Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => News Items => Topic started by: Inculcated on April 19, 2011, 03:49:53 AM
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Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/story?id=13310172)
Missouri Baptist Reform Schools Accused by Mothers of Harsh Punishment and Deprivation BY SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES April 12, 2011
This article covers the story of a woman who survived. What she survived was aided and abetted and concealed by her church for years. The Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church. Some will recognize the IFB from their http://www.newbeginningsgirlsacademy.com/ (http://www.newbeginningsgirlsacademy.com/)
The accompanying 20/20 news video which covers some of the abuses endemic to the IFB is a must view. “If you’re not bruising the child you’re not spanking the child enough”
Her entire life was the church. “It was the only world she knew”. A young girl was instructed by her pastor that god wanted her to go to the prison and announce forgiveness to the step-father (longtime IFB member) who severely beat and molested her—after he (Daniel Leif) was sent to prison a second time for molesting another young girl. The instilling of guilt shame and subjugation of women by her abusive step-father and the adults who continually failed her caused her to be vulnerable to another perpetrator. At fifteen she was raped by Ernie Willis. She believed at that time that “a good Christian doesn’t press charges”. A month later, Ernie Willis raped her again. She didn’t tell until she found out she was four months pregnant.She says she still struggles to forgive herself. Her pastor “showed her a passage in Deuteronomy that said if a girl doesn’t cry out she obviously was a part of it” and that she was “lucky she didn’t live in old testament times or she would’ve been stoned”. Pastor Phelp’s wife Linda asked Tina if she enjoyed being raped and Tina was asked to write a statement asking congregation members to forgive her for “allowing the compromising situation to occur” (the rape) and to read it aloud as discipline before the congregation. She was humiliated. Some members of the congregation were horrified and disgusted to hear pastor Phelps read a statement about this child’s immorality. Eventually CPS was called in and the exploitation of the child was reframed again as a tryst. Her own mother (who is still married to the registered sex offender who also raped her daughter from ages 9-11) was complicit in the cover-up. Tina was then sent to live in the Pastor’s home—the so called prophet’s chamber. Shortly thereafter she was banished to live with another IFB family she had never met (The rapist Ernie Willis paid for her airfare). Here Pastor Matt Olson instructed her to write another letter in which she was to apologize to her rapist’s wife for betraying her trust.
The videos continue on to describe a culture of rampant sexual abuses inflicted on young women covered up by the IFB and church sanctioned physical violence
See also http://baptistthinker.wordpress.com/201 ... b-culture/ (http://baptistthinker.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/2020-and-the-ifb-culture/)
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Preached:“That cry is the cry of the will and that will needs to be broken” “The nerves need to be affected without tearing down the tissue of the buttocks, how many whacks is irrelevant you might need a hundred” “There is a scripture verse that says the blueness of the wound drives away the evil.”
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Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/story?id=13310172)
Missouri Baptist Reform Schools Accused by Mothers of Harsh Punishment and Deprivation BY SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES April 12, 2011
This article covers the story of a woman who survived. What she survived was aided and abetted and concealed by her church for years. The Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church. Some will recognize the IFB from their http://www.newbeginningsgirlsacademy.com/ (http://www.newbeginningsgirlsacademy.com/)
Here's the full article for posterity's sake:
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abc NEWS / Health
Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/story?id=13310172)
Missouri Baptist Reform Schools Accused by Mothers of Harsh Punishment and Deprivation
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
April 12, 2011
Anne's rebellion against her large Christian family -- she was one of 10 children -- began after she was gang-raped last year while jogging in her Maryland neighborhood.
"Because of that the trauma, she started spiraling in every way possible," said her mother, Jeannie Marie, who did not want their last name made public. Anne, now 18, said she numbed the pain with drinking and rebellion, which terrified her mother.
Desperate, Jeannie Marie turned to her church for help, learning about a Christian reform school that she says promised to "get right" her wayward daughter.
But neither was prepared for the ordeal they say Anne experienced from November to January of this year at New Beginnings Girls Academy (http://http://www.newbeginningsgirlsacademy.com/), an Independent Fundamental Baptist boarding school in La Russell, Mo.
The school, according to its website (http://http://www.newbeginningsgirlsacademy.com/), serves troubled teens so "through Jesus Christ, they can overcome their addictions, mend their broken relationships and get their lives on the right path."
Instead, Anne said she was told the rape was her fault and was subjected to harsh discipline -- ridiculed, restrained and deprived of proper nutrition and adequate clothing.
As punishment for misbehaving she says she was forced to wear a red shirt and stand facing a wall, sometimes for 8 to 10 hours a day with only 15-minute breaks for food. "I was so achy it hurt," said Anne.
She said toilet paper and sanitary pads were rationed, despite Anne's urinary problems after the rape. She also said no one offered to get her medical care.
"We thought maybe Anne would go there and hide out and pull herself together," said Jeannie Marie. "We thought it was a safe place to go and we wouldn't have to worry...We trusted our church."
Anne left the school in January, but said the punitive approach left her with no self-worth and anxiety attacks so bad she cannot breathe.
New Beginnings charges $10,300 a year, according to its admission application. On a signed form, parents agree to "corporal discipline," which is spelled out in their mission statement as up to 15 "swats" with a wooden paddle in each 24-hour period for misbehavior.
The school's mission also prohibits, "bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes."
Submission and obedience -- children to parents, wives to husbands and parishioners to "God's people," pastors and deacons -- are the tenets of Christian fundamentalism, according to Kathryn Joyce, author of Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement (http://http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2009/03/14/joyce_quiverfull)."
"These groups know what the outside world thinks of them and that some of it is considered abuse, but they consider it Biblical," said Joyce.
Missouri does not require its faith-based facilities to get a license and the state attorney general (http://http://ago.mo.gov/), "does not have any authority over them," according to AG spokeswoman Nanci Gonder. If there are allegations of physical abuse, parents are told to contact law enforcement.
Similarly, neither the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (http://http://dese.mo.gov/schoollaw/HomeSch/) nor the state board of education regulates or monitors faith-based schools under the home schooling law (http://http://dese.mo.gov/schoollaw/HomeSch/).
The Department of Social Services (http://http://www.dss.mo.gov/) said the schools were not within their purview and only allegations of abuse and neglect that "meet statutory definition," are investigated.
The federal government, however, has shown concern about teen residential programs -- not all of them faith based -- and has pushed for more regulation.
In 2008, an investigation by the federal Government Accountability Office (http://http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/testimony/2008-04-24-GregKutz.pdf) revealed thousands of cases and allegations of child abuse and neglect since the early 1990s at teen residential programs throughout the country. The report also found major gaps in licensing and oversight.
The report found untrained staff, ineffective management and operating practices in these facilities.
"In the most egregious cases of death and abuse (http://http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/testimony/101007GregoryKutzTestimony.pdf), the cases exposed problems with the entire operation of the program," according to the report.
Congressman George Miller, D-California, introduced the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 (http://http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-911) to establish minimum health and safety standards, but although the bill twice passed the House, both times it failed in the Senate.
"You can't deprive kids of food and water," one Democratic aide to Miller told ABCNews.com. "You have to treat them humanely."
Just last year in Hiland Park, Fla., police removed 17 children from Heritage Boys Academy (http://http://www.newsherald.com/news/heritage-84390-abuse-hiland.html), a military school that taught fundamental Christian doctrine, arresting three, including the pastor, and shut down the facility.
Child welfare authorities said the children were often hit with sticks that were "nine fists long," and were sometimes choked or held down and beaten with fists.
The school officials plead not guilty to one charge of aggravated assault and five charges of child abuse, but the case has not yet gone to trial. A motion by the defense to dismiss is being heard on Friday, according to the clerk for the Bay County Courts (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/www.baycoclerk.com).
Well-Dressed Girls Testified They Were 'Saved'
Anne's mother said she first heard a New Beginnings presentation at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Churchville, Md. There, according to Jeannie Marie, neatly dressed girls confessed to bad behaviors and cried that they had been "saved."
"They told us it was a place that helps girls grow in their Christianity in a new life with Christ," she said.
She handed Anne over to school authorities while New Beginnings was on a fundraising tour in Virginia. "It really took me by surprise," said Anne, who thought she was going on vacation. "I freaked out and balled my eyes out."
