Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: cherish wisdom on April 27, 2004, 08:05:00 PM
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This report is still under investigation by the authorities in Utah. The police dropped this in one week. Child Protective Services and the Attorney Gerneral have not yet decided to investigate:
The actual report is ten pages long - this is a brief summary:
Dear Gentlepersons involved in the welfare and protection of children in Utah and United States of America:
As a licensed professional, Registered Nurse, under duty of obligation under the laws of California I am writing this to document and report suspected and actual child abuse both physical, emotional, psychological, sexual as well as the suspected and actual abuse of children in the custody and care of (staff) at Provo Canyon School..
My daughter described the following abuse of:
1. A. M., age 15, INVESTMENT UNIT - Her nose was broken from being slammed against the floor prior to a forced injection of the drug Haldol. She was isolated in the observation unit. This area is 5X5, concrete walls and floors. Staff make this room cold by turning up the air conditioner. A.M now walks around like a zombie from being drugged.
2. T.S. 16, INVESTMENT UNIT - claimed T.S. was the most abused of all, forced to remain isolated in the cold obs unit most of the day. Staff called it her "home."
3. A.S., 15, witness to abuse of others. Also given overdose of Haldol, excessive time in obs unit.
4. C.D., 17, INVESTMENT UNIT, overdose of Haldol, isolated in obs 10 hours.
5. five Africa American girls (names unknown) treated with similar harshness and isolation
6. Could hear 12 and 13 year old boys screaming in pain and terror night and day.
SUMMARY OF ABUSE SUFFERED BY OUR CHILD:Assault, battery, hair pulled, restrained against her will, drugged with an overdose of Haldol which caused her to black out and wake to blindness, facial paralysis and pain, drooling and lethargy for three days. Imprisoned and forced to sit in structure (staring strait ahead) for up to 5 hours. Woke to vaginal bleeding and wet pants on the morning after Haldol injection. CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATED: Freedom of speech and religion, right to safe and humane treatment, prevented from writing grievances and punished for suggesting that others write grievances. Punished with isolation and seclusion for an entire week for venting about her abuse and mistreatment in a group therapy session on December 13.
Apparently the detective who investigated this for one week, and the Utah Valley District Attorney do not believe these acts are abuse. We were told by cell-phone message on or about January 10, that the case was going to be closed because the attorneys from the Utah Valley DA believed that these abuses were not criminal-but contractual and civil in nature. This only leads one to believe, or fear, that here are economic and political reasons for this and that the police cover for this school. We doubt that any of the children mentioned were privately interviewed. From what we experienced this school does a very good job of hiding and minimizing abuses. A full investigation and examination of the children being imprisoned in the Investment Unit and Observation Units must be done to prevent further abuse.
We hope something will be done to determine the extent of abuse at Provo Canyon School. PLEASE PROTECT THESE CHILDREN.
Families, patients and the government are paying up to $12,000 per month for treatment and education at this school. All families must be notified if abuse is occurring. Reason would dictate that abuse is also occurring in the boy's facility. To keep children in this facility parents are routinely warned by therapists that their children are being manipulative and will say anything to be sent home. Regardless of the reasons children are at Provo Canyon, no child should be treated with neglect and abuse. Parents are being kept in the dark by crafty therapists desiring to keep their children in these conditions for economic reasons. As parents we were never informed that harsh behavioral modification techniques would be used to control and change our daughter who was voluntarily sought treatment. Yet this was done with impunity.
A list of more than 25 individuals - staff, students and professionals was given as known and unknown persons who participated or witnessed abuse at PCS.
FINAL COMMENTS: Our fear is that this State of UTAH, like the Orem police and District Attorney, will believe the lies and biased cover-up presented by therapists and directors at PCS. We do not intend to be sarcastic, but our experience has shown a massive bias in the community and State toward this and similar youth mental programs, facilities, wilderness programs and schools. The fact that the police and the DA closed a child abuse case in one week further confirms our suspicion. Remember - we are the patient and the consumer. Our insurance paid $10,500 for out child, the voluntary patient, to be verbally, psychologically, emotionally, physically and possibly sexually abused at this mind control cult school for one month. Hopefully another child will not loose their life or sanity at this facility.
It is apparent that the authorities do not want to investigate this school. It is the largest problem teen program in Utah. At a cost of $12,500 per month (established rate) it is also the most expensive. There is an on-line petition underway to close this den of horror. It can be found at: http://www.beyondbusiness.net/index2.htm (http://www.beyondbusiness.net/index2.htm) [ This Message was edited by: cherish wisdom on 2004-04-27 17:08 ][ This Message was edited by: cherish wisdom on 2004-04-27 20:43 ]
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I was a so-called "student" at Provo Canyon School. My human, civil, and Constitutional rights were violated, and I was abused physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. So were my friends at the "school". Here is my story as I remember it to the best of my ability.
When I was 16, I was sent to Provo, Utah from a crisis center in Texas that recommended long term residential treatment for me. I had been the victim of rape, and consequently developed eating disorders, depression, suicidal tendencies, and a serious drug habit in response to the emotional turmoil I was in. I was running away from home often, but I was not in any sort of legal trouble. I had actually managed to do well in school despite being placed in numerous crisis treatment facilities for teens. Although I recieved professional care, my condition had not improved and my parents were terrified. When they contacted Provo Canyon they were told that if they wanted me to survive past age 16, I needed to be in a maximum lockdown facility that could give me the therapeutic support I needed in a secure environment. I suppose 500 pound magnetic locks are as secure as it gets. In late November 1999, I was put on a plane headed for Provo, Utah, to the Orem Campus. This facility happened to be only for girls, except that there was a small unit for prepubescent boys on the first floor. To my dismay upon my arrival, this place was nothing like the brochure! I was not even allowed to say good-bye to my mother who had come with me on the plane. She was not allowed to stay with me during the admittance process. I assume that the facility considered me to be high-risk and dangerous to their program from the beginning, since I had tried to run from the airport as I was being brought in. I assumed that this was the reason I was never allowed to communicate with my family without supervision.
My phone calls were closely monitored, and even the slightest mention of wanting to go home warranted the call being cut short. When my parents asked why I was not allowed to continue the phone call, they were told that "problem teens often beg to return home because they want their families to feel sorry for them, and they don't want to be helped." My letters to my family and friends were read in case they included "escape plans," and any attempts to reveal to my parents what was really going on, or express my desire to return home were severely punished. During the long tedious hours at the school I had written in a journal many poems dealing with being raped, and these were read publicly and then tossed into a trashcan for being "inappropriate." I was punished for writing them. I began another journal, this time written entirely in French. This journal was taken to a teacher who could read the language, and was also deemed "inappropriate." It was confiscated as well.
Needless to say, I was proving to be a lot more difficult to brainwash than most girls because I refused to follow the rules which seemed cruel and over the top to me. The majority of the staff were prone to treating me with even more disdain and contempt than usual, and I was constantly verbally abused and humiliated in front of the other girls, sometimes by the other girls with staff's permission. I was always being put in isolation, called "Observation," for being defiant. Sometimes physical force or a dose of Haldol or Thorazine was used. "Observation" was a room with concrete walls and a cold concrete floor. On several occasions I was put in this room in the dead of winter wearing nothing but a T-shirt and pants, and left there for hours, or sometimes over 24 hours.
As another punishment, I was made to sleep on a broken metal cot in a brightly lit hallway for months on end on the "Investment Unit." I was also put on a special diet for my eating disorders, which included punishment unless I finished all of my food. I was closely watched as I used the toilet or showered, and ridiculed by staff members who were annoyed that they had to watch me so closely. My reading materials were confiscated on a regular basis. My privileges to attend meals and go to school were taken away on the "Investment" unit, sometimes for months on end. On Sundays, anyone who did not attend church had to sit in a room quietly and do homework or stare at the walls. I attended the Mormon services once, and decided that I would rather stare at a wall than participate in the service. I was not allowed to speak of or write about my religion of choice (I was a practicing Wiccan at the time). When I drew images related to it I was publicly ridiculed and punished, and the event was used against me in my treatment.
There were numbers posted up around the facility that you could supposedly call if you wanted to report abuse. When I asked to use the phone, I was denied access to one and punished for trying to report abuse. The staff ridiculed me and told me "no one will believe you anyway. That's why you're here. Everyone thinks you're crazy". When I asked to write a grievance report, I was allowed to do so, but was punished for reasons I am unsure of. My therapist told me that she would put a word in to whomever the grievance was going to that I was a known pathological liar. I believe the grievance stayed on her desk and never reached the proper authorities at all.
I was forced to clean rooms of the facility daily, and if the standards (which were impossibly high) were not met, there was strict punishment in order. My therapeutic needs were not being met at all, in fact I felt as if I was regressing and struggling with issues that were not being addressed, even when I requested therapy or suggested that I was struggling with these issues. My therapist, Jennifer Woolley, who seemed to be completely inept, was not even aware of my post traumatic stress disorder, and actually asked me what PTSD was. Once a month I would attend "treatment plan meetings" where I would be put into a room with many hateful adults (psychiatrists, therapists, and staff members), most of which had no direct dealings with me whatsoever. They would character assassinate me and berate me until I was in tears. They told me that since I was not improving, they didn't know when I would be going home, but it wouldn't be soon. I wonder why I wasn't improving?
At Provo Canyon School one of the many punishments used involved being made to sit in a chair for most of the day to "serve off points" which were given as punishment. In order to use the restroom or get a drink of water, I would have to wait with my hand in the air until a staff member decided to call on me. Sometimes I would be waiting for hours. "Serving off points" would last all evening (with no free time) on a school night, or all day on a weekend. No recreational reading was allowed, only homework. If I ran out of homework, I was to face the wall or sit quietly without moving, or my "points" would be lost for the hour. At one time, I had thousands of points to serve off. Some staff members who disliked me would take away my points for no reason at all. Sometimes as a punishment I was made to face a wall, sitting perfectly still, and was left waiting for hours until an overworked and sadistic staff member felt like letting me move.
As for my psychiatric treatment, Robert Crist happened to be my "psychiatrist" (I use the term loosely), and although I pleaded with him to take me off of the medications I was on, he proceeded to prescribe more. I remember being given up to seven medications at once. One medication he described as being used specifically for schizophrenia. I have never in my life been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Even though I claimed that the medicines made me physically ill and I could no longer concentrate or think clearly. Some of the side effects made me lethargic, confused, drool a lot, walk and behave strangely, and caused very disturbing nightmares. I was told that I needed them. I was not given a choice to take these medications, they were given to me by force and my mouth was checked, or I was given punishment or more time in "Observation" for refusing the medications.
I was also witness to the abuse of other children. I watched in horror as many seriously disturbed and mentally fragile girls were taken down forcefully by five or more adult staff members (this was called a "dial 9") and given injections because they were "out of control." Not once did any of these girls do anything so severe as to deserve this brutal treatment. One of my own experiences particularly stands out in my memory. I was suffering a post-traumatic stress disorder flashback which had reduced me to cowering in a hallway sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. Instead of being treated with compassion and concern, I was injected with a large amount of either Haldol or Thorazine (both of which I had been inappropriately given before in similar situations, none of which involved me being a threat to others or myself) and left in "Observation" for several hours as I cried for help. The staff members involved in this situation were strangers, members of the night staff who were untrained and unaware of my condition.
