have been allowed to grow tall so that the stone is overgrown.
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Michelle’s stone is a monument to cognitive dissonance. I’d be interested to know how Joe and “the class of 1978” rationalize the tension between the contradictory ideas of Michelle’s astounding success at Hyde and her equally astounding failure in the real world. Comparing the 2002 and 2008 pictures, I’m not surprised to see that the grasses and weeds have been allowed to grow tall so that the stone is overgrown.
How? It is quite easy, "She did not live up to her unique potential" or "she gave up on her commitment to her self." Or a couple of other phrases I heard tossed around. Anything that externalizes the responsibility for not addressing her underling problems in the what, six years?, she spent at Hyde. And it was not like she just drifted through. she was the poster child, the apple of Joe and Ed's eye. The dedication of the stone was like a final kick in the crotch: "you've got to know, but you didn't. You fucked up. Now you're dead." What a bunch of sanctimonious self serving sons of bitches.
yours in Christ
Fr Tim
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Michelle F. Correa
November 25, 1958 — June 24, 2001
If she graduated in 1978, she would have been there 5 years. And age nineteen-and-a-half when she graduated.
IMO, the longer your time at Hyde, the less you are equipped to deal with the "real" world.
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"When enough people share a delusion, it loses its status as a psychosis and gets a religious tax exemption instead." Ronald De Sousa
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"When enough people share a delusion, it loses its status as a psychosis and gets a religious tax exemption instead." Ronald De Sousa
:D
Well, Hyde School is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt institution, and one is expected to follow all that one hears there with religious fervor...
As to the state of psychosis responsible for said delusions... ?
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"When enough people share a delusion, it loses its status as a psychosis and gets a religious tax exemption instead." Ronald De Sousa
I regret I have but one life to give for the MotherShip/Hyde nexus.
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"When enough people share a delusion, it loses its status as a psychosis and gets a religious tax exemption instead." Ronald De Sousa
I regret I have but one life to give for the MotherShip/Hyde nexus.
NHB
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Plenty o' deep thinkers scouring their souls for their unique potential in this somewhat recent clip of Family Weekend. This was definitely shot from a pro-Hyde perspective, and yet, I can't help but think that certain clearly culty aspects should be glaringly obvious to anyone.
Everyone writing and reading out loud their "stories," the group sessions and exercises, the hand-holding, the flashy poised smiles and hugs, the sitting with one's head in one's hands... ugh. The sheer psychic mass of human soul being shoved into and expressed through the Hyde pasta maker is absolutely exhausting.
The shot of the World Trade Center mid-morning on September 11th (as the soundtrack wails "What kind of world do you want?") was a bit gratuitous. Was that the theme song for the weekend, or was there some kind of "global awareness" thing going on? There were a number of shots of people holding miniature globes like they were precious gems. Shots of miniature globes posed on rocks with dramatic lighting. One of the scenes even looked like a father made a symbolic gesture of giving his daughter one of these globes (with the requisite hug of gratitude made in return). Jeez Louise... Icon worshipers, all of them! ;D
Hyde Fall Family Weekend 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD4ZW_5ngsM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD4ZW_5ngsM)
I was the photographer for this year's family weekend - loved to have done it - and this was what was shown at the finaly community meeting Sunday 19Oct08.[/list]
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That Video is just sad. I am just taking production value here. They are probably telling that poor kid that he will be a DP or Director some day.
NHB
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Hopefully, she won't need a stone of her own.
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I do think that the labels people give kids at this age linger into adulthood. That is one area in which Hyde is simultaneously helpful and not helpful. Hyde does not believe in tailoring its curriculum to your particular psychological diagnosis, which I think is helpful. Many kids get stuck with labels early because their acting out in their families. Some of this acting out is not a sign of being crazy. It is a sign of not being crazy. It is crazy to act normal in a crazy family. It is good that Hyde does not reinforce the societal message that the misbehaving kid needs more meds. Maybe this kid needs a break from Mom and Dad!
Ah, but Hyde DOES label! You could have a really bad attitude, a somewhat sucky attitude, be a smiling zero, show signs of recognizing your potential, or serve as a stellar example for the rest of the Hyde community! ...Often (although not always) according to where on the Kool-Aid consumpt-o-meter you fall! And these labels Hyde School gives kids at this age do "linger into adulthood," even if only as a kid stigmatizing himself, which is plenty bad enough.
Such labels bear no relation to reality, or to any however imperfect means or measure of diagnosis. The labels are conceptualized and defined by Hyde, diagnosis is carried out by Hyde, and kids deemed in need of improvement are "treated" by Hyde. You can't get a "second opinion"; there is only one expert/high authority.
Hyde School does not consider itself accountable to a league of peers or to any recognized body of professional standards (as far as "character development" is concerned). They set the standards themselves (and, as we all know, those standards can be subject to quite a bit of self directed interpretation when it comes to major Kool-Aid consumers!).
-•- :dose: -•- :dose: -•- :dose: -•- :dose: -•- :dose: -•- :dose: -•-
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Well the list of the deceased has grown exponentially. to nearly 160. That we know of. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of whom we don't know where they are or their statuses. Many still suffering from depression, addiction, suicidal ideation, and other CPSTD symptoms.