The first night Anne said she slept on a church pew and was punished for cussing when she fell off and hit her head on a hymnal.
But when the group returned to their Missouri campus, Anne said the house was frigidly cold and girls were given only skirts and light sweatshirts.
The food -- often bologna on white bread, watered-down milk and canned eggs -- was either rationed or loaded on the plate, depending on the whim of the staff, she said.
Girls were told to keep monotone voices and never to talk to each other. Phone calls and letters were monitored, she said.
"They said I am bad and God doesn't love me," said Anne. "I was taught the exact opposite of that in the home. It was hard to believe that these people actually cared about me. You had to fend for yourself."
Two months later, after a dispute with school officials about the costs, Jeannie Marie said she withdrew Anne. When she arrived at New Beginnings, she said she was horrified by what she saw.
"She looked like the most pitiful thing standing in the little snow boots I bought her -- mud-covered with a thin skirt covering her knees with dirt on it...Her face was ghostly white, her eyes bugged out and hair was pulled back. My tiny girl had a horrible look on her face...the most awful expression I have ever seen on the face of my children. I gasped and held my breath."
Jeannie Marie said that when she held her daughter, "she was so weak and faint...and her body went limp. There was nothing left to her."
She said her former pastor at Tabernacle Baptist, Don Martin, had recommended the school as successful, but it was not as advertised.
Martin said that a previous pastor had financially supported the school in the past, but he never made such claims to Anne's mother.
"If someone in our congregation did, that's another thing," he said.
"As far as I know, they come highly recommended," Martin said of the school. "I know they have to be strict -- or it doesn't do much good to send wayward ladies to a school. But I don't know how strict or what they do."
He said allegations of physical punishment in these IFB reform schools were "pretty much nonsense" and the family's claims were "fabrications."
"My sense is people send children there and they want them to come back as model citizens, and if something goes wrong, they want to blame the school. I think they tried to help, but that doesn't mean a thing if there is not good support."
William McNamara, New Beginnings' director, refused to answer questions about the program and allegations that it was abusive.
"We love them," he said of the students. "I cannot speak to any of those things -- the truth will be known."
He referred ABCNews.com to his lawyer, Wes Barnum, who did not respond to written questions sent by email or a follow-up telephone call.
New Beginnings began as the Rebekah Home for Girls in Corpus Christie, Texas, in 1968, but was shut down by the state in 1985 after numerous investigations of abuse and its refusal to submit to state licensing.
Under changing names, the school moved temporarily to Devil's Elbow, Mo., before relocating in Pace, Fla., and eventually to its present home in La Russell, Mo.
The school was run by Lester Roloff, an independent fundamental Baptist preacher who broke from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1954 and founded a series of reform facilities, known as Roloff Homes (http://http://www.pbc-roloffhomes.org/content/), for what he called, "parent-hating, Satan-worshiping, dope-taking immoral boys and girls," according to a 2000 investigative report in Texas Monthly (http://http://teenadvocatesusa.homestead.com/Roloff.html).
Some Former Students Report Post-Traumatic Stress
Brittany Campbell, now 25, says she was at Rebekah through its transition to New Beginnings from 2001 to 2005. The school moved to Missouri in 2007.
She showed ABCNews.com photos of the name changes from Rebekah Home for Girls to New Beginnings Rebekah Academy to New Beginnings Girls Academy.
Campbell said McNamara was in charge during that period. When ABCNews.com called him to ask about charges of abuse at the school, he would only say, "I cannot speak to any of those things -- the truth will be known."
Campbell had grown up in foster care, but went to live with her sister, who was a recent IFB convert.
At 15, after rebelling against the Christian household -- listening to secular music and wearing black -- she said she was sent to reform school.
"It was brutally psychologically and physically abusive," she said of both the Missouri and Florida programs.
"The worst part personally was during the first year through the process of breaking you down and getting you to submit to their way of life," she said.
Campbell said the staff pitted girls against girls, often having them pinned down by their peers for discipline -- "a tool to discourage camaraderie."
Cut off from family and friends for so long, Campbell said she had a hard transition back to the real world.
Today, Campbell lives in Massachusetts and is administrator of a Facebook group, NBGA: Proactive Survivors of New Beginnings Girls Academy (http://http://www.facebook.com/login/setashome.php?ref=login#!/home.php?sk=group_175651675804105), which has 65 members and writes a blog (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/www.stopNBGA.blogspot.com).
She is also the administrator of SIA-NOW (http://http://sia-now.org/news.php), an organization that is planning a convention of participants of these boarding schools next year. Campbell said many of them reported post-traumatic stress disorder after their school experiences.
It was websites like those that Donna Maddox said caught her attention three months after she sent her 15-year-old daughter Kelsey to Circle of Hope Ranch (http://http://home.centurytel.net/CircleofHope/) in Humansville, Mo., in 2007, then returned to "rescue" her.
Maddox, 42, said she was hesitant to believe Kelsey's claims of abuse at the school, but saw testimonies from former students that scared her.
"We were told everything we wanted to hear, but nothing was as it was portrayed."
She provided ABCNews.com with photos of dirty facilities, beds made only of plywood with a thin foam cover and bruises on her daughter's feet from working the ranch in shoes so old the soles were tearing away.
She said the school charged $300 in uniform fees.
His antidote to these rebellious teens was anchored in scripture and included kneeling on hard floors, physical punishment with paddles or leather straps or the "dreaded 'look-up,' an isolation room where Roloff's sermons were played for days on end," said the magazine.
Roloff died in a plane crash in 1982, but his ministry still exists in adult programs as part of the People's Baptist Church in Texas and other adult facilities around the country.
"We do not tolerate child abuse of any form," said August Rosado, a spokesman for Roloff Homes.
He said the Texas church was no longer affiliated with New Beginnings and now serves only adults who are struggling with addiction.
Desperate Parents Look to Church For Help
Previously, Kelsey had been a good student, but was sent away because she began "getting involved in the wrong crowd," according to Maddox.
"I was really scared because my family has a history of abusing drugs and alcohol," she said. "I had seen so many horrendous things and how it tears up a family and I didn't want it to happen to one of my children."
Maddox found the school on the Internet and said a referral agency backed up their claims.
But Kelsey, now 18, said that from day one, she "felt like a slave."
"Every day I would wake up at 4 or 5 and start working the farm feeding animals, picking up the hay in barbed wire and walking five miles so you can make more money. I never did any school work."
Once, she said she was forced to do hundreds of push-ups and failed. As punishment, she said eight girls were told to jump on her and restrain her, smashing her face into the carpet.
After she returned home with her school books, Maddox said only 18 pages had been completed in three months.
"It is unimaginable in America," she said.
The director, Boyd C. Householder, said his lawyer advised him not to talk to reporters by telephone.
"We've been allegated on like most faith-based places and investigations have had no findings to the allegations," he said. "We have nothing to hide. We are up front and open and you are welcome to come to the property."
His lawyer Jay M. Kirksey later responded by email, saying the Maddox family were "bias[ed] and lacking credibility."
"There are unfortunately, disgruntled parents who address the school, instead of their children, in the private sector just as exists in the public school system," Kirksey wrote.
Shortly after Kelsey returned home, she moved away, but her mother said she calls and emails daily.
"This has been a living nightmare," Maddox, who subsequently called the attorney general with her consumer complaints about deceptive marketing.
"We have been trying to mediate (her) complaints," said Gonder, from the Missouri Attorney General Office. "The school has been cooperating in providing information, but their information is different from hers. Our efforts are ongoing."
Troubled teens often don't speak up for themselves, said another activist, Michele Ulriksen Tresler, who wrote a book, Reform at Victory Christian Academy (http://http://www.redroom.com/publishedwork/reform-victory-a-survivors-story)," chronicling her own experience at the IFB school.
"They are called liars because they are labeled rebellious teenagers," said Tresler. "We had drug addicts, prostitutes and alcoholics among regular girls who didn't belong there, dabbling in regular teen rebellion. There were girls with some major issues who should have been in a place that helped them and giving them tools to have social skills. But when they go to the cops, no one believes them."