The policies and punishments at Provo Canyon School were often quite sadistic and unnecessary. I witnessed girls who had been at Provo for years finally learn to complete each mundane task they were given perfectly and reach "Advanced Unit Status." Then, for something as simple as not making a bed properly, they would be dropped down to the punishment unit (which I was always living on) and told that although they were scheduled to leave in a few weeks, they would in fact be staying for much longer since they had broken the rules. Then their parents were contacted and told that the girls had "relapsed" and could not return home just yet. Their failures were publicly announced and they were humiliated in front of the entire school.
During my six month stay at PCS after months of fighting against the system, I realized that in order to leave this place, I was going to have to stop rebelling and pretend to toe the line. I made it to a Unit where I was allowed outside privileges. After I was told that even though I was now following the strict order of the school, I was still going to be staying for another six months, I decided that I was going to run. Sometime in late May 2000, after months of not breathing one bit of fresh air (my outdoor privileges were restricted as a punishment from the beginning), I was finally allowed to go outside. The staff was not paying attention to me as I walked around the property, scoping it all out. I found a flimsy plastic fence on one side of the property, and in seconds I had dug a hole and crawled underneath it until was on the other side of it, tumbling down a cliff into a muddy ravine. From there I made it to the highway. I had hitched a ride and I was halfway to Las Vegas on a truck before anyone noticed I was gone.
It was hours and hours before my parents were contacted. Provo Canyon provided no explanation or apology to them, and also gave the police an inaccurate physical description for me. I did not return home to my family for three more months after I escaped, because I was sure that they would only send me back to Provo. The school had informed me that if I ever escaped, they would bring me back, strip search me and place me in "Observation." They told me that they would press charges and send me to jail.
Upon returning home, I learned that my personal belongings had been carelessly thrown in a box and shipped to my grieving mother (who thought I might be dead) without any warning or condolences. Provo had refused to compensate my family for my escape. To make matters worse they also tried to bill my parents for the month in which I disappeared. Of course, my parents were nothing but relieved that I came home to them alive, and furious when I told them as many details about my treatment at the school as I was able to without breaking down. They attempted to prosecute, but no one was interested in the case. They tried to contact the authorities, but nothing came of it.
My suspicion is that Provo Canyon School keeps their "students" there for long periods of time in order to extract as much money as possible from their families. My family was paying them 6,000 dollars a month. They robbed my family, and consequently my parents did not have the financial means of pursuing any other legal action at the time. This is all in my past now, but I am haunted by the fact that as I type, thousands of children are sitting in Provo or some other program scared and alone, wondering what they ever did to deserve the abuse they are suffering through. They are being brainwashed to believe that it is for their own good, and that they are being punished for something. Some of them may die as a result from severe abuse. Their families are being mislead into believing these places are therapeutic, when in fact they are correctional facilities designed to coerce them into submission by breaking their spirits. This angers me to no end, and something has to be done.
I am now 21 years old with a daughter of my own, and I feel it is definitely time for this school to be shut down before any more teens are harmed -- mind, body or spirit. These children are hurting, like I was, and they need compassion, warmth, and kindness. Not harassment and "behavior modification." I have been trying to contact as many people and agencies as possible in order to do what I can to shut the school down. I am on a mission to close Provo Canyon School, WWASPS facilities, and any program like it. I want to put the corporate fat cats who profit from abusing children behind bars. Why should children suffer so these monsters can have a summer house and a yacht? :flame: Victims, you know who you are, and you and your families have all my love and support. I would love to hear from people who've read this post and have something to say. E-mail me at [email protected].
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On 2004-05-23 03:08:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I was a so-called "student" at Provo Canyon School. My human, civil, and Constitutional rights were violated, and I was abused physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. So were my friends at the "school". Here is my story as I remember it to the best of my ability.
When I was 16, I was sent to Provo, Utah from a crisis center in Texas that recommended long term residential treatment for me. I had been the victim of rape, and consequently developed eating disorders, depression, suicidal tendencies, and a serious drug habit in response to the emotional turmoil I was in. I was running away from home often, but I was not in any sort of legal trouble. I had actually managed to do well in school despite being placed in numerous crisis treatment facilities for teens. Although I recieved professional care, my condition had not improved and my parents were terrified. When they contacted Provo Canyon they were told that if they wanted me to survive past age 16, I needed to be in a maximum lockdown facility that could give me the therapeutic support I needed in a secure environment. I suppose 500 pound magnetic locks are as secure as it gets. In late November 1999, I was put on a plane headed for Provo, Utah, to the Orem Campus. This facility happened to be only for girls, except that there was a small unit for prepubescent boys on the first floor. To my dismay upon my arrival, this place was nothing like the brochure! I was not even allowed to say good-bye to my mother who had come with me on the plane. She was not allowed to stay with me during the admittance process. I assume that the facility considered me to be high-risk and dangerous to their program from the beginning, since I had tried to run from the airport as I was being brought in. I assumed that this was the reason I was never allowed to communicate with my family without supervision.
My phone calls were closely monitored, and even the slightest mention of wanting to go home warranted the call being cut short. When my parents asked why I was not allowed to continue the phone call, they were told that "problem teens often beg to return home because they want their families to feel sorry for them, and they don't want to be helped." My letters to my family and friends were read in case they included "escape plans," and any attempts to reveal to my parents what was really going on, or express my desire to return home were severely punished. During the long tedious hours at the school I had written in a journal many poems dealing with being raped, and these were read publicly and then tossed into a trashcan for being "inappropriate." I was punished for writing them. I began another journal, this time written entirely in French. This journal was taken to a teacher who could read the language, and was also deemed "inappropriate." It was confiscated as well.
Needless to say, I was proving to be a lot more difficult to brainwash than most girls because I refused to follow the rules which seemed cruel and over the top to me. The majority of the staff were prone to treating me with even more disdain and contempt than usual, and I was constantly verbally abused and humiliated in front of the other girls, sometimes by the other girls with staff's permission. I was always being put in isolation, called "Observation," for being defiant. Sometimes physical force or a dose of Haldol or Thorazine was used. "Observation" was a room with concrete walls and a cold concrete floor. On several occasions I was put in this room in the dead of winter wearing nothing but a T-shirt and pants, and left there for hours, or sometimes over 24 hours.
As another punishment, I was made to sleep on a broken metal cot in a brightly lit hallway for months on end on the "Investment Unit." I was also put on a special diet for my eating disorders, which included punishment unless I finished all of my food. I was closely watched as I used the toilet or showered, and ridiculed by staff members who were annoyed that they had to watch me so closely. My reading materials were confiscated on a regular basis. My privileges to attend meals and go to school were taken away on the "Investment" unit, sometimes for months on end. On Sundays, anyone who did not attend church had to sit in a room quietly and do homework or stare at the walls. I attended the Mormon services once, and decided that I would rather stare at a wall than participate in the service. I was not allowed to speak of or write about my religion of choice (I was a practicing Wiccan at the time). When I drew images related to it I was publicly ridiculed and punished, and the event was used against me in my treatment.
There were numbers posted up around the facility that you could supposedly call if you wanted to report abuse. When I asked to use the phone, I was denied access to one and punished for trying to report abuse. The staff ridiculed me and told me "no one will believe you anyway. That's why you're here. Everyone thinks you're crazy". When I asked to write a grievance report, I was allowed to do so, but was punished for reasons I am unsure of. My therapist told me that she would put a word in to whomever the grievance was going to that I was a known pathological liar. I believe the grievance stayed on her desk and never reached the proper authorities at all.
I was forced to clean rooms of the facility daily, and if the standards (which were impossibly high) were not met, there was strict punishment in order. My therapeutic needs were not being met at all, in fact I felt as if I was regressing and struggling with issues that were not being addressed, even when I requested therapy or suggested that I was struggling with these issues. My therapist, Jennifer Woolley, who seemed to be completely inept, was not even aware of my post traumatic stress disorder, and actually asked me what PTSD was. Once a month I would attend "treatment plan meetings" where I would be put into a room with many hateful adults (psychiatrists, therapists, and staff members), most of which had no direct dealings with me whatsoever. They would character assassinate me and berate me until I was in tears. They told me that since I was not improving, they didn't know when I would be going home, but it wouldn't be soon. I wonder why I wasn't improving?
At Provo Canyon School one of the many punishments used involved being made to sit in a chair for most of the day to "serve off points" which were given as punishment. In order to use the restroom or get a drink of water, I would have to wait with my hand in the air until a staff member decided to call on me. Sometimes I would be waiting for hours. "Serving off points" would last all evening (with no free time) on a school night, or all day on a weekend. No recreational reading was allowed, only homework. If I ran out of homework, I was to face the wall or sit quietly without moving, or my "points" would be lost for the hour. At one time, I had thousands of points to serve off. Some staff members who disliked me would take away my points for no reason at all. Sometimes as a punishment I was made to face a wall, sitting perfectly still, and was left waiting for hours until an overworked and sadistic staff member felt like letting me move.
As for my psychiatric treatment, Robert Crist happened to be my "psychiatrist" (I use the term loosely), and although I pleaded with him to take me off of the medications I was on, he proceeded to prescribe more. I remember being given up to seven medications at once. One medication he described as being used specifically for schizophrenia. I have never in my life been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Even though I claimed that the medicines made me physically ill and I could no longer concentrate or think clearly. Some of the side effects made me lethargic, confused, drool a lot, walk and behave strangely, and caused very disturbing nightmares. I was told that I needed them. I was not given a choice to take these medications, they were given to me by force and my mouth was checked, or I was given punishment or more time in "Observation" for refusing the medications.
I was also witness to the abuse of other children. I watched in horror as many seriously disturbed and mentally fragile girls were taken down forcefully by five or more adult staff members (this was called a "dial 9") and given injections because they were "out of control." Not once did any of these girls do anything so severe as to deserve this brutal treatment. One of my own experiences particularly stands out in my memory. I was suffering a post-traumatic stress disorder flashback which had reduced me to cowering in a hallway sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. Instead of being treated with compassion and concern, I was injected with a large amount of either Haldol or Thorazine (both of which I had been inappropriately given before in similar situations, none of which involved me being a threat to others or myself) and left in "Observation" for several hours as I cried for help. The staff members involved in this situation were strangers, members of the night staff who were untrained and unaware of my condition.
The policies and punishments at Provo Canyon School were often quite sadistic and unnecessary. I witnessed girls who had been at Provo for years finally learn to complete each mundane task they were given perfectly and reach "Advanced Unit Status." Then, for something as simple as not making a bed properly, they would be dropped down to the punishment unit (which I was always living on) and told that although they were scheduled to leave in a few weeks, they would in fact be staying for much longer since they had broken the rules. Then their parents were contacted and told that the girls had "relapsed" and could not return home just yet. Their failures were publicly announced and they were humiliated in front of the entire school.
During my six month stay at PCS after months of fighting against the system, I realized that in order to leave this place, I was going to have to stop rebelling and pretend to toe the line. I made it to a Unit where I was allowed outside privileges. After I was told that even though I was now following the strict order of the school, I was still going to be staying for another six months, I decided that I was going to run. Sometime in late May 2000, after months of not breathing one bit of fresh air (my outdoor privileges were restricted as a punishment from the beginning), I was finally allowed to go outside. The staff was not paying attention to me as I walked around the property, scoping it all out. I found a flimsy plastic fence on one side of the property, and in seconds I had dug a hole and crawled underneath it until was on the other side of it, tumbling down a cliff into a muddy ravine. From there I made it to the highway. I had hitched a ride and I was halfway to Las Vegas on a truck before anyone noticed I was gone.