Tresler died of a drug overdose on March 17, just weeks after this interview. According to her ex-husband, Robert Ulricksen, "VCA was a demon that haunted her for many years."
Victory, run by Roloff disciple Mike Palmer, was shut down by California authorities after a student death in 1991. Palmer went on to run schools in Mexico and Florida that were also shut down.
As for Anne, she said she is now seeing a counselor and said she, too, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress.
"She is doing terrible," said her mother. "She has no self-worth. They had her say a hundred times that she was the daughter of the devil with the tongue of the devil -- crazy destructive talk at New Beginnings. Now, I think she actually believes it."
Jeannie Marie has stopped going to the church she said "deceived" her.
"I did not lose my faith," she said. "But I know that many of these little girls will be terribly challenged to remember who God is, after this experience."
Copyright © 2011 ABC News Internet Ventures.
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From the above article, "Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=37039&p=399996#p399993)," emphasis added:
Troubled teens often don't speak up for themselves, said another activist,
Michele Ulriksen Tresler, who wrote a book, Reform at Victory Christian Academy (http://http://www.redroom.com/publishedwork/reform-victory-a-survivors-story)," chronicling her own experience at the IFB school.
"They are called liars because they are labeled rebellious teenagers," said Tresler. "We had drug addicts, prostitutes and alcoholics among regular girls who didn't belong there, dabbling in regular teen rebellion. There were girls with some major issues who should have been in a place that helped them and giving them tools to have social skills. But when they go to the cops, no one believes them."
Tresler died of a drug overdose on March 17, just weeks after this interview. According to her ex-husband, Robert Ulricksen, "VCA was a demon that haunted her for many years."[/list][/size]
See related thread:
- Michele Tresler-Ulriksen, R.I.P.
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=37040 (http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=37040)
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Comments (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/comments?type=story&id=13310172) left for the above article, "Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=37039&p=399996#p399993)" (by Susan Donaldson James; April 12, 2011; ABC News), #s 1-25:
Posted by: brin3m · Apr-12-2011
"Submission and obedience -- children to parents, wives to husbands and parishioners to "God's people," pastors and deacons -- are the tenets of Christian fundamentalism, according to Kathryn Joyce, author of Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement." wow! and people complain about the heiarchy of the Catholic Church....wow!
Posted by: Margroks · Apr-12-2011
The parents have to accept blame ehre for shuffling their daughter off for "tough love" when her micbehavior was CLEARLY a result of a horrendous event-being gang-raped! That girl needed real love from her family and counseling not sent off to this appalling place. It was an outrageous idea to begin with and this awful camp/school needs to be sued out of existence.
Posted by: Catherines_commentary · Apr-12-2011
It's interesting that adult prisoners are afforded more rights and protections than children in these schools. Everyone should contact their senator and ask why the h3ll hasn't Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 passed yet. I don't care if it is a church based program. People in the U.S. have certain rights and this 'program' has clearly violated those rights.
Posted by: Catherines_commentary · Apr-12-2011
The mother in this story and others like her need to get a Guardian Ad Litem assigned to their children and have the Guardian bring suit in the child's name. The mother may have signed a paper saying she wouldn't sue, but the child did not. Since children need an adult to bring suit in their names, the Guardian can certainly do this. This is how we need to take down these schools. I cannot imagine ANY reform type or residential school that does not have basic oversight for basic human rights by the government.
Posted by: SearamblerOne · Apr-12-2011
"These groups know what the outside world thinks of them and that some of it is considered abuse, but they consider it Biblical," said Joyce. ------- That's because the bible espouses abuse like this, in the guise of 'obedience'.
Posted by: NEwyoming · Apr-12-2011
Isn't religion wonderful...if its not Muslims stoning women for adultry its Baptists beating kids to correct their behavior.....When will we learn!
Posted by: raggmopp1961 · Apr-12-2011
There was another story that Ch7 did about religion and child abuse. "If you ain't bruisin em, you ain't spanking em hard enough" was the saying. But what can we expect when we still believe that "our religion is better than their religion".
Posted by: Sharrie55 · Apr-12-2011
What did you think would happen went you sent your kid there? Now you're shocked and horrified. She needed counseling and therapy AT HOME.
Posted by: yaeger07 · Apr-12-2011
If there were allegations of abuse like these made by a child against a parent, the child would be removed immediately from his or her care AND THEN an investigation would begin. Why is that not the case with these schools? Shouldn't the remaining children be removed as well?
Posted by: doloresb1957 · Apr-12-2011
Typical Baptist hypocrites, is anyone here really surprised?
Posted by: Mystic_Redcat · Apr-12-2011
Part of the responsibility for this lies with the parents. No doubt the way this girl was treated was unacceptable. However, instead of dealing with the problems their daughter was having and getting her help where she could remain at home in a safe environment; They ship her off to a school that they did not properly investigate and follow-up on her "treatment" so that the school could "fix" her. Then they blame the school when it all goes to he$$.
Posted by: WorkingClass · Apr-12-2011
Ah, Christianity, the religion of peace....
Posted by: LIFETL · Apr-12-2011
Wow, some of you guys group all Christians like this. Its sad. I grew up Christian and I still am....and I was never beat or abused. I got swats, but nothing ever left bruises. In this case if my child were gang rapped I would not send them off b/c their behavior became uncontrollable. I would seek couseling, as this is probably what she needed. I live in MO and have never heard of this school at all....so I imagine they stay below the radar for the most part.
Posted by: sybase40 · Apr-12-2011
Raped! I feel sorry for the girl but when anyone noticies an affiliation with a "Fundementalist Christian"... Run like hell!
Posted by: kromelicious · Apr-12-2011
Why aren't these people in jail yet?
Posted by: sybase40 · Apr-12-2011
LIFETL, we don't feel this way about all Christains, just most of them! My Aunt and Uncle live in Oklahoma and are far right ultra conservative Christains and when we speak via phone, I always get a scripture or 2 read to me. When my Grandfather died, they were in SC loading up everything that wasn't tied down before my Mother had to stop them. There quite good Christains though except for the fact there worship of $ superceeds God. The'll get it right one day
Posted by: jerrielynn · Apr-12-2011
Christianity isn't the problem - some religions and some off-balance people who disregard the real Christian message and instead substitute their own message - that's the problem. Two of my children had problems during their teenage years but I would have NEVER sent them off to any kind of boot camp, church camp or any other type of camp. Normal teenage rebellion is just that - NORMAL. I was blessed that neither ever got heavy into drug use and since we never gave up on them, they managed to come through those times and are today great people. Some young people require intervention but it just makes sense to turn to medical professionals instead of facilities that are run (for profit) by any group be it Christians, Catholics, whatever. And even then you have to monitor that as well. Prayer works wonders - asking God to watch over and protect your child and help the parents to get through it all. Too often today people are unbending and automatically think that any rebellion or bad behavior automatically warrants an intervention. This young girl needed a counselor to help her work through her feelings about what happened - not some nut job facility with little or no training and an obviously skewed view of their capabilities.
Posted by: ModMom2010 · Apr-12-2011
Who in their right mind thinks my daughter's been gang raped and needs help, hey let's send her to a fundamentalist reform school?????? Especially if she's having physical problems because she was GANG RAPED???? Priscilla's 18 now she should sue both the so called school and her parents. And the senators who keep killing the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 should be ashamed.
Posted by: KidsRpeople2 · Apr-12-2011
U.S.Congress Rep. Carolyn McCarthy introduced H.R. 5628 which would deny taxpayer funding to all schools, including religious schools, that use Corporal/Physical Pain as Punishment on Children. Please Demand U.S. Congress Enact Legislation to protect children from Pain as Punishment/Corporal Punishment in Schools. Visit Unlimited Justice dot com Nationwide Campaign to End School Paddling.
Posted by: queenknitter · Apr-12-2011
Missouri is known among these IFB sorts for the perfect place to house these torture camps. They just sneak under the law and when one gets the attention of the police, they scurry to another location. For too long this has gone on. I remember hearing the threats of these camps in my IFB church growing up. I remember the Roloff "Honey Bees" coming to my church to sing. I've stayed overnight as a guest at Roloff's camp in Texas. It is a bizarre place. And yet, they continue.Thank you, Ms. James, for your work on this story. You did what up to this point has been impossible. I hope the whole world pays attention.
Posted by: Marshalpmal · Apr-12-2011
I would never send my child to any boot camp or fundamentalist camp. I've read enough to know that my continued intervention and constant support is way better than any of the above. I think the mother was very misguided to send her daughter to such a camp for behavior modification when the girl was raped and needed therapy, not more abuse.
Posted by: RohnertPark1 · Apr-12-2011
I think its very hard to really say what we would do and feel about such a horrific situation as a teenager's gang rape. However, based on the behavior events of this young woman after the incident, its obvious that she was acting out as a result of severe pain and trama. To send her to a place that would add to that trama just plain doesn't make sense. The church is not the only answer for human problems. Most denominations I have investigated have archaic views on sex; to say a woman 'asked for it' regarding rape is unconscianable. God created intelligent, caring people who practice phsychology who are much better equipped to handle such pain.
Posted by: swoosie10 · Apr-12-2011
Sounds like my public grammar school that I went to in the 1960s. Corporal punishment was the norm--a big wooden paddle that was used by our principal. Teachers ridiculing their students at will. Teachers making kids stand for hours facing a fence instead of having lunch recess when they misbehaved, while having lines of kids walk past and ridicule them. Teachers yelling and screaming at their students and ridiculing them. Lots of fights in the open fields around the school where other kids held kids down and punched them. All in South San Francisco at a nice little public school. It was wrong then, but it was the norm. This was what it meant in the 1960s to be a product of public schools. But we did do well in reading, math, and science. You betcha.
Posted by: kda_silva · Apr-12-2011
these so-called reform schools that tout Jesus is the answer and then turn around and abuse children...there is nothing Christian about them. That man who says the TRUTH will come out...that is the only true thing he said. I hope the TRUTH does come out. The poor girl. The poor girls that are still in there. I cannot understand the parent's decision to send their daughter away after something traumatizing happened to her. But i'm sure they have beat themselves up about it. I think they were willing to be criticized about their decision so they get someone to see what is happening at these schools. I don't understand people who think it's okay to punish someone physically especially children in the name of God. Those feelings of wanting to abuse and torture someone or something else does not come from God. I think it's sad how people will find a passage in the Bible and take it to conform to their own selfish desires, to justify their own demons.
Posted by: konaehukai10507 · Apr-12-2011
Hopefully one day people in this country will wake up to the poison that is religion. Man CHristianity is an absolute joke. THe parents should have the kids taken away for sending them to a school like this. Disgusting.
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Comments (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/comments?type=story&id=13310172) left for the above article, "Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=37039&p=399996#p399993)" (by Susan Donaldson James; April 12, 2011; ABC News), #s 26-50:
Posted by: ModMom2010 · Apr-12-2011
I have to add this: You are taking your child for treatment anywhere for anything and they make you sign an agreement first saying you won't sue them and huge flashing red lights didn't go off? Stop being brainwashed by your religion and give thinking for yourself a try. I also find it abhorrent that you lied to your child and told her she was going on vacation. What where you thinking or did you? I so feel for Priscilla but I think her parent have even more to answer for then the so called school.
Posted by: e man 90 · Apr-12-2011
Send your wayward daughter to us. We'll scare the Bejesus into her.
Posted by: vissionquest · Apr-12-2011
You can not sign away your rights that prevent you from being abused. Abuse is illegal and no religious jargon can change that. The story also avoided saying what type of training these abusers have. These people have created their own god who thinks wacking a child is ok. If this went on at a public school the perpetrators would be in jail. There is a large difference between influencing children and beating them into submission. There is a large difference between teaching and brainwashing.
Posted by: prop_wash · Apr-12-2011
There's Christianity and then there's fundamentalism. They are NOT the same thing
Posted by: JusticeForYouAndMe · Apr-12-2011
No matter what my child did, I would never ship him/her away to an unseen facility that promises to "reform" the. I mean, really, what did she expect would happen?!
Posted by: AdeeJay7 · Apr-12-2011
Just because there are whackos out there, doesn't mean you should lump all of Christianity into the same pot. You know, prisons are full of non-Christians who rape, murder and abuse, that doesn't mean I think everyone who isn't a Christian is a murdering rapist! There are psychos and crazies and awful people in every walk of life, there's no denying that. But don't assume that a fundamentalist Christian is a child abuser just because you hear stories like this. It's like assuming that every Catholic is a pedophile, every Muslim is a terrorist, every old lady has a million cats, every President will have an affair with his interns, every homeless person is a drunk, every immigrant is illegal, etc, etc, etc...it's just illogical and ridiculous. It's also illogical to assume that something is true just because it was featured on some ABC news program. Now THAT is crazy!
Posted by: kabee2 · Apr-12-2011
It sounds like Catholic school.
Posted by: AdeeJay7 · Apr-12-2011
For the record, I'd also like to say that as a member of an IFB church, I would still never send my child away to a reform school just because someone says I should, it doesn't matter how highly praised or whatever. I'M her parent, it's MY responsibility to help her, not some school or camp! I won't even send my dogs away to obedience school, because you just never know what really goes on. Parents, you can never be too careful, it doesn't matter what church or religion you are a part of, protect your kids! Because YOU are the ones who will one day answer to God for them, YOU are the ones who love them, not some strangers at a camp who don't even know your them! Just because someone claims to be a Christian doesn't mean they are.
Posted by: WAswissmiss · Apr-12-2011
As a mother I sure she was doing what she thought was best for her daughter. The men who run the places are master manipulaters who put on a great show when they travel to churches raising support for their program. How do I know...I was in one! If you didn't perform to their liking you paid dearly. People need to focus on the men who run these places, the sherrifs who allow them to stay open, and the Social Services who won't step up and close these places. I too belong to SIA, and numerous survivor groups. I also personally have spent hours on the phone trying to get someone in the great state of MO to give a damn and close these homes down. Why not direct your anger and frustrations against the true abusers in a way that could possible get these places closed, instead of attacking a poor mother who was decieved and made a mistake, and will be paying for it the rest of her life(you think it won't haunt her).
Posted by: ModMom2010 · Apr-12-2011
WAswissmiss I hope it haunts her with every heartbeat. She was "deceived" because she didn't do her duty as a parent. Sending your horribly traumatized child to reform school? That's beyond stupid and she deserves every bad thing being said about her. I wonder where the father of those 10 kids was when his wife(?) was adding to the destruction of their child's life?
Posted by: tbirdPI · Apr-12-2011
Before you can UNDERSTAND the "why" of a teenager being sent to one of these "christian" lock-ups, a multitude of them highly praised/supported by IFB curches, you need to try understanding the MINDSET established in many of these IFB churches, identical to the ones where Tina Anderson, Jocelyn Zichterman and Rachel Griffith attended. Also, please keep in mind that, just like what happened to Tina, Jocelyn and Rachel, what you have read about are NOT isolated incidences. Homes just lke Circle of Hope and New Beginnings are operating all over the United States and abroad, a large portion of them operating "under the radar" just like the 2 schools featured in this article. Like Rachel Griffin stated on 20/20, in alot of IFB churches, you don't QUESTION anything told to you by those in authority. If a pastor recommends sending a pot-smoking teenager, a teen who has accused a member of the church/family member of sexual abuse, or a teenager that does not want to conform with the teachings of the church, "SHIP THEM OFF TO BROTHER SO and SO's "christian" boarding school that we send your hard earned tithes to every month. HE'LL straighten them out and make them compliant!"I am a survivor of one of these homes, New Bethany in Arcadia, La. Owned and operated by Mack W. Ford, a follower and colleague of the late Lester Roloff. Mack Ford opened New Bethany in the early 1970's and was finally forced to OFFICIALLY close it in 2001, but we have evidence showing that he still boarded girls/boys there until 2004. (under the radar). We also have evidence that churches STILL have this man on their "missionaries" list and send money to him on a regular basis. We wonder what else he might be doing "under the radar". We also wonder why MANY of his employees, some actually being arrested in the past for child abuse, and others working directly with or in close proximity to children who have been publicly called out as abusers. Google "Survivors of New Bethany"....