It was hours and hours before my parents were contacted. Provo Canyon provided no explanation or apology to them, and also gave the police an inaccurate physical description for me. I did not return home to my family for three more months after I escaped, because I was sure that they would only send me back to Provo. The school had informed me that if I ever escaped, they would bring me back, strip search me and place me in "Observation." They told me that they would press charges and send me to jail.
Upon returning home, I learned that my personal belongings had been carelessly thrown in a box and shipped to my grieving mother (who thought I might be dead) without any warning or condolences. Provo had refused to compensate my family for my escape. To make matters worse they also tried to bill my parents for the month in which I disappeared. Of course, my parents were nothing but relieved that I came home to them alive, and furious when I told them as many details about my treatment at the school as I was able to without breaking down. They attempted to prosecute, but no one was interested in the case. They tried to contact the authorities, but nothing came of it.
My suspicion is that Provo Canyon School keeps their "students" there for long periods of time in order to extract as much money as possible from their families. My family was paying them 6,000 dollars a month. They robbed my family, and consequently my parents did not have the financial means of pursuing any other legal action at the time. This is all in my past now, but I am haunted by the fact that as I type, thousands of children are sitting in Provo or some other program scared and alone, wondering what they ever did to deserve the abuse they are suffering through. They are being brainwashed to believe that it is for their own good, and that they are being punished for something. Some of them may die as a result from severe abuse. Their families are being mislead into believing these places are therapeutic, when in fact they are correctional facilities designed to coerce them into submission by breaking their spirits. This angers me to no end, and something has to be done.
I am now 21 years old with a daughter of my own, and I feel it is definitely time for this school to be shut down before any more teens are harmed -- mind, body or spirit. These children are hurting, like I was, and they need compassion, warmth, and kindness. Not harassment and "behavior modification." I have been trying to contact as many people and agencies as possible in order to do what I can to shut the school down. I am on a mission to close Provo Canyon School, WWASPS facilities, and any program like it. I want to put the corporate fat cats who profit from abusing children behind bars. Why should children suffer so these monsters can have a summer house and a yacht? :flame: Victims, you know who you are, and you and your families have all my love and support. I would love to hear from people who've read this post and have something to say. E-mail me at [email protected]. "
I have e-mailed you and I am able to relate to much of what you say above. Here is a bit of a interesting fact though, staff get paid $9 an hour for the shit they do, however the recepionist who sits and answers phones, reads books, watches movies, and talks to friends all damn day long, gets paid more than staff, wee bit backward I think. Many things have changed there, in little ways. Like since you and the other girl escaped no one is allowed near or on the play ground anymore. We have very strict guidelines of where we are allowed to go outside. You run and you have like literally 20 staff chasing after you and they just dog pile on you, like one or two couldn't take a person down, jeez, you get carried into the building like a 2x4 thrown into ob's strip searched and given pinks and yellows, and then you get to stay in ob's for a couple of days. Staff still love to put you on a chair staring at a wall and leave you for hours on end, hell I had a staff do that to me because I wouldn't eat the damn peas in my salad!! I have never eatten peas in my life, they grotesque me. I was put into ob's for not eatting them. I was told to eat them or sit on my chair, so I sat on my chair in complete chair structure not making a sound being totally respectful, except for not eatting the peas that is, then the unit was lined up early and sent downstairs to physical, then I had like 5 staff come towards me and I slowly stood up and turned around and told them, 'you do not have to tackle me or carry me to ob's i am quite capable of walking myself, however, if you touch me in any way what so ever right now as i am not in any danger nor yourselves I will notify the authorities through my mother.' They let me walk to ob's, but they left me in there for quite a long time, I think I pissed them off a wee bit. O-well never said I was perfect. I remember treatment team quite well. That was the time when you got to sit in the middle of a large group of adults, I remember always going in there with my muscles so damn tense I thought they wre gonna go into spasms. I was already to be tackled in there, I trusted no one in there and had no reason to trust anyone in there. They used treatment team as a good time to beat up on you verablly, I have seen so many kids come out of there and have to go up stairs to take a chair because they could not control they're sobs, some of relief from it being over and some from the pain of what people in there said to them and about them. i myself always sat stoned. I ama stone butch, and not much can get ot me that I let show. I was always humiliated by staff in front of others to try adn get me to show emotion, it always angered them that I never showed any emotion besides anger, because I would not let them make me cry or feel sorry or anything, and I never showed them if I was happy, you showed that emotion and they were sure to strip it from you. Just like if you were to make a friend there they would put you on different units or something else to pull you apart. Life was never easy there and I suspect it is not any easier today from what I have heard from those in there. I just got a letter the other day from a girl that is still in there, I haven't heard anything from her for almost 2 years, so I was stunned to hear from her. She is on my old therapist caseload, and part of me thinks she is lonely and just needs a friend, but hte other part of me thinks staff set her up to it to see if I would tell her any information about the retaliation that could help them, course I wouldn't. I'm always careful about what I say with things like that, I don't want to get her into trouble, so i told her it's probably best for her not to write me anymore for her own safety and sanity. And you know what, a year and 5 months down the road, I'm free in a physical sense, but at night and sometimes during the day when I see things or hear something, I am drawn back to what I had to go through, and i know that it will at least take 5 month for every month I was there to heal, and I was there for 26 months, so I got a lot of time laid out ahead of me, but I know that if I could make it through the constant shit that i went through there without killing myself, than I know that others can too, you just gotta push through the pain and keep on moving until help arrives.
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and here we are, on the "outs" together. i'm glad to have someone to relate to. keep mailing me, i enjoy hearing from you. we probably would have been good friends if we'd been there together. if you're like me, i dreamed of this day...sitting at home (hey i even have my OWN place!), doing whatever the hell i want. Provo Canyon School is a distant (but unpleasant) memory. i wish we could go there right now and bust a door down and let all the girls out. we'd run through the mormon infested land screaming "FREEDOM"! at the top of our lungs. i'm not bitter, no, i'm surviving.
:wave: hello PCS girlies it'll all be over soon!
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:evil: *Sigh* I'm still amazed every time I read something new.
I really do hope this place gets closed down. Are any Utah media willing to step forwards? Or are they just as cowardly as the damn authorities?
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Thank you, Hope. It's good to hear the coping strategies that worked to help you survive.
Not showing emotion is probably one of the most positive coping mechanisms I've heard anyone mention---because the less emotion you show, the fewer handles you give the sadistic bastards to use to get into your head.
Timoclea
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I was there for one month before being rescued. It is by far the worst and most fear provoking experiences of my life. I was drugged, left for dead after suffocating from them piling on top of me - I passed out. I was punished for everthing - going to the bathroom with the door shut, wearing a shirt the staffer didn't approve of, getting out of a chair, smiling at the wrong time, asking for something trivial. I know there are many who suffered more. I probably would have died if I had stayed. I was seriously planning to escape or kill myself if I could not.
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On 2004-05-24 09:20:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Thank you, Hope. It's good to hear the coping strategies that worked to help you survive.
Not showing emotion is probably one of the most positive coping mechanisms I've heard anyone mention---because the less emotion you show, the fewer handles you give the sadistic bastards to use to get into your head.
Timoclea"
I wouldn't say it was a positive coping skill, I would say it was more of a survival skill, something I just had to do. I paid for it, believe me, emotionally and mentally I paid for it. I hurt everday and had no where to go with it because I had to keep it all in. I still find myself releasing old pain. I talk to a staff that worked there when I was there and I still talk to her about stupid shit that happened there, and sometimes I wonder if she ever bores of me, and then I wonder if she knows that I have never released the feeling from it and am still trying to sort it out. It was like living in a stupor the whole time. Yea, showing anger can get you places, make people fear you and stay away from you, lets people know not to fuck with you, but when you don't show any other emotions with it, folks think your kinda like a cyborg, you get up do what you gotta do and go back to rest again, I got maybe 8 or 9 hours of sleep there a week, my buddies and I used sign language to talk at night, I was, in part, a cyborg, with only my anger to show, everything else bottled in, and I still am trying to get it all out, and sometimes, when I'm asleep and having a nightmare and I wake up, I fear it will never all come out.
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On 2004-05-24 03:10:00, Anonymous wrote:
"and here we are, on the "outs" together. i'm glad to have someone to relate to. keep mailing me, i enjoy hearing from you. we probably would have been good friends if we'd been there together. if you're like me, i dreamed of this day...sitting at home (hey i even have my OWN place!), doing whatever the hell i want. Provo Canyon School is a distant (but unpleasant) memory. i wish we could go there right now and bust a door down and let all the girls out. we'd run through the mormon infested land screaming "FREEDOM"! at the top of our lungs. i'm not bitter, no, i'm surviving.
:wave: hello PCS girlies it'll all be over soon! "
Hey there, you were a former student there, recent I take it. Who are you?
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All of you should join together and report all of this to the authorities and the media. Especially the livid kitty. I was stunned reading your account. I believe you because others are saying the same things. This place really sucks.
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On 2004-05-25 08:59:00, Anonymous wrote:
"All of you should join together and report all of this to the authorities and the media. Especially the livid kitty. I was stunned reading your account. I believe you because others are saying the same things. This place really sucks. "
It's not that easy, we have been trying for awhile, I have been trying to do just that for about a year now, but it is not as easy as it really should be, people don't want to believe us, thaey don't want to believe that so much bad can be happening to children in America, but worse yet, there are children coming from other countries to Provo that are geting abused also, and that wouldn't make the US politicians look good if word got out that children of other countries are being abused by americans on our soil, that breaks the genevia convention. So it is hidden under wraps, and those wraps ain't comin off that easy. in order for me to get my file so that i can report my abuse in it's entirety, they want a certified check for $1,016, like I have that kind of money, i am only 18. then again i do have 1750 pages in my file from Provo, but all that info. in there holds the key to my court case. I wish it was easier than it is, maybe my life would be less stressful, but it ain't so you just have to stand strong and fight the system adn don't sit.
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The authorities have a right under the HIPPA rules to obtain your records to determine the extent of CHILD ABUSE. Apparently they are not doing this for you because they don't want to know the extent of the abuse. This is because they don't want to stop it or do anything to interfere with Provo's financial interests. They also know that the taxpayers of Utah are paying to have kids placed there by the courts and it wouldn't look good if reports of child abuse leaked out to the public. It's time to let it leak out to the public. Then and only then will something be done.
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
-- William James
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On 2004-05-25 16:16:00, cherish wisdom wrote:
"The authorities have a right under the HIPPA rules to obtain your records to determine the extent of CHILD ABUSE. Apparently they are not doing this for you because they don't want to know the extent of the abuse. This is because they don't want to stop it or do anything to interfere with Provo's financial interests. They also know that the taxpayers of Utah are paying to have kids placed there by the courts and it wouldn't look good if reports of child abuse leaked out to the public. It's time to let it leak out to the public. Then and only then will something be done. A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
-- William James
"
Again, they want over 1,000 dollars, I do not have that money, and I'll be damned if I could get the authorities to work with me, it's a pain in my ass that won't stop paining.
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Words can not describe the fear, humiliation and degredation of those imprissoned against their will at Provo Canyon School. :skull: :skull:
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On 2004-05-25 20:26:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Words can not describe the fear, humiliation and degredation of those imprissoned against their will at Provo Canyon School. :flame: keeps you alive there. It makes your mind aware of what is going on around you. :flame: Let's you make split second decisions to help protect you from the staff and students. :flame: Helps you when you are gone to go after them, and to protect yourselves from anything like that again.
My mother thinks I should go see a therapist because of all the stress I have been under. I have been used, abused, manipulated an dlied to by therapist at provo Canyon School. How can I trust any of them? I do not and will not. My mother just think 'yea whatever, tahts bull.' But it is my :flame: that keeps me alive and going day to day in life, knowing that one day I will over power them and they will crumble, and I will be standing over them laughing and tell them, you have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. Don't Fuck with me, I'm a American!
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Hope, lemme tell you a little story---When I was in college, I went to the "counseling center" and mentioned being suicidal and the counselor talked about did I want to change my major---but he *also* referred me to the infirmary to talk to the psychiatrist. Okay, he was so-so, but at least he knew his limitations.
Then I went to the infirmary psychiatrist, and I told him I thought I was manic-depressive and he said that since he couldn't see it, he couldn't diagnose it, and suggested I only take classes half-time and basically resign myself to living life as an invalid.
I went on my way convinced psychiatry could do nothing for me and I was on my own.
It nearly killed me, because I *do* have a major mental illness.
Fortunately, along the way after nearly killing myself (a couple of times), and nearly getting committed, and scaring my closest friends half to death, I ended up in the office of a *competent* psychiatrist.
He diagnosed me, not correctly yet, but close enough, and got me on medication that helps---my diagnosis got refined to the right one later. Bipolar II (what I have) is hard to tell from Major Depressive Disorder---it wasn't incompetence, it was lack of data, and it didn't harm me because the doctors were competent and were following my condition---so once enough data accumulated, they fixed my records. No harm, no foul.
I didn't find out until *years* later that the shrink who tried to tell me to just live as an invalid was at the far extreme of the field in his *extreme* reluctance to prescribe medication.
He should have told me so. Not telling me his opinion was an extreme minority was unethical.
But he was *ONE* bad shrink----and I almost let that *ONE* bad shrink get me killed by keeping me from getting the quality treatment that any of the vast majority of competent and ethical shrinks could give.
Don't make the mistake I did. Please.
Hope, I've known more than half a dozen shrinks in a professional capacity. When you have a mental illness that requires medication, over the years you accumulate various shrinks just for medication management.
I've known *one* lousy one, and a couple of so-so ones out of about ten.
Consider the possibility that the shrinks and pseudo shrinks willing to work for these places are the bottom of the barrel, professionally.
Consider that a *competent* shrink would have a successful private practice and *not* be working in the middle of nowhere in someplace as sucky as Provo Canyon.
It sucks for the kids, but even though it's no excuse for the staff to do the things they do, accept for a minute that working there sucks for the staff and that's part of the reason they get their jollies of pathetic power plays with the kids.
Now, would a *competent*, *ethical* shrink work in a shithole like that if they could get a better job?
To be a *good* shrink, you have to have empathy and ethics---which maybe suggests why the "therapists" (and I'm being generous by dignifying them with the term) who wind up at PC can't get a better job elsewhere.
Please don't let the profession's sleazy bottom of the barrel affect your opinion of all shrinks, or keep you from getting the genuinely helpful assistance any of the vast majority of the profession's *good* practitioners can provide.
I know it's hard to trust that you can find a good shrink when you've had a bad one. I can certainly relate. But please trust that you're *much* more likely to find a competent one *outside* a BM institution than you were to find one *inside* one.
By the way---the first competent psychiatrist, who got me on medication that actually helped me---was working at the mental health clinic run by my county health department, and was based on ability to pay----so lack of money doesn't have to be any bar to getting basic, good quality treatment.
What experiences and history teach is this-that people and government never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.
--G.W.F Hegel (1770-1831)
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How common is it for teens with a serious mental illness like BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) to be inappropriately placed in a behavior modification program because the child has been labeled by non professionals (e.g. "parents helping other parents") as "defiant", "manipulative" and/or suffering from this new and wholly made-up condition called "entitlementitis"?
This really concerns me knowing that illnesses like BPD can not be cured by a 2 year stint in some one-size-fits-all behavior mod program or any kind of "program" for that matter that is not equipped to provide the kind of specialized treatment these teens need and deserve.
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On 2004-05-26 12:12:00, Timoclea wrote:
"Hope, lemme tell you a little story---When I was in college, I went to the "counseling center" and mentioned being suicidal and the counselor talked about did I want to change my major---but he *also* referred me to the infirmary to talk to the psychiatrist. Okay, he was so-so, but at least he knew his limitations.
Then I went to the infirmary psychiatrist, and I told him I thought I was manic-depressive and he said that since he couldn't see it, he couldn't diagnose it, and suggested I only take classes half-time and basically resign myself to living life as an invalid.
I went on my way convinced psychiatry could do nothing for me and I was on my own.
It nearly killed me, because I *do* have a major mental illness.
Fortunately, along the way after nearly killing myself (a couple of times), and nearly getting committed, and scaring my closest friends half to death, I ended up in the office of a *competent* psychiatrist.
He diagnosed me, not correctly yet, but close enough, and got me on medication that helps---my diagnosis got refined to the right one later. Bipolar II (what I have) is hard to tell from Major Depressive Disorder---it wasn't incompetence, it was lack of data, and it didn't harm me because the doctors were competent and were following my condition---so once enough data accumulated, they fixed my records. No harm, no foul.
I didn't find out until *years* later that the shrink who tried to tell me to just live as an invalid was at the far extreme of the field in his *extreme* reluctance to prescribe medication.
He should have told me so. Not telling me his opinion was an extreme minority was unethical.
But he was *ONE* bad shrink----and I almost let that *ONE* bad shrink get me killed by keeping me from getting the quality treatment that any of the vast majority of competent and ethical shrinks could give.
Don't make the mistake I did. Please.
Hope, I've known more than half a dozen shrinks in a professional capacity. When you have a mental illness that requires medication, over the years you accumulate various shrinks just for medication management.
I've known *one* lousy one, and a couple of so-so ones out of about ten.
Consider the possibility that the shrinks and pseudo shrinks willing to work for these places are the bottom of the barrel, professionally.
Consider that a *competent* shrink would have a successful private practice and *not* be working in the middle of nowhere in someplace as sucky as Provo Canyon.
It sucks for the kids, but even though it's no excuse for the staff to do the things they do, accept for a minute that working there sucks for the staff and that's part of the reason they get their jollies of pathetic power plays with the kids.
Now, would a *competent*, *ethical* shrink work in a shithole like that if they could get a better job?
To be a *good* shrink, you have to have empathy and ethics---which maybe suggests why the "therapists" (and I'm being generous by dignifying them with the term) who wind up at PC can't get a better job elsewhere.
Please don't let the profession's sleazy bottom of the barrel affect your opinion of all shrinks, or keep you from getting the genuinely helpful assistance any of the vast majority of the profession's *good* practitioners can provide.
I know it's hard to trust that you can find a good shrink when you've had a bad one. I can certainly relate. But please trust that you're *much* more likely to find a competent one *outside* a BM institution than you were to find one *inside* one.
By the way---the first competent psychiatrist, who got me on medication that actually helped me---was working at the mental health clinic run by my county health department, and was based on ability to pay----so lack of money doesn't have to be any bar to getting basic, good quality treatment.
What experiences and history teach is this-that people and government never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.
--G.W.F Hegel (1770-1831)
"
Actually I am quite sane, just very very opionated, ask any of my friends if they ever find this place,heh, but yea, I don't need to live through chemicals, not ye anyhow, thanks for the info. though, ijust get stressed and over produce acid causing great pain, but i gotta go, mom needs me. tanks again.
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On 2004-05-26 12:49:00, Anonymous wrote:
"How common is it for teens with a serious mental illness like BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) to be inappropriately placed in a behavior modification program because the child has been labeled by non professionals (e.g. "parents helping other parents") as "defiant", "manipulative" and/or suffering from this new and wholly made-up condition called "entitlementitis"?
This really concerns me knowing that illnesses like BPD can not be cured by a 2 year stint in some one-size-fits-all behavior mod program or any kind of "program" for that matter that is not equipped to provide the kind of specialized treatment these teens need and deserve. "
I don't know how "common" it is, but because illnesses like BPD have a heavy genetic component---mental illness tends to run in families, and in a family with those genes, even family members who are not actually mentally ill may be...er...noticeably eccentric----well, these parents may very well be more vulnerable to the manipulations of recruiters and administrators in this industry.
So it's a very real risk---especially among families that have some kind of prejudice against medication. These families may decide that "therapy doesn't work" and that doctors are "only trying to stick your kid on drugs."
Some kids need drugs. The right drugs. Most kids don't, but some kids do.
So sometimes it very well could happen that a mentally ill child is inappropriately placed in a behavioral modification facility that promises (not in words they can legally be held to---but enough to let the parents hear what they want to hear) to cure their mentally ill child's "problems," and that that inappropriate placement happens because parents don't want to hear what mainstream child psychologists and child psychiatrists are telling them.
And there are no checks or balances in the system to keep that from happening.
Which isn't as it should be, since failing to get proper medical care for a sick child is child neglect.
I'm not saying every parent whose kid has a mental health problem should be forced to medicate their child regardless of the parents' opinions. I am saying that if the child has a major mental illness (and I want BPD reclassified as one--it's the only diagnosis I want reclassified) the parents shouldn't be able to institutionalize the child in preference to medicating the child.
First management had plans and then strategic plans. Now we have vision, and we're only one small step from hallucination.
-- Ansley Throckmorton upon assuming the presidency of Bangor Theological Seminary in Bangor, Main per Information World 8-4-`97
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Oh---caveat---if the *child* with the major mental illness *wants* institutionalization over medication, and the parents agree, *of course* the government shouldn't force pills down the poor kid's throat.
I just think that anybody who's dangerous off meds (but safe on them) who is willing to take the medicine should have the *option* of medication over institutionalization.
Regardless of age.
One of the reasons I think that is that there *is* no cure for the major mental illnesses. When these places say or imply that they can cure them, they're lying.
Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Mark Twain
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Thanks Timoclea, I appreciate the feedback on the question about diagnosable mentally ill teens. You would be shocked at how many parents who refer other parents to their program-of-choice are doing so much more harm than good. It is really a tragedy and one of the reasons why federal regulations are so vital to establishing
protections for teens from child abuse and neglect at the hands of these so-called "professional parents". What a crock!
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This was taken from the petition to close Provo Canyon School:
This inhumane place needs to be shut down!!!! It?s absolutely disgusting that this abusive and neglecting center is still open. Why does America stand for this kind of abuse to its children?? SHUT IT DOWN! How can anyone justify shooting a child up with Thorazine, or sexually abusing a child, or denying a child medical attention. I've seen all these happen in my 11-month stay there in 1990-1991. God help those that are in there now, and those of us that are left to deal with the "demons" since we have left.
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It's hard to believe that this place is still in opperation. The children are severely disciplined and often the discipline is abusive. They tell parents and authorities that the children are liars and somehow they continue to get away with sadistic and abusive treatment of children and mentally ill children.
It must be closed down. I don't know if the petition will work - but it is worth a try. :wink:
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This inhumane place needs to be shut down!!!! It?s absolutely disgusting that this abusive and neglecting center is still open. Why does America stand for this kind of abuse to its children?? SHUT IT DOWN! How can anyone justify shooting a child up with Thorazine, or sexually abusing a child, or denying a child medical attention. I've seen all these happen in my 11-month stay there in 1990-1991. God help those that are in there now, and those of us that are left to deal with the "demons" since we have left.