Posted by: tashibelle · Apr-12-2011
I'm sure there are some good Christian reform schools out there, but unfortunately, there are some bad ones too. But I question the mother's sincerity. Her child was rebelling and acting out following a gang rape and the mother sends her to reform school rather than counseling. This kid was obviously in need of some help and it seems the mother was the first one to let her down. Parenting is tough .... I realize that. But reform school doesn't seem like a rational choice for a girl who has been gang raped.
Posted by: virginia Hale · Apr-12-2011
The problem is demonizing teenagers. Teenagehood is a natural part of growing up. Teenagers don't make sense, have no sense of danger and demand freedoms. There is no doubt this is a trying time for parents. That does not mean teenagers are the devil. That is such a huge mistake our entire culture is making. Teenagers are a wonderful time to witness, they require more attention then a baby and when handled well they grow into the most amazing adults. Parents can handle the job as many have in history and teenagers deserve respect. Stop taking our problems out on teens. Kids deserve a good childhood and they deserve to grow up.
Posted by: foodandart · Apr-12-2011
Is twenty-thousand dollars TOO much to pay so as NOT to have to talk to your children? These schools have been around as long as I can remember, abusing parents and their children. Total scams, every last one - hence the contractual agreements to not sue when the truth becomes known..
Posted by: MsT-Mac · Apr-12-2011
But the Bible-thumpers get on here everyday, screaming about Muslim terrorists. The terrorists are Christian Fundamentalists. No different. I actually saw a priest (no offense to Catholics meant here) on FOX News this morning, commenting that our elected politicians owe the voting public a stance on their religion and religious practices. His Holiness (now I'm just being cute) said that other Presidents like Bush and Obama have put other priorities in front of church going on some Sundays. No freaking (bleep!). Ya think? The airhead blond hostess was sitting there nodding and grinning in agreement at this (bleep!). The President just may have to put off going to church every Sunday. Wars are going on. Disasters are happening all over the world. Our budget needs balancing, etc., etc., etc. These people are trying desperately to incorporate (Christian) religion into our government. They want a theocracy. They really do. These are the really scarey people, folks. The Right-less Wing Christian Fundamentalists. Yessir! They will happily dictate your life and your religion -- keep voting them in sheep.
Posted by: jeh2742 · Apr-12-2011
The problem is not demonizing teenagers. The problem world-wide is religious fanaticism.Always the deeply conservative advocate harsh discipline in a structured society. Always the same people envision themselves at the top of the structure and delivering (not receiving) the discipline.This goes from these ridiculous institutions described in this report to school paddling.Its not us Iraq, or us against Afghanistan. We need to recognize the great danger the far right conservatives of the world represent.
Posted by: MsKittyCat · Apr-12-2011
Thank you for telling this story on ABC News. These abusive places are a big money maker for people who live to deceive. Imagine, free labor and lots of dough rolling in from parents and supporting churches. Children are abused unimaginable, and all for profit. This mother did make mistakes, as she was not given adequate information. Her daughter should have had professional counseling after her rape. But churches do not like secular counseling, and will deceive a mother into doing what she thinks is the right thing for the child she loves. I am glad she is pursuing justice for her daughter, and she is brave to speak out. Pricilla, my heart aches for her. I, too, am a survivor of such a place. 1974 was decades ago, but the abuse still haunts me.
Posted by: Tarheel Chief · Apr-12-2011
What is the alternative? Can these young men and women continue to torture their relatives? If they are not going to school,what are they doing to the business people and government officers?
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-12-2011
So, if the New Beginnings Girls Academy was so terribly traumatizing, I am curious at to why Ms. Campbell stayed there for 4 years, until she was 19 years old? Wouldn't one think that she would leave as soon as she turned 18? Things that make you go, hmmmm.
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-12-2011
If the New Beginnings Girls Academy was so traumatizing, why did Ms. Campbell choose to stay there for 4 years, until she was 19 years old? Wouldn't she have left the minute she turned 18? Things that make you go, hmmm. Also, most of the girls sent to these homes are so out of control that their parents cannot physically or emotionally handle them. Many of them are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Some of them are even suicidal. Have you ever seen someone going through withdrawal from substance abuse? Have you ever dealt with a teenager that is violently rebellious, or one that is trying to kill themselves? There are some situations that call for physical restraint. As for working on a farm and not doing schoolwork... there are times in life that hard work accomplishes more in teaching life lessons than schoolbooks. Did you ever think that the girl was so rebellious that she refused to do her schoolwork and therefore was made to do physical work. As for the parents... they couldn't control their daughters in the first place and then when their children are a menace to society because of their bad parenting, they get upset that someone else has to go to extremes to get their child under control. There's always at least two sides to every story. While I don't condone abuse and any serious allegations should not go uninvestigated, many of these stories sound like exaggerated tales from bratty, rebellious kids and their wimpy excuses for parents.
Posted by: ANCHORVICTIM · Apr-12-2011
HEH IF THEYWANT TO KNOW ABOUT ABUSE OF A SCHOOL AND WANT AN INTERVIEW ID BE GLAD TO GIVE THEM A GOOD ONE OF THE ANCHOR BOYS HOME AND THE ABUSE THAT WENT ON THERE DETAIL AFTER DEATIL WAS THERE FOR A YEAR HAVE SEVERAL STORIES AT LEAST 20 PLUS OTHER KIDS THIS SAME TORTURE HAPPEND TO ITS PRETTY INSANE THE TORTURE TACTICS THEY USED ON US SO ABC AND THE WORLD I HAVE A NEW SCHOOL TO EXPLOIT THE HORRENDOUACTS THAT OCCURED AT THE ANCHOR BOYS HOME KNO CALLED THE ANCHOR ACADEMY THAT HAS HOPPED TO 3 DIFF STATES LIKE A CRIMINAL
Posted by: ANCHORVICTIM · Apr-12-2011
U KNO DNT MAKE A COMMENT ON HERE UNLESS U HAVE BEEN THRU ONE OF THESE SCHOOLS URSELF OR HAVE HAD FIRST HAND KIND OF EXPERIENCE
Posted by: ANCHORVICTIM · Apr-12-2011
THERE IS MAJOR ABUSE IN MOST OF THESE BOARDING / REFORM SCHOOLS THEY ARE A SEVERE DETRIMENT TO OUR SOCIETY ...THE ABUSE AND TORTURE IS BLINDED LIES AND COVERUPS SCAMS AND SCANDALS ....MYSELF HAS SPENT ONE YEAR IN THE ANCHOR BOYS HOME CURRENTLY CALLED ANCHOR ACADEMY .....THEY USED METHODS OF TORTURE AND LOCKDOWN SEVERE PHYSICAL PAIN WHICH WAS ALMOST UNBEARABLE AND EXCRUCIATING AT TIMES .... MENTALLY EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY ABUSED ..SO DNT THINK THIS GIRL IS JUST SOME BRATTY KID MAD AT THE SCHOOL TELLING LIES STOP BEIN IGNORANT AND REALIZE WE HAVE A SERIOUS EPIDEMIC HERE STOP BEIN BLINDED BY LIES AND COVERUPS AND THINKIN THESES CHILDREN R WRONG CAUSE THEYARENT PEOPLE OF AMERICA THEY ARE TELLING THE TRUTH AND THIS IS SOMTHING MAJOR THAT HAS TO COME TO A STOP AND MUST BE DEALT WITH ASAP KIDS R SUFFERING OUT THERE AS I TYPE ...IF ABC WANTS A TESTIMONY OF THE ANCHOR BOYS HOME SCANDAL THEY KNO WHO TO REACH
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-12-2011
I was also abused by this "school". The things that Ms. Campbell are claiming are true, and maybe she couldn't leave when she was 18 because she had no money or way to leave, and them pushing her to stay there. Mind control is some sickening stuff, and that is exactly what they do. This place is not helping troubled teens in any way shape or form, and needs to be shut down ASAP.
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-12-2011
I was also abused by this "school". The things that Ms. Campbell saying are true and maybe the reason she couldn't leave when she was 18 might have been that she had no money or way to leave, and also maybe they pushed her to stay there. Mind control/brainwashing are sickening things, and they use these tactics all the time. I am so thankful that this story is up, and that this place is finally getting exposed. This is no place to send your troubled teens, and they need to be shut down ASAP.