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Recently returned home from a private prison. I just wanted to share with those who think this is a wonderful place. I was there during flu season on orientation and investment (where I stayed most of the time) A nurse told our group that we had to take our medication and that we could not refuse. "If you refuse the medication - you will be given a shot by force if need be!" That's what we were told. Oh - and for those thinking of coming to PCS for therapy - FORGET IT - unless you consider isolation and seclusion theray. Oh - and then we had this person with an infrared machine. The nurse - or whoever - said "you wont get to go to the doctor if you get sick - so wash your hands well." Then our hands were examined. Many people were sick - and no one could go to an outside doctor.
If one isn't insane when they go to PCS - they will be. Most of the staff are power-tripping sadists who enjoy tormenting certain people (some people are treated Ok - if they kiss ass. Well - that's all for now - I'll write more as the horrors that linger in my brain subside. How long will it take to stop having nighmares and breaking out in cold sweats? It's 2 am - dare I try to sleep?
Broken Doll
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I was at PCS for a little over six months. The horrors I wittnesed there appauled me. The staff members and therapists there (I had Earl Cardon) had fun toying with the kids there, they would say stuff to the kids to try and make them angry and lash out...and when they did they would get beaten, thrown over a table, get kneed in the back, elbowed in the face, drugged, isolated for days. If you tried to say anything about the terrors that went on there to you're parents whether it was by phone, or mail, the therapists would find out and you would be cut off from any communication of any type from you're parents, family, and friends. They called it.."Manipulation". Clever huh...Finally my mother came down to visit me for the first time. Good thing she did, because when she saw how loony Earl Cardon (my therapist) was. less than 2 weeks more I was out of that Nazi concentration brainwashing power tripping mind controling hellish terrifying horrifying prison camp...Or what did they call it there...Oh, yes, A "Residential Teatment Center". Sounds fun huh.
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On 2004-06-08 11:07:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Recently returned home from a private prison. I just wanted to share with those who think this is a wonderful place. I was there during flu season on orientation and investment (where I stayed most of the time) A nurse told our group that we had to take our medication and that we could not refuse. "If you refuse the medication - you will be given a shot by force if need be!" That's what we were told. Oh - and for those thinking of coming to PCS for therapy - FORGET IT - unless you consider isolation and seclusion theray. Oh - and then we had this person with an infrared machine. The nurse - or whoever - said "you wont get to go to the doctor if you get sick - so wash your hands well." Then our hands were examined. Many people were sick - and no one could go to an outside doctor.
If one isn't insane when they go to PCS - they will be. Most of the staff are power-tripping sadists who enjoy tormenting certain people (some people are treated Ok - if they kiss ass. Well - that's all for now - I'll write more as the horrors that linger in my brain subside. How long will it take to stop having nighmares and breaking out in cold sweats? It's 2 am - dare I try to sleep?
Broken Doll"
Hmmm... I find you interesting. The whole hand washing with a chemical then putting your hands under a black light was used to show you where you missed when washing 'bacteria' away off of your hands. This was done during the 'medical intake' thingy that all the kids there go through, I went through it too, it was just to show you whats what and to keep you aware for the sickness season there.
And yea you are forced to take meds, even though you really do have a chocie, they just don't tell you that and let you exercise that right, course when I exercised that right with them I was thrown into observation until I was willing to take my meds.
And when you are sick there they never take you to a Dr. you could be making RUN PLANS< dun dun DUN> Stupid people, so you had to be like really sick and then maybe you could see Cathy Black and then she would decide but you had to have a temp. over 100 to be put on bed rest and if you got out of your bed then you would be given a class two and possibly sent back to school, cause you couldn't read, crochet or do homework to pass the boredom of the day, yea that was always fun.
Oh. And I have never seen a student thrown over a table, I think that's a bit extreme, course I have seen a kid dropped down the stairs on her head. Hmm...
Oh, and the only kids there that are treated well are those that do as staff say and sacrifice they're spirit and all that they are and bend to they're every need and heed they're every word, those like me that remained true to themselves and wouldn't fold and would not let them break they're spirit, well, let's just say it was rough for those like me.
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The boys are treated worse than the girls from my understanding. There is a campus in Orem for the girls and another in Provo on University for the boys.
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While i was at pcs, i can rememebr only times of fear and loathing, i lost what i could concider pride as they took me and beat me in the observation rooms, when parents decide to send there children to provo canyon school they see happy children climbing on rocks and having group therapy, but i remember therapy as an escape from the torture that we have all been through. As a student i have been beaten, sexually herassed, falsy accused, and permenantly damaged, today i am free, free because of the fear of what would happen if i wer e to be there another day, free for the sympethy of few staff that realized i have been there for nearly two years. Some staff did help me to make it through, but in the way that they only protected me from myself, and that was not who i needed to be protected from. I hurt myself in the way that i became the person my parents belived belonged in a treatment facility. No matter how much i grow, or how much i learn, i will never over come the fear, hate, and pain i went through at pcs. To all former students i bid ye my greatest respect for the pain you have had to suffer, and to all current or former employees i have only this to say, i hope you can understand the pain the children have to go through, there is no cause for the pain most staf contribute, students being all under the age of 18 have no power to defend themselves, i recall select individuals who helped me to survive pcs and would like to thank them, tony mosier, you made me belive in myself even when no one else in the world thought i was worth the breath, john (therapist) u helped me to remain calm even when i am rudely awakened by a fist flying to my face from an employee of the school. but asx for bruce, your fat ass will burn in hell for your lack of human sensitivity, i will never forget the fifteen or so chairs u have broken you *******. Jason, you will forever be a memory, a peice of **** i left in the toilet years ago, you will never have the privilage to touch me again. Alvin and jackson, thanks for your kindness you have been strict but you have also been kind and understanding, as for the physical therapy staff, you are all kind, but not all the students get to experience this kindness, this is one thing they do deserve. As for the parents sending the children to Provo Canyon, what the **** are you thinking, you deserve to be in a mental hospital or something, when your children call crying and begging to go home, listen to them, who the **** are you to ignore your own children when they are hurting. I will leave my statement at that, sorry for the crude language, i know i should know better, but im not scared anymore.
love always
tyler
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Tyler,
So good to see you on the net!! I am constantly reading these sites for two reasons, first, to see if any former students I know leave messages and, two, to remind myself of who I have been given the great responsibilty to care for and to educate myself to the concerns and issues regarding PCS. It makes me a better, more effective and empathetic staff member (except for when I raise my voice. Hey, stop laughing.)
You are right about Tony. He is an excellent therapist and I am glad you had the opportunity to work with him. Jackson is doing well and still sounds like Barry White on the phone.
It is not often I get to work with our students outside the Investment Unit, but when that chance comes, I relish it. Yeah, I can be firm, even strict, but I pride myself on being fair and never shying away from a moment to give a needed hug or word of encouragement. Jackson, on the other hand, well, just call him everybody's "dad".
Best wishes to you Tyler. Give us a call sometime and let us know how you are doing. While a major part of your stay at PCS was challenging, I am grateful we met.
Respectfully,
Alvin
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Dear Alvin--
Has anyone ever asked whether your apparent cognitive disorder also impairs your ability to recognize or diagnose psychological issues in patients?
In at least some programs, "lack of empathy" is considered an error in thinking.
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please, you need to back down from Alvin and let him be, it is much for me to say this since I like and approve of so few. But Alvin is a good man and I respect him, he works very hard at what he does, and he is a caring staff member. With all of the staff there and so many with cruel intentions, we need to let the good reside and haunt the rest until they learn, for if they leave it only leaves room for worse to come. Thanks you.
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On 2004-06-08 22:59:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Tyler,
So good to see you on the net!! I am constantly reading these sites for two reasons, first, to see if any former students I know leave messages and, two, to remind myself of who I have been given the great responsibilty to care for and to educate myself to the concerns and issues regarding PCS. It makes me a better, more effective and empathetic staff member (except for when I raise my voice. Hey, stop laughing.)
You are right about Tony. He is an excellent therapist and I am glad you had the opportunity to work with him. Jackson is doing well and still sounds like Barry White on the phone.
It is not often I get to work with our students outside the Investment Unit, but when that chance comes, I relish it. Yeah, I can be firm, even strict, but I pride myself on being fair and never shying away from a moment to give a needed hug or word of encouragement. Jackson, on the other hand, well, just call him everybody's "dad".
Best wishes to you Tyler. Give us a call sometime and let us know how you are doing. While a major part of your stay at PCS was challenging, I am grateful we met.
Respectfully,
Alvin "
Alvin, I understand that you may feel the need to be the "good" staff member----meaning you probably are a good guy and are probably torn with what the poor kids that get sent would go through if you left.
Unfortunately, I think your presence enables PCS to keep its doors open and keep hurting kids, because they can point to staffers like you to try to convince parents they're a good place to send children---when, clearly, they're not.
I know you must have turned this over a thousand times in your head, agonizing over what the right thing to do is.
I would hope that you always continue to ask that question, because some day the day is going to come when you're going to have the opportunity to testify before Congress about the abuses you've no doubt noticed---if not seen directly, seen the physical evidence of.
That's when you're really going to need to step up so that they'll understand that this industry needs strict regulation and governmental oversight and control.
Timoclea
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Is this notice that's been on the ISAC website for awhile related to the Utah Attorney General's recent decision or are these 2 separate kinds of investigations?
"Attention Survivors of Provo Canyon School: If you experienced or witnessed abuse at PCS, Amanda Rader of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services wants to hear from you. Contact Ms. Rader at 801-374-7282 or http://www.isaccorp.com (http://www.isaccorp.com)
Thanks!
:wave:
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They are two separate but related investigations. Amanda Rader, supervisor of Provo Child Protective Services, indicated that she had never heard of any reports of abuse at Provo Canyon School. So her name was posted to allow former patients and opportunity to notify her of the abuse they witnessed and experienced.
CPS send in a private investigator to determine if five particular children were victims of abuse, since this was reported to them. The Attorney General determined that it was not criminal to do the following:
1)force medicate a child against thier will and without parental consent
2) Fracture a child's back in a human take down and then deprive that child of proper medical care and evaluation
3) Deprive a child of medical care when the child has severe side effects of a forced injection of Haldol, including blindness.
4) Isolate a mentally ill child for a week because the child reported abuse in a group therapy session.
(partial list)
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As long as the authorities do nothing and the people are ignorant - these abuses will continue. The abusive acts that occur in US prisons are also happening to mentally ill children in these teen programs. The licensed therapists protect and defend the actions of the un-licensed staff and the abuse continues because they are not reporting these abuses to the authorities. All of these programs that are violating laws and codes should be closed.
They serve so that we don't have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is, remarkably, their gift to us. And all they ask for in return is that we never send them into harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary. Will they ever trust us again?
Michael More
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Inside (internal) investigations in private residential schools and programs should never be allowed, that is part of the problem. But as evident by the AG's findings, relying on government agencies to conduct investigations is no guarantee that complaints of abuse will be taken seriously. Parents really should use some common sense and understand that the more restrictive and custodial the program, the greater the potential for abuse. Personally, I would not send my child to any lock-down facility so far away that I could not monitor the care and treatment of my child regularly and ON DEMAND. Parents who willfully leave their children at the mercy of these greedy, ill-trained, ignorant caregivers are guilty of abuse and neglect. They should be investigated, as well.