Copyright © 2011 ABC News Internet Ventures.
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Comments (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/comments?type=story&id=13310172) left for the above article, "Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=37039&p=399996#p399993)" (by Susan Donaldson James; April 12, 2011; ABC News), #s 51-75:
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-12-2011
Actually, I know Ms. Campbell personally and I have no connection to the New Beginnings Girls Academy. I know that she chose to stay there. She has friends and family that would have found a way to get her home if that's where she wanted to be. She chose to stay and WORK there!
Posted by: thenothingorchid · Apr-13-2011
You know Ms. Campbell personally? Here's some questions that make me go "hmmm..." Did you happen to stumble upon this site by accident, and say to yourself "Hey, I know this girl?" I'm guessing not. And if you know her personally, then are you not comfortable asking her directly why she is doing what she does today? .......You either know her well enough to have known that his was coming out, or you were told about this article because you are IFB and are here to try your hand at diverting some attention away from serious issues. The only other thing left is that you might have some creepy obsession with her because you went to N.B.G.A. with her and hated her for some reason. I don't doubt that you know her somehow, but you obviously don't know her well enough to know her reasons for doing what she does today. I can't think of anyone coming here, saying they know Brittany Campbell personally, and saying the things you are saying without some kind of agenda behind it. Now that I've got that out of the way, I'll try to help you understand things a little better, seeing as how you are having such a hard time with it. (I'm sure.) When you are put into an abusive situation by the people you love, then going to them for help is kind of out of the question, especially when a cult mentality is permeating everyone's judgement. And friends? Your only friends are IFB friends after years spent in a controlled, oppressive, cultish environment. Your old friends are bad people....They drink. They do drugs. They have sex. Acknowledging their existence is a punishable offense, let alone opening up a line of communication. I'm going to stop there, because I feel stupid explaining this to you. I know that you know the reasons why. I'm just trying to figure out what the hell you are trying to accomplish by posting what you are posting.
Posted by: Survivor Rhonda · Apr-13-2011
As soon as you arrive at one of these homes, the *Brainwashing* and *Mainipulation* Sets In. A Child finds it very Hard to *Overcome* the Leaders Abuse. Therefor you convert to it, and you *Follow* the Leader as he says, to try to Avoid Punishment. Which was Never Mild. You are made to "Believe" you are Worthless, that not even God, Loves you!! They *Convince* you that you are only *Safe* there!! And that the *Devil* is going to eat you up, as soon as you leave. I hope this *Enlitens* you as to *Why* Ms. Campbell may have stayed on as Staff. I find it kind of *Sad * that you know her and have no connection to New Beginnings, that you would post that question on the internet, and not to her directly.
Posted by: Survivor Rhonda · Apr-13-2011
I was in a home, a lot like new beggings, and I can tell you from experience, that the *Brainwashing* that occurs, starting the moment you walk through the door is hard for a childs mind to let go of, just cause you can leave. *Many are Brainwashed into beliving no one wants them and that the devil, is waiting for you outside the gate. The Fear of the Devil is Overwhelming to a child when these people spaek of him!! I can completly understand why she would have stayed on as staff, sometimes your just too scared to leave. I left the home I was in and it was so hard to go out into the world again, I was afraid of my own shadow. I knew my family loved me, yet I didn't trust them anymore. I guess it's hard to exsplain to someone who hasn't been victimized like that. I do find it sad, that someone who claims to know Ms. Campbell, but not a resident of NBGA would come on the internet and pose such a question, instead of just asking her directly. Just seems a little hutful to me, just sayin' I hope this help answer your question.
Posted by: NothingbutTruthSeeker · Apr-13-20115
I have been looking through websites, blogs, etc. regarding this story.
Posted by: thenothingorchid · Apr-13-2011
I'd also just like to point out that once you strip all of that doublespeak out of your second post, you are basically insinuating that Brittany Campbell was a rebellious teenager who was dangerous to herself and others, and that being sent to New Beginnings was tough love. And after saying you know her personally.....It probably wouldn't be hard to figure out how you know her.
Posted by: thenothingorchid · Apr-13-2011
What I mean by that is as follows.....You know her personally, aren't affiliated with N.B.G.A., and hold the attitude that you do about her. So you obviously aren't a friend of hers today, or you'd know the answers to all of your questions. So I'd peg you for an IFB church member, maybe from her old church, that know the people that put her there. Or maybe a little closer to her than that. I don't know. But I do know that your posts reek of agenda. You would have been better off leaving out the part where you know her personally if you were hoping to discredit the girl.
Posted by: NothingbutTruthSeeker · Apr-13-2011
Bits and pieces of these stories may be true. If so, there ought to be further investigation and serious action should be taken. People should be, at the very least, ashamed. However, I happen to know at least one of the women in the story, and some of her claims are without a shadow of doubt, false. This is unfortunate. People who are going to make accusations should be very careful with the facts. I don't know what, if anything, to believe here. I do know that troubled teens who don't get well tend to become troubled adults, and never seem to stop pointing the finger of blame at someone or something else.
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-13-2011
You want to know my agenda? Exactly what my name says.. I am seeking the truth. I don't want exaggerated stories trying to demonize an entire denomination as a cult. If there are people committing crimes that are IFB church members, I want them brought to justice because they are criminals, not because they are IFB members. I want to see the puffed up "made for tv" drama put out of the way so the facts can be presented. The comments in my first post were entirely to give another point of view, nothing more and nothing less. I posed a question about Ms. Campbell that needed to be asked publicly because she made her story public yet left out any information about her working at the home in spite of all the abuse she endured. I'm trying to sort out the information in these stories that don't add up. If you think I have an agenda and shouldn't be asking these questions, what do you think it's going to be like for these girls when they're sitting in front of a jury with a hardball defense lawyer drilling them?
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-13-201110
Okay, I don't think you are getting the point here. Something IS being done. What do you think this story is doing on the ABC national news this is SERIOUS ACTION. I was a rebellious teenager myself who wound up in New Beginnings right there with Brittany, and yes it may have gotten us out of what we were doing at the moment, but when 99% of the people that I was there with got out they went back to doing what they wanted to do, and turned out to have all of these various physcological and physical problems because of their lack of medical care and the mental abuse...ALL of the stories are true and if you aren't affiliated with NBGA then how would you know that someone's story is false?
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-13-2011
I am not the same person as NothingbutTruthSeeker, so don't mix our posts in together as if we're the same person. I have no idea who NothingbutTruthSeeker is or who the girl they know is.
Posted by: brandandy97 · Apr-13-2011
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-13-2011
Okay, well that is really odd that both of your names have "truth seeker" but , its still a fact that New Beginnings Girls Academy is abusing girls daily creating more survivors for the current survivors to deal with. I was mentally abused, and saw others physically and mentally abused. We have a survivor group of more then 50 girls who attended the school and who would be willing to give a testimony that this place is abusive and they were abused. I could go on and on and on about NBGA and how abusive is and how extreme the rules they make you follow are. They expect you to be PERFECT. There is no talking (to anyone) If you have a question(and you have to ask permission for EVERYTHING) you have to raise your hand to a staff member and if they "feel" like answering you they will. On Sundays you can't ask any questions, even if something is seriously wrong or you have a dire need, they expect you to just deal with it and also If something is wrong you CANNOT tell your parents on the phone or through the mail because the phone calls are MONITORED and if you say something about their rules or how you want to go home or anything that they don't like they will cut you off or make you re-write your letter until it is to their liking. This place is a horrible place, and we are trying HELP people understand that so the abuse can stop.
Posted by: thenothingorchid · Apr-13-2011
If IFB members don't want to be lumped in with what is going on here, then it is up to you to go to your church and help them take a stance in regards to the abuse being committed. The same thing happened with the Catholic Church, with Catholics saying that the people should be brought to justice, not the church itself. But when more and more of the story came out, it wasn't such a cut-and-paste story, was it? Churches hiding abuse. Moving priests around, much in the same fashion that these homes jump from state to state. The parallels are hard to ignore. And if you truly ARE a truth seeker, i suggest you go to Brittany Campbell's blog, where she makes no effort to hide that she worked at N.B.G.A. But your actions are either that of a devil's advocate, or an IFB church member whose feathers were ruffled by your organization being mentioned on a national level because of negative, criminalistic actions. And how do you know her personally again?