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This was taken from the petition to close Provo Canyon School:
I suffered greatly as a result of my time spent at PCS (years of nightmares, fear, shame...severe anxiety, anger, etc...) Now ten years later, I have come to terms with what happened to me there. I am able to step back and look at it through the eyes of a young professional- and I am appalled at what I see! How could this have happened?? Who allowed this facility operate?? Why hasn't more been done to protect these children from such abuse??
If this program is properly and thoroughly investigated, I am quite sure it will not be allowed to continue operating.
*** please note that the children at this facility have been instilled with fear... they are threatened with harsh punishment should they speak negatively about the program to ANYONE.
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Does anyone know if the reporters are going to do a story about this program? This information needs to be exposed to the public since the authorities are doing nothing to enforce regulations and laws that have been established to protect children. The public needs to be aware that those who they have trusted to protect the safety and rights of mentally ill children are allowing programs like Provo Canyon to abuse and torture children. This must stop. It has been going on for too long.
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Unfortunately, news reporters seem to feel obligated to present fair-and-balanced reports so for every allegation of abuse, you can be sure there wll be 2 parents or more claiming just the opposite is true. Second, if the news gets out that DHS and the AG seemingly concur that there is no credibility to allegations of abuse, the citizens of Utah are going to interpret their findings to be the gospel truth.
Catch 22 - damned if you do, damned if you don't.
:roll:
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(Excerpt From) Protest Flyer from former Provo Canyon Student.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Cyprus/6189/page11.html (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Cyprus/6189/page11.html)
After PCS- I can tell you from experience that the PCS experience doesn't end when they let you go. My whole life since has been an ceaseless struggle to forget, to regain my dignity and my belief in a social system that broke its implied
promise to protect and nurture me.
I committed no crime, have never been arrested or accused, yet I spent nineteen months in jail, with bars on the windows and guards by the doors. I was denied access to a lawyer, and letters sent to the ACLU in protest of conditions never made it past my therapist's desk.
I went for weeks at a time without ever seeing the sun and watched boys my own age be physically assaulted and humiliated by staff members. At one point I suffered a nervous breakdown and attempted suicide. My wounds went untreated and
became infected during my month long stay in the "secured" unit.
I have not spoken to my father since 1987 because I cannot look at him without being reminded of that place. I must lie on job applications and resumes because I am afraid that someone will know what PCS is. I have reoccurring nightmares, sexual difficulties and have become claustrophobic. This leaflet is a feeble attempt to make sense of the senseless, a last ditch attempts to save myself by saving others.
Please, dear parent, understand that whatever difficulty you are experiencing with your teen will eventually pass. Maybe they are making your life a living hell, but that is no excuse for making their lives one. Before you sign any
papers, before you write a check, go to the school. Stay there for a whole day.
Pretend you are your teen and that you can't leave. Watch how the staff deals with the students. Ask to see the secured units and don't take no for an answer. The admissions official you deal with will offer you hope for your troubled teen, even a cure for his or her problems. He will tell you about PCS's fine reputation and its credentials. It is his job. He gets a commission for each admission. He probably won't be able to have you speak to any ex-students because all the ex-students I know of like to pretend that it never happened.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Dear Sirs, (Letter to Editors of Diablo Magazine)
Thank you for your article on emotional growth schools. As a 1985 graduate of Provo Canyon School, I am extremely concerned about the proliferation of these schools and how they will effect these teens in the long term.
While I cannot speak for my fellow students, I can tell you that my stay at PCS has caused me a great deal of pain over the past fifteen years. It has affected every facet of my life, from my career to my relationship with my family, and I despair of ever being able to come to terms with the experience. Even 15 years later, I am just so full of anger, resentment, frustration and confusion, I can hardly stand it.
So, what did I do to deserve my trip to Utah, you ask? Not much. Like many other teens of then and now, I was sullen, asocial,self-involved, moody. I ran away from a private school, stayed out late, defied my parents, got bad grades. The only thing I didn't do was get in trouble with the law. I never even spoke to a cop, much less spent time in a state juvenile facility. Regardless, without any regard for my constitutional and human rights, my father was able to commit me to PCS, where I spent nearly two years in complete lockdown, my phone calls and mail monitored, my free time spent staring at a TV or standing off punishment points. It was a living death.
While my peers in public high schools explored their world and came into their own as adults, I couldn't even go to the bathroom without permission. But I had it comparatively easy. Some of my fellow students spent weeks at a time in a locked, windowless room for minor offenses, while others, who dared to defy the authorities, were physically restrained and placed in broom closet sized padded cells called "time out rooms."
When I graduated, I was not in good shape. After a year and a half, it was hard to get used to thinking for myself again. I felt so damn isolated--I had lost touch with friends on the
outside, and the staff at PCS had taken away phone numbers and addresses of fellow students, saying that I should stay away from them when I returned home. Who could possibly understand what I had seen, what I had been through? No one.
I am trying to put together some type of unofficial alumni association, but it's hard. It's been so many years, and many ex-students are embarrassed by the whole thing and want badly
to put it behind them.
Anyway, in regards to your article, I completely agree with Tom Burton when he said, "People grow up." Yes, they do. I would have gotten though my adolescence just fine without Farnsworth, Litchfield and PCS. But my parents had too much money, too little time, and they were looking for a solution. PCS offered them that solution, neatly packaged in a four color brochure and videotape, and they bought right into it.
I just want to say that, in examining the US Constitution, nowhere does it say that a citizen
must be of a certain age before these rights apply to them. The same thing goes for the
United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Parents may have the right to protect their
children from themselves, but those children have rights too. The right not to be woken up
at 4am by a pair of large men and spirited away to Utah in handcuffs, for example.
While these kinds of schools may be helpful for some children, they assuredly are not helpful for all, despite what Karr Farnsworth says. To protect the latter group, the admissions procedure of these schools should be highly regulated, with a 3rd party child psychologist or other state official (one who does not profit from the admission) checking out every kid and deciding if they truly need such a drastic solution. I only wish a system like this was in place in 1984; if it had been, my parents would have been forced to find another way to deal with me in lieu of sending me to what amounted to a prison without the benefit of due process.
You have my permission to reprint any or all parts of this letter on your Web site or
elsewhere.
Thank you,
David D.
[ This Message was edited by: cherish wisdom on 2004-06-16 21:51 ]
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B.I.N.G.O. this boy just confirmed the fact that teens don't need programs, they need parents who have the time and interest to parent their children through adolescence instead of dumping them off in places like PCS.
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CW:
Have you filed a civil lawsuit against PCS on behalf of your daughter or are you and other victims planning a class action lawsuit vis a vis gathering potential plaintiffs through the online petition?
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Anon: yes, I have a lawyer. But what is more important is seeing that others are not abused. It's also important to fully notify the authorities about the abuse - even if they do nothing. A law suit should be the last resort. It is up to my daughter who was the person harmed and injured. She was an exceptional athlete. One of the girls who was equal to her athletically just received a full-ride soccer scholarship to Notre Dam. Staff at PCS fractured her back in a violent human take down - because she got out of a chair to use the bathroom without permission and mouthed off to the staff member who told her she couldn't. They then denied her medical care and evaluation. Isolated her for a week (in violation of core rules and state and federal mental health codes). While in isolation, with a painful broken back, she was forced to clean bathrooms, walls and vaccume. She was also forced to sit and stare at a wall when she wasn't cleaing. Talk about torture. When she tried to escape she was stripped naked.
The authorities in Utah ALL know about this and they don't see anything wrong with this. They have informed me that these things were not criminal or abusive. So there is no other alternative. I'd just like to have the money to really go for the jugular - and sue them for such a horendous sum of money that it would cause fear in other similar programs. Any suggestions???? [ This Message was edited by: cherish wisdom on 2004-06-16 22:48 ]
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Call 801-374-7005 if you were abused at Provo Canyon School or another facility in that area.
Here is some infomtion from a parent:
Please call Provo Child Protective Services and report your abuse and the abuse you witnessed. Give the names of those who have been injured, kicked, beaten, sexually assaulted, punished with isolation and seclusion for more than four hours, forced druggings and denial of proper medical care. These are all violations of law. Torture is not therapy - and they do not have a right to abuse you. You may not become aware of this until later because of what they tell you. Don't let them brainwash you. I know they have a great song and dance for the parents and many are totally sucked in to the PROGRAM - which in reality is a REPROGRAMING of your mind and values using extremely abusive methods of conditioning and warped behavior modification to meet that end.
If you are a parent - realize that they are very good at getting parents to accept all the wonderful things they are doing. As long as you have money they will continue to tell you that your child is not ready - they only want your money. How much are they charging? $8,000 per month - $10,000 per month - This school makes about 2 million dollars per month off of all of you. You are paying them to punish your child in most outrageous ways. It's desparate parent like you all who keep this abusive industry alive and thriving. At least revoke your consent for chemical and physical restraints and isolation - because these tools of the trade can KILL YOUR CHILD.
Students and Former Students - please report the abuse you experienced and witnessed to the authorities. Your parents have been programed not to believe you. They are warned in letters and at parent support groups that many of you will say and do anything to get released. Others will believe yoy. The abuses of staff must be exposed. A vote for GW is a vote for America's Führer.
--Anonymous (it's best that way...)
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My sister was at Provo last year. She was injured and has back pain now. One girl had her nose broken by staff members. They beat people there.
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There was emotional and mental abuse. Using isolation and seclusion and staring at a wall is mental abuse. I also experienced physcial abuse when staff violently restrained me while forcing a mind altering drug into my body against my will. They then left me in a comatose state without getting me any medical attention or monitoring me. This was also abuse. Did anyone else see any of this? I also saw a girl, who had a broken nose after a human take down - as staff pushed her face into the floor. For some reason she now thinks PCS helped her. I guess I didn't stay long enough or drink enough Kool Aid to feel that they helped me in any way whatsoever. It was the most abusive experience I've had in my entire life. Did anyone else see any of this?
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TO REPORT THE AUBSE YOU SAW and EXPEIRIENCED CALL: Provo Child Protective Services - Supervisor - Amanda Radar - if she is not there - leave a message.
1-801-374-7005
I've read nearly every accout of abuse, torture and maltreatment on this site. It's good to vent - but because few of you have ever REPORTED your abuse and the abuse of those you witnessed - THIS SCHOOL IS STILL GOING strong! This place is still (July 2004) shooting kids up with DRUGS against their refusal, using chair punishment for entire days, punishing with isolation and seclusion, kicking kids in the morning to wake them up, injuring children during very violent human take downs, stripping kids naked and putting them in the OBS unit,denying proper medical care (Robert Crist is a psychiatrist not a family doctor or internist - he also has a financial interest in the school) and other physical, emotional and psychological abuses. If no one does more than vent on web-sites - this will continue. If you are a child incarcerated at PCS and your pathetic parent does not believe you - CALL CPS - your parent should also be locked up for allowing you to be abused there. The number to the Provo Police is 801-227-7070 - Tell them what is going on and what you have seen. Tell the other students about this web-site and others. This place will continue to give you nightmares and will continue to abuse more children daily. YOU WERE THERE - you now have a responsibility to do something to STOP THIS HORRID ABUSE. No one deserves to be tortured in the name of therapy. This school does not have the right to treat you without dignity - they do not have the right to punish you with druggings. This must be exposed. All reports are confidential. In Utah - you have FOUR years to report child abuse and the statute of limitations is also four years for personal injury for a law-suit. The problem is - some of you actually believe that they had some sort of right to terrorize and abuse you. No offence - You can vent and have nightmares - if you do something about this in a positive way - perhaps the nightmares will end for other children. This school and others like it must not continue. It takes action from people like you who actually experienced this to end it.
CS LEWIS wrote:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of it's victims may be the most oppressiv. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busy-bodies. the robber barons's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
Best wishes to all of you who have survived the HELL called Provo Canyon School. May God Bless each of you.
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The web-site is very deceptive. Parents are never told about the frequent punishments and the Behavior Modification that is taking place....
At Provo Canyon School, we believe that children thrive on a clear understanding of what is expected of them. Expectations are based upon the philosophy of taking responsibility for one?s actions or inactions as well as consideration and respect for others. This philosophy is evident in all areas of campus life ? from the cleanliness and order of personal belongings to daily interactions with staff and peers. We expect students to achieve their highest potential in academics and we expect them to work on the issues that resulted in placement at Provo Canyon School. At Provo Canyon School, we are committed to providing an environment conducive to success
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Thanks for the ISAC link. I've been looking for a way to get involved in the fight against these bastards.
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We need people to get involved and inform the masses about what is really going on in some of these places like Provo Canyon School. They really are deceptive and many parents are not aware of the atrocities that may occur.
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Dark Hunter did your staff friend ever GET IT? I mean, as an adult maybe you have the power and balls to confront your executioners. That's my dream..Run in to them at some diner and let it rip.
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Taken from beyondbusiness.net
I was in Provo...New Year's Eve, I was only 16.....turned 17 during an in-take meal.
i played the game, moving up from unit to unit, finally after 6 months, a home visit.....
I had been planning an escape since the very beginning with encripted letters to friends back home. Save to say, I bolted, dyed my hair and lived free for the entire summer. I was caught in New Port Beach and driven back in handcuffs and put in solitary for 2 days plus MASSIVE IPS (investment points, about 3 weeks worth of staring at the wall. At the time, the word was that I was the longest escape with a total of 3 months on the outside.....if this is wrong or if I've been outdone, I'd love to shake the hand of the guy who holds the record. I'll expand on this firs escape in my nex posting...
I was vanquished to Long Term indefinately......some how, they gave me a budget for Snacks, which I used to bride some new guys with to create a divesion, one pulled the fire alarm and another beat the **** out of some guy he didn't like (I'm not proud of that bit) .....I was working kitchen with a guy named ROBERT WADE or something like that......I remember he was from Florida......when the guys we brided went ape **** in the school area, Robert and I switched coats from white to blue (white were Long Term guys, no outside ventures....) and took out the trash......we threw the trash can on its side and vaulted the fence and ran like hell........we had some flimsy outside connections......one of which was a previous therapist.....Our first contact never showed up.....we were supposed to meet some local guy who had been an inmate at some time, at a skateboard ramp, he was a no show.......we then went door to door and finally found some Mormon lady to drive us......where, I didn't know......the second rendez-vous was to be with the therapist at the local convenience store, but the whole Provo geek squad was there looking for us.....Already! We asked the women to drive by and we promptly bailed out of the car around the second corner and ran again like hell. Night and rain were falling and we spotted a stable across a field and made a bee line there......we hid up in a hay loft for 3 hours.......Robert hear a noise.....the owner came in to check on his chattel....we stayed low and the guy left.......at that point we knew were had to move....We had the Therapist's home phone number and we knew that we couldn't stay there......we saw a house lit up across the rain soaked field....we discussed potential strategies....finally, I said I'd handle it.......we ran across the field and knock on the door....the owner opened it and I broke into a fake French accent say we were lost exchange students.....Robert managed to screw a blank but believable look upon his face.....they let us in.....immediately, we noticed almost the entire place was glass.....windows everywhere.....akwardly, we dodged the windows and made our call with the man of the house looking on.....the Therapist answered.....I had to respond in a fake French accent.....he didn't know who I was....finally, I broke into my normal voice, for ****'s sake!, right in front of the home owner.....the Therapist was so incredible....I remember his words verbatum to this day, "Where are you?" I passed the phone...within 15 minutes he was at the door with a car and we left....we spent the night at his house and the next day he put us on TV. We talked about Provo and how we'd seen kids abused, beaten and neglected. The Provo Goons obviously saw the piece and figured out where we were. Meanwhile, I had a girl back in Cali who agreed to fly us both out to San Francisco.....on the way to the airport, the ******* Goons somehow found us...they stopped the car with the Police. The Therapist was handcuffed and as were we....once again....Solitary.....Long Term......IP's........my 18th birthday was only 2 1/2 months away......I spent the remainder of my time in PCS staring at those faux wooden panels, dreaming of my the escapades of my first escape.
I'll fill in more about the first escape later, it's even more colorful that the first.......
For now, all the best to everyonel.....according to Dali, the crazy, the outsiders, the brave, the wild, we are all God's children. Please take that to heart. It is to each and every one of us to realize our strength and make something of ourselves with the keen gifts given to us.
For now......**** PROVO!
Geoffrey Wallace Folkerth, MBA - "Gow"
Managing Director, Europe & Middle East
Planet X Televison
[email protected]
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Alvin,
You are truly a spineless piece of shit. You should not be practicing in your field. It should raise eyebrows when employees of these types of programs surf sites like this feeling the need to defend themselves from so many allegations.
I wonder how many other abusive programs are owned by Universal Health Services.
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UNIVERSAL HEALTH SYSTEMS OWNS OVER 70 FACILITIES -THAT INCLUDE HOSPITALS AND BEHAVIOR HEALTH CENTERS. PCS IS ONE OF THEIR BEHAVIOR FACILITIES AND SO IS DEL AMO IN CALIFORNIA. THIS COMPANY BOASTS PROFITS OF THREE BILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR.
PROVO CANYON SCHOOL AINT CHEAP - $12,500 PER MONTH. AS FOR ALVIN - I DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS. ALVIN SOUNDS LIKE A PEDOPHILIC HOMOSEXUAL. TYLER WAS SEVERELY ABUSED AT PROVO CANYON SCHOOL. ALVIN'S POST WAS EXTREMELY INAPPROPRIATE AND DID NOT ADDRESS THE PROPLEMS OF THE FACILITY. IT IS TRULY DISGUSTING THAT THESE PERVERTS WHO EITHER ABUSE OR CONDONE THE ABUSE OF CHILDREN HAVE THE GALL TO MAKE CONDESCENDING REMARKS TO FORMER STUDENTS.
I WONDER WHICH THERAPIST HELPED THESE BOYS ESCAPE? IT SEEMS LIKE HE WANTED TO USE THESE BOYS TO EXPOSE THE ABUSE AT PROVO CANYON SCHOOL TO THE MEDIA. INTERESTING THAT HE TOOK THEM TO A TELEVISION STATION. IT'S SO AMAZING THAT THIS PROGRAM IS STILL IN OPERATION - WHO IS BEING PAID OFF?
Just because you do not take an interest in politics, doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.
PERICLES (430 BC)
[ This Message was edited by: cherish wisdom on 2004-07-17 06:07 ]
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Taken from the unofficial Provo Canyon School website:
Our Captors
On my first week, I was assigned a therapist (Craig S., MSW by name), who was supposed to help me sort my problems out, but, really, as soon as I was admitted to PCS my main problem became--I was now at PCS. Dealing with the day to day life and the conditions there were our main topic of conversation. The therapist would report to your parents on your 'progress' through the program, and arrange on-site and home visits. If you were 'acting-out' (crying, throwing fits, threatening suicide) he would stop all contact between you and your parents in order to keep them from being too worried and pulling you out of the school. Craig S. was a fairly good person--he even took me to his home for Thanksgiving and Christmas when my father wouldn't allow me to come to my home. I don't know if he was any good as a therapist.
The counselors were mostly young, clean cut BYU college students in their early-to mid 20's. I think many of them were getting college credit for working at PCS. They carried clipboards, walkie-talkies, beepers, gas-station style key rings--much like prison guards. Mostly, they were all right, and didn't abuse their power over us. Others were especially gung ho and insecure--we called them 'power-trippers.' Kids being kids, we would find out which group our counselor belonged to and take as much slack as they would give.
The Senior Staff were counselors who had been there for many years. It was their career, and they took their jobs very seriously. They supervised the other counselors, searched for runaways, dealt with 'physical incidents,' and served (along with the therapists) in evaluation committees that would determine if you would get to go on a home visit, on an activity, or even terminate, which is PCS lingo for being released to the custody of your parents.
While both groups varied in temperament and disciplinary style, there were very few incidents of physical abuse. But there were incidents. On one occasion, a Senior Staff member named Steve S. stormed into a room after lights out, pulled boys by the arm out of beds on the top bunk and kicked one kid in the back with cowboy boots--all because of a whispered conversation. Another man, Chris W., was actually fired for being too rough with a boy during a physical confrontation. I heard of many other incidents, but these two were the only ones I was present at. As far as I know, the police were never notified, and neither were parents.
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This was taken from the unofficial Provo Canyon School Web site:
I am a formal prisioner of PSC also. I am happy to have found people that went there before and after me to talk to. No one understands all the stuff I went through there and they think I made up stuff and lied. I am going to show this to my family and let them know why that 3 years of my life will give me nightmares until the day I die. I went from April 1992 until August 1995. From the age of 14-18. I just want to thank you for this site. And any females that attened during this time it would be nice to e-mail each other just to see how you are. I am now a mother of 3 beautiful children and I would never send them to that placeThe notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.
--H.L. Mencken
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Here is another measage that was posted on the unofficial Provo Canyon School website - a boy from New York who was there in 2002 or 2003:
WOW being at this site I am about to cry, I am very emotional about my stay at provo canyon school. I am a 17 years old now, and i was at provo when I was 14, i was only there for 4 months because i played the system and got out. I seriously I hate you #$##$%%^% that run that place, I have so much hate for you poeple i am crying right now, I am seriously f-up from your place... i have some serious f-ing emotional shit wrong from a staff member named "JUSTIN" I don't have his last name or he would be dead right now.. I would hunt the #$%^%^%$$#$% down and kill him for what he did to me. He is a terrible person, and before I die I will and without a doubt beat the #$%%^& out of him, everyday of my life since I have left that place I have thought about hurting him.. I cannot believe how much one human being can scare a child. My therapist was good.. he was the best I have had.. But those samoin staff, and that justin #$#%%$#$ have something coming to them, i seriously will find justin before I die and hurt him. He is a sick sick sick person that deserves to be held responsible for what he did to me. I am fucked up from what he did to me. If I ever met a parent that is sending or put there child in PCS I would seriously beat the living ##$%$ out of them... That reform school is #%$#%#$%$# up, I MEAN #$%$#%$#% UP.. I PLAN TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I was sent to PCS NOT BECAUSE I WAS A BEHAVIOR PROBLEM but because I ( WAS ) a serious headcase, i was manic over a period of 2 months, and broke the law very seriously.... and it was either prison for youth or PCS... without ever hearing about the school.. i was intrigued to go, but after spending 1 1/2 months without seeing the outside and being treated like dog *&**^&* by justin and being harrased and being mind washed by the #%$#%$#%,, he $%$#%$#%# with my mind so #$%$%#$%# much putting me in a chair evertime i spoke, everytime i looked the wrong way, everytime i did something i was in a chair for atleast a half hour.... DO YOU KNOW HOW SERIOUS THAT IS AFTER 1 1/2 months AND THEN I GOT THE #%$$#%#$%# FIRED FOR SOMETHING WORSE.... BUT I CAN'T Talk about that.. without hurting myself....