Posted by: danis1415 · Apr-13-201115
I know Brittany Campbell personally as well. She is my younger sister. So as you can see I know her WELL. She IS telling the whole truth. I am not affiliated with N.B.G.A or HER OLD CHURCH so I have no agenda either way. I just need to say that I know her and I know she isn't lying about a single word. I have PERSONALLY seen the affects N.B.G.A has had on her both physically and emotionally. There is NEVER a good excuse for subjecting ANY child no matter how rebellious they may or MAY NOT have been to the things my sister was subjected to. I have seen her tears and I have felt her pain. She is very passionate and puts many many hours along with a regular, very full time job into bringing awareness to this very important issue. Her heart breaks daily for all the girls she knows from her past at N.B.G.A and those still there being abused as we speak. Someone who is #### cuz they didn't get their way or just has an ax to grind will generally make a couple o comments and then move on. They don't dedicate their lives to it as Brittany has. I LOVE YOU BRITT. DON"T LET THIS GET TO YOU. <3
Posted by: misha w. · Apr-13-2011
My name is Camisha, I was a former student at New Beginnings Girls Academy which use to be in Pace,FL. I was in the home for almost six years and have to admit i have seen some very disturbing things. Alot of us "girls" at the home were afraid to speak against anything that went on that were wrong. the director was a christian man who seemed as if he meant well. After being there for about two weeks I started noticing something very weird about him. He would wake us up in the middle of the night and preach at us for hours sometimes. This did not happen every night but on the occasions that it did happen he would get extremely upset and yell and scream in our faces while sometimes we were made to stand for hours so we would not fall asleep. I remember being terrified when this would happen. I was only 14 years old when I came to the home. I did have a lot of problems and I do admit I was a trouble teen. I have seen little girls 12 or 13 go through some of the most terrible punishments. One punishment which was called "jcmt" was when a girl was being rebellious staff members (about 5 grown people) would tackle her and hold her down and put pressure on her arms and legs. I had this happen to me once when I was 17 for fighting which in the circumstance I could understand why this happen beacause I was trying to hurt another student, but I have seen this action taken against girls who simply did not follow a command and who were half my size and weight. This action leaves bruises and is very painful! I just really believe that these homes for troubled teens need to be monitored. I think staff memebers need to be trained and have licenses before they can work in these homes for childen or teens. This really needs to be investigated so it does not go on and these homes cannot just move to a different state and continue doing what they are doing.
Posted by: misha w. · Apr-13-2011
I was reading some of these post and I have to say that I do know Miss. Brittany Campbell personally she was a staff member and also my dorm mom when I was in the home. I know where she is coming from because I also helped out in the home when I was in the home. You have to under stand that we were being brainwashed and we were told that we were doing God's will by "helping" or giving back to God. I do feel guilty for participating in some of the things that occured. What people dont understand is that when you are in a place like this they make you so miserable that the only thing you want to do is fit in or be accepted. So alot of girls (not all of them) myself included make a false profession faith. If you don't make a profession you are singled out untill you do. I can go on and on but the main thing is that this place is real and these stories are not exaggeratted so please do not take what Miss.Campbell is trying to stand for lightly. Brittany Im proud of you for doing what I and others were not strong enough to do. I love you and keep up the good work!
Posted by: jeriwhoo · Apr-13-2011
These IFB teen gulags are a necessary part of the cruel and sociopathic religion of the IFB. For if a teen child (or even pre-teen) is giving a parent trouble, that just won't work with the IFB emphasis on neat and tidy religious appearances, so they have to create and sustain these dumping grounds to get their non-conforming children out of public view. My heart goes out to the young lady featured in the story. And the cruelties of the Roloff-styled homes are legion. But what mother in her right mind, after her daughter has been GANG-RAPED, then sends her far from home to live in a reform school? Heartlessness and indifference to suffering are an embedded part of the IFB. And yes, that is true of the entire IFB. New Beginnings is certainly not the only teen gulag in the IFB gulag system. Many thanks to Susan Donaldson James for forcing a light into the IFB dark corners. I hope she will keep reporting on these matters.
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-13-2011
Thank you, Camisha, for your posts. That is the kind of straight forward, non-dramatized, information that I am looking for. Just to be clear, I don't agree with many of the "tactics" I am reading about. I sincerely want to see anyone that is guilty of abuse be prosecuted. I am not heartless and indifferent. I am playing devil's advocate for the purpose of getting to the facts. The fact is that I did not grow up in a sheltered church environment. I've seen real life... I've lived it. I've been a teen girl hitting and cussing at my parents, not coming home at night and making my parents worry sick about me. I was cruel and abusive to my parents and family, just like I am sure many of these girls were. I know how hard and rebellious I was and I know what I would have done if someone tried to tell me to do something I didn't want to do. I can see both sides of the story. There has to be a balance. There needs to be structure and control in these homes, or else it would be total anarchy. There also needs to be love, patience and understanding or else no positive changes will be made. It's one thing to say "look, only 18 pages of schoolwork were done, so that's proof of me not being taught while there", but I know that if they tried making me do schoolwork, I would have told them to kiss it and I'm sure that it would have taken a lot to make me do anything. I am not trying to make light of the trauma anyone endured. I just want to be sure I am getting the whole story.
Posted by: danis1415 · Apr-13-201120
So.. TrthSkr78, It would be safe to assume that you feel the people who sent Ms. Campbell to New Begginings are an example of winpy excuses for parents???
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-13-2011
Well, I know what I saw when I was there, and it wasn't pretty. You aren't supposed to be afraid of someone that is trying to help you, and that's exactly how it was, every time he or his wife walked into the room my stomach would turn because you never knew what they were going to do, if he was gonna embarass you in front of everyone or tell us that our singing sucked and that we had to practice for 4 hours straight without being allowed to sit down. I bawled my eyes out for days when I first got there because I had no idea how I was going to follow all those extreme and crazy rules without getting in trouble and punished severely. It was awful and I found myself in a daze most of the time because you couldn't talk to anyone, and if you did you couldn't say anything they considered "negative" or again, you would be punished. All we had was our own minds, couldn't talk to anyone about how we felt, no "real" counseling or help with any of our problems on a personal level. All they did was preach at us and call it counseling, they never really addressed any real issues that would be important for teenagers to work on, if you talked about something you did in the past then you were "wicked" and punished for it. All of these things were done plus MUCH more and almost 7 years later I still can't grasp WHY all of this was done to me, why they would be so heartless and abusive, and lie to parents who are just trying to get help their children. I guess this is WHY we are so involved and want something done, its messed up on so many different levels and we are STILL having to deal with it.
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-13-2011
danis1415... I didn't see anything in the story about the people that sent Ms. Campbell to NBGA crying about what was done to get her under control and to the point where she wasn't cutting herself and being a danger to herself. Actually, I'm wondering what you, as her loving and most caring older sister, were doing to help her when she was mutilating herself and running away to go get high and drunk at the tender age of 15?NBGAsurvivor... I don't doubt that life at NBGA wasn't a good experience for you. From the stories I'm reading, it appears that most of the girls go right back to the same self-destructive behaviors they had prior to going to NBGA. This would indicate that something needs to change with the way things are done there. The question is not whether the tactics they are employing are morally and ethically correct, but rather, does it constitute criminal abuse?
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-13-2011
You tell me if forcing a minor to force another minor into a freezing cold shower with all of her clothes on while she screams because she wouldn't stand in a circle of masking tape on the floor til 4 in the morning is child abuse? Hitting someone with a 2x4 several times out of anger because the girl who won't listen just desperately wants to go home, and is sick of sleeping on a tile floor for months straight and only one pair of clothes to wear, them making her feel like she is a complete piece of crap and that she will never amount to anything, is that abuse??? how would you feel if you had to experience or see any of these things and then people told you that you were lying or were just a brat with whimpy parents? how would that make you feel??