I own a hosting company, THE OWNER OF THIS SITE NEEDS To contact me ASAP, I WANT TO BUY A DOMAIN AND GIVE THIS SITE ADVERTISING ON SCHOOLSCUM.COM WHICH I OWN... WE GET OVER 1,000,000 HITS WEEK.. And we are going to let the nation here about this $#$#$#$% SCHOOL...
THIS SCHOOL IS CORRUPT.
kyle
A vote for GW is a vote for America's Führer.
--Anonymous (it's best that way...)
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Taken from the unofficial Provo Canyon School Site:
SUP YALL! I THINK THAT THIS SITE IS PRETTY COOL AND I AM GLAD THAT ALL OF YOU SHARE EXPERIENCES FROM GOING TO "HELL" OPENLY. UNFORTUNATELY, I DID NOT READ ANYTHING FROM ANYONE THAT I CAN REMEMBER OFF HAND FROM MY STAY. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT I AM THE MOST RECENT
DISCHARGEEMEMBER OF PCS. I DISCHARGED FROM PCS ON THURSDAY, JULY 26TH, 2001 AFTER SPENDING A TOTAL OF 779 DAYS IN THAT EVERLASTING @#$#@$#@$#@. I WAS ENROLLED JUNE 7TH,1999. IF THERE IS ANYONE THAT WAS THERE DURING THAT TIME PLEASE DROP A LINE. PCS IS STILL #$%$%$#%# GAY AND ALWAYS WILL BE. FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING WHAT PCS IS LIKE THESE DAYS, WRITE ME AN E-MAIL TO FIND OUT. THERE ARE NO MORE STANDING IPS FOR YOU OLD TIMERS. YOU JUST SIT IN INVESTMENT AFTER SCHOOL AND DO HOMEWORK FOR CREDIT. YOU CAN GET A MAX OF 2 IPS WORKED OFF EVERY HALF HOUR. YOU STUDY ALL NIGHT EXCEPT FOR DINNER AT 4:45PM , YOU ALSO GO TO THE GYM OR THE COURYARD EVERY 48 HOURS AND THEN YOU GO TO MEDS AT 7:00PM. AT 8:00 "T.R." IS OVER AND YOU GO TO YOUR ROOMS AND ARE SHUT DOWN AT 8:30PM.THE NEW BUILDING RECENTLY CONSTRUCTED AT PCS IS THE UNIT BUILDING. UNITS 4,5,&6 ARE HOUSED THERE. WHERE THE LOBBY AND RECEPTION DESK USED TO BE FOR YOU OLD TIMERS IS NOW MEDICAL. THE REALLY OLD PRIVELLAGED UNITS BY THE COUNSELORS OFFICE "23" AND GYM DOOR CLOSEST TO THE SCHOOL AREA IS NOW COMPLETELY ORIENTATION. THE OLD INVESTMENT IS NOW THE KITCHEN. THE NEW INVESTMENT IS ACROSS THE HALL FROM THE ORIENTATION DOOR AND THE COUNSELORS OFFICE WHERE THEY STORE ALL OF THE RADIOS .I THINK THAT THAT IS ALL OF THE CHANGES. THE STAIRS THAT GO UP BY THE SCHOOL AREAGYM DOOR GO TO PRE-UNIT. REC-THERAPY IS ALSO UNIT 7. FOR THOSE OF YOU OLD TIMERS SOME OF THE COUNSELORSSTAFF THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT ARE STILL THERE ARE: ERIC JENKINS,ALVIN SALIMA, DAVE PERKINS, JOE MCLOUD,BRUCE ROBINSON,PAUL THROCKMORTON,JACKSON UNGA,
JARED WEIGHT,CHRIS OLSEN, CARRIE CROW,
LINDA JOHNSON,PAUL TOM,KC WILLIAMS,HAL MCDANIEL,RALPH OLSEN, GARY STARR, CRAIG SMITH, JENNIFER MORGAN SMITH, RYAN WILLIAMS, PATRICK BAGLEY,PAUL FOWKES, CHERYL LINDSEY,DIANNE WALKER, DIANNE SHIELDS, . LESLIE IS STILL AT THE OTHER CAMPUS. THAT'S ALL OF THE OLD TIMER STAFF I CAN THINK OF. THE COURIER PARKING IS FOR THE COURIERS THAT TAKE YOU ON DOCTOR RUNS, HOMEVISITS, DISCHARGES, ETC. I KNOW THAT PROBABLY ALL OF YOU WHO READ THIS DO NOT KNOW WHO I AM TALKING ABOUT BUT JUST IN CASE I WOULD LIKE TO PAY TRIBUTE TO MY BEST FRIEND,[NICK LONG, 1985-JUNE 21ST,2000].
HE RAN AWAY WITH A KID NAMED BOBBY FISHER ON THE 20TH. THEY STOLE A CAR AND STOPPED BY A GAS STATION. THE CAR BELONGED TO A TRUCK DRIVERS MOM THAT HAPPENED TO RECKOGNIZE HIS MOM'S CAR AND HE TRIED TO CATCH THEM AND CALLED THE COPS. THEY DROVE OFF. A COP CAR WAS BEHIND THEM AT AN INTERSECTION AND DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THEM BUT THEY PANICKED ANYWAY AND STARTED SPEEDING DOWN A TWO WAY DIRT ROAD IN SOUTH PAYSON, UTAH. THEY WERE GOING A REPORTED SPEED OF 90 MPH. THEY TRIED TO MAKE A SHARP TURN AND LOST CONTROL OF THE CAR. THE CAR ROLLED THREE WHOLE TIMES BEFORE ENDING UP WITH THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE CAR WRAPPED AROUND A HUGE TREE. HE WENT INTO ACOMA ON IMPACT.BOBBY WAS THE DRIVER AND EXSCAPED WITH A FEW BRUISES AND MINOR CUTS. UPON ARRIVAL TO THE HOSPITAL, NICK WAS PUT INTO CRITICAL CONDITION. SHORTLY AFTER, NICK WAS DECLARED BRAIN DEAD, IN OTHER WORDS, THERE WAS NO COMING BACK FOR HIM. HIS PARENTS PULLED THE PLUG THE NEXT MORNING. THERE WAS NO MEMORIAL FOR HIM AT PCS. THERE WAS A SHORT NON DENOMINATIONAL SERVICE FOR HIM ON SUNDAY. IT WAS BULLSHIT THOUGH BECAUSE LOTS OF PEOPLE SHOWED UP THAT DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHO HE WAS AND WERE JUST TRYING TO GET OUT OF SHORT TERM.THOSE PEOPLE SHOULD GO TO HELL FOR THAT. BOBBY FISHER WAS SENT TO SLATE CANYON DETENTION CENTER. HE LATER ATTENDED A TRIAL FOR THE CRIMES HE COMMITTED. HE WAS CHARGED WITH MANDATORY MAN SLAUGHTER, GRAND THEFT AUTO, ETC. HE WAS ASKED HIS OPINION AND QUESTIONED REGARDING HIS FEELINGS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED. HE SHOWED NO REMORSE WHATSOEVER ACCORDING TO RALPH OLSEN, HIS THERAPIST. ALL THAT HE COULD THINK ABOUT WAS HIS BASKETBALL CAREER SO HE WAS SCREWED OVER AND SENT TO CYA, CALIFORNIA YOUTH ASSOCIATION, FOR ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS SIMILAR TO DYC, DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH CORRECTIONS FOR THOSE OF YOU COLORADO PEOPLE.PARENTS, DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS TO PCS. IT IS NOT THE RIGHT STEP OR PLACE FOR THEM. IF YOU SEND THEM AGAINST THEIR WILL, THEY VERY WELL MAY END UP DEAD LIKE MY BEST FRIEND DID AND LIKE THE OTHERS WHO HAVE DIED WHILE ENROLLED AT PCS. NO ONE ELSE NEEDS TO DIE FOR THAT FUCKING HELL HOLE, ESPECIALLY YOUR KIDS AND OUR FRIENDS.
IF ANYONE WHO READS THIS KNEW NICK, LET ME KNOW. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO FIND A COPY OF THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE IN THE DAILY HERALD NEWSPAPER IN UTAH. YOU WILL HAVE TO SEARCH THE ARCHIVES FOR AN ARTICE TITLED "ROLLOVER" ON JUNE 21ST, 2000.
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Can anyone find this article from the Daily Herald June 21, 2000 about these boys who died.
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I would suggest the library. I tried looking up the info for you online, but the newspaper wants money. The best bet is the library local to the area.
On the other hand, I was thinking that since I may be in the Provo area within the next few months playing a show I may want to go raise some hell in the area. Anybody have the address to this place. Something about Alvin coming on here as a couselor trying to defend this place really rubbed me the wrong way.
I am already looking at ways of screwing with their parent company.
I dunno maybe cause their only kids, and I still feel and act like kid, but it seems their aren't too many people looking out for the youth imprisoned in Utah and I am just one state away.
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http://www.provocanyon.com/contact.html (http://www.provocanyon.com/contact.html)
both campuses listed
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It would be great for someone to hand out leaflets to the neighbors in the area titled, "Teen Torture in YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD"
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PCS is very inhumane and unsanitary. While I was there I was treated with no respect and zero tolerance for everything I did. They neglected me of medical attention and therapy sessions, other patients as well. The staff gossip about the girls at night while they are asleep and no action is taken when this is grievanced. They brainwash the children and people are starting to expect that the food is being medicated. Also on a number of accounts there has been bugs, human hairs, and mold found on, around, and inside the food served at PCS. I indeed agree with all the statements made above and my family is planning on suing PCS for negligence and for accepting me illegally.
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I was at Provo Canyon School from July 3rd 2003 to March 16th 2004. During my stay at Provo Canyon School I was outraged and became sick at all the crap that went on there. I will never forget the day before I discharged when a boy was just talking to a staff member about his infraction, and his therapist Ralph Olsen who was known for being an asswipe of a therapist said that he was arguing with him and gave him another infraction witch meant he would have to be in short term detention for another 5 hours. Then Josh said "Ralph im only asking why i got it." And then i guess Ralph was just in a piss poor mood and decided to give him a class 3 infraction and sent him to long term investment, witch is a minimum of 3 days of sitting on the floor. There was also a bunch of other things that happened there, like when i was thretened to have my ass beat by one bi-polar tongan staff member named norm. This place needs to be investaged for its violence and misconduct by its staff.
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Before coming to provo canyon school, i was at a wilder ness program that was ok except that when i was there there was talk among the patients that the therapist threatened to sent him to provo for not behaving in the program, well i was really bad in that program and that threat came true and i got sent to provo, i read the brocure and i was like jesus i dont know what their talking about, this place looks pretty cool. What i saw on the brocure were kids climbing the climbing wall and Kids in intense therapy blocks with their therapist. When I was at provo canyon school, i never climbed the climbing wall, and most kids had therapy once a week for 15 minutes with their therapist. On the provo canyon school website, they show a nice room with a couch in the room, and i thought jeez this must be some kind of celebrity rehab. It would be great if they could show the real side of Provo, like the investment unit, the observation rooms, physical restraints, telling all the students to shut the fuck up in the cafeteria, the time that our unit found a rolly poly in the salsa in the cafeteria. The fat ass chef and the cooks with no teeth. They couldnt even show a picture of Bruce Robinson probably because it would be a turn off for the parents to send a teenager to a school where a senior on cant even control himself. He is so fat he can't even fit in the auditorium chairs, he has to lift his leg up onto the medical bar and pull his penis out of his lard to pee.