Posted by: IhopeIcanhelp · Apr-13-2011
They claim that their treatment of people is based on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible you will not find those statements that are supposedly in the Bible. They are false what they say or just cherry picking the Bible.
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-13-201125
I also want to put it out there, that I will not stop spreading awareness or speaking out about this until JUSTICE IS SERVED and they are forever shut down and banned from working with children. This is nonsense that this place is even still up and running, so many parents are being lied to and thinking that their children are in good hands. It angers me that there are girls there RIGHT NOW as I type this suffering through the things that I had to go through, maybe even worse. I am one person but trying to be a voice for those that are there and HAVE NO voice, and no way to get out of this horrible environment.
Copyright © 2011 ABC News Internet Ventures.
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Comments (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/comments?type=story&id=13310172) left for the above article, "Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=37039&p=399996#p399993)" (by Susan Donaldson James; April 12, 2011; ABC News), #s 76-100:
Posted by: IhopeIcanhelp · Apr-13-2011
The fundamentalist group says they get their authority out of Old Testament / Hebrew Bible. I found nothing of bruising the child is the way to dicipline the child. Let them read the Talmud to find what was the thinking of the Jewish sages. These people are to my thoughts evil.
Posted by: danis1415 · Apr-13-2011
TrthSkr78: Was just wandering if you felt the same about them being wimpy parents as you obviously do for the parents featured in the article. Sounds like a double standard going on here to me. As far as my being concerned for Brittany's issues before being sent to the home her legal gaurdians did as much as posible to keep her away from me. If I voiced to much concern (especially if my oppinion was too much in the way of anti-IFB) my time with her was VERY limited. They would never just come out and say no you can't see her. Instead they would make excuses about being to busy for them to bring her to see me or me to go see her. Her gaurdian and I did discuss our concerns and worries over Brittany on a few occasions. I always said I thought sending her to the home was way to extreme. I made other suggestions as alternatives and they were completely blown off. I suggested counseling. That was not a viable solution to them as they felt counseling was bogus. They said the only acceptable counseling she needed was through the pastor and the church.They beleived that deppression was also a bogus concept. They beleive that deppression is an excuse for bad behavior. Things such as antideppressants are totally taboo. I also suggested JobCorp. JobCorp. is a very viable and successful organization. It actually gives teenagers who are successful in the program REAL life skills upon finishing the program. By the way, YES, many of the tactics the home employs IS criminal abuse and the leaders of this home should be held accountable and put behind bars. See here: The guidelines the state of Missouri is SUPPOSED to go by to protect these kids.
http://www.dss.mo.gov/cd/info/cwmanual/ ... h7sub3.htm (http://www.dss.mo.gov/cd/info/cwmanual/section2/ch7/sec2ch7sub3.htm). Also, I have no problem letting the public know who I am. If you are so cinvinced of you convictions why not say who you are???[/list]
Posted by: IhopeIcanhelp · Apr-13-2011
As a Jew I don't believe that there is devil a being that is. But evil is in us in our hearts,and in our minds. It is like a horror that can be past from person to person.
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-13-2011
NBGAsurvivor... You are sounding dramatic again and the things you are saying sound horrible from your perspective. But that doesn't tell the whole story. You haven't given the circumstances surrounding these "abuses". I've already told you that if someone tried to make me do something, it would have taken a lot to make me do it. "Hitting someone with a 2x4 several times out of anger" is a vague statement and meant to make people conjure up visual images of a child being beat with a 2x4 over the head repeatedly. You aren't being specific about the situations and that just makes it all the harder to believe you are not exaggerating. I know you feel that I'm being a jerk, but if you all seriously want something done about this home you are going to have to understand that these vague, dramatic statements are not going to help you in court. A good defense lawyer is going to tear your stories apart and if you made them sound worse than what they turn out to be (not saying that they aren't bad to begin with, I don't know), a jury is going to discredit you as a witness. And let's be clear... I never said anyone was lying, nor did I say anyone was a brat with wimpy parents. I said that "many of these stories sound like exaggerated tales from bratty, rebellious kids and their wimpy excuses for parents." There's a big difference in pointing out the way a story comes across and saying that it is a fact. You would do better to listen to the points I am making rather than getting emotionally defensive.
Posted by: IhopeIcanhelp · Apr-13-2011
Love is G_D, G_D is love. So love is the most powerful force in any society/culture. A group that ignores this are against G_D.
Posted by: danis1415 · Apr-13-2011
TrthSkr78, I really don't know how you can say your not calling anyone a liar. You are totally saying that without just coming out and saying it. Do you think they are liars or not. You say it sounds like exaggerated tales but thats not exactly what YOU are saying. Which is it gonna be? You can't have it both ways.
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-13-2011
Danis1415... No double standard, just that you didn't comprehend what I clearly stated. I said that the parents came across as wimpy because they were crying about what extremes needed to be taken to get their child under control, regardless of the fact that they couldn't get the child under control themselves. There was nothing in the article stating that the people that sent Ms. Campbell to the home were crying about what it took to get her to stop mutilating herself, so I cannot say that they came across as wimpy, now can I? Since you've tried so hard to make yourself look like an angel in this whole situation, why were you not Ms. Campbell's legal guardian? It's very easy to point the finger when you weren't the one that was living with a self-destructive teenager. According to Ms. Campbell's story on her blog, she has made it clear that she doesn't blame her sister that was her legal guardian for sending her to NBGA... that she had a lot of problems and that her family (I would guess that includes you, since you are part of her immediate family) was a wreck. This would imply that you were too much of a wreck yourself to be of help to her. It makes no difference who I am... I am close enough to know more than was reported and distant enough to not be emotionally involved. My points remain the same.
Posted by: concerned girl 03-07 · Apr-13-2011
I personaly went through the home with Brittany Campbell, she is an amazing person who has over come many things in her life. I was no angel in the home. I got hit with a two by four by a staff memeber its still abuse weather or not I personally wasnt doing anything wrong or if I was so out of control that does not give them the right to abuse.
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-13-2011
Dictionaries are great tools: Lie - A false statement deliberately presented as being true Exaggeration - to represent as greater than is actually the case. You see besides being spelled differently, they actually have different meanings. I don't need to have it both ways because I never said anyone was a liar.
Posted by: concerned girl 03-07 · Apr-13-2011
TrthSkr78 These stories do add up and I know Brittany Campbell personally as well. Maybe you should say how you know about Brittany Campbell and where you got all this stuff your comming up with. In the girls home they make it hard for you to leave and don't pay you even enough money when you are on jr staff to live or leave.
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-13-2011
I'm sorry if I sound "dramatic" but that is how i FEEL this kind of stuff really boils my blood and I have a real passion for this, because I lived it myself. If you want to go on believing that the things we are saying are "dramatized" or over exaggerated then go right ahead. We know what happened to us and we know the truth. we also know WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG, and they are WRONG! I don't have to go into detail on this post. What I have said is true, and I would swear it on a stack of bibles. I would have no problem if I ever went to court over this because the truth cannot be torn down.
Posted by: danis1415 · Apr-13-2011
TrthSkr78 Now who's getting emotional and exaggerated. For someone who is not getting emotional about this you are getting very personal and you are being very insulting. I never said that Brittany blamed her guardian. Your putting words in my mouth. You don't know me or maybe you do, can't say because you won't reveal yourself but saying that I was to much of a wreck myself and insulting me doesn't phase me in the least. I have nothing to hide. In fact before Brittany was sent to the home in the discussion with her guardian about our concerns for Brittany I did say to her guardian that I thought Brittany's problems were to big for her or myself and that she needed a counselor. My points also remain the same. Perhaps if Brittany's guardian spoke for herself???
Posted by: TrthSkr78 · Apr-13-2011
Not emotional or exaggerating... I pointed out exactly what Ms. Campbell says on her blog. I just read into what she wrote as meaning that her legal guardian couldn't handle the many problems she had and that the rest of her family was too much of a wreck to be of assistance to her. If you find that insulting, that would not be my fault. I also never put words in your mouth. You said and I quote, " I always said I thought sending her to the home was way to (sic) extreme. I made other suggestions as alternatives and they were completely blown off." Sounds like finger pointing to me, which is what I said you did. I just stated that on Ms. Campbell's blog that she does not blame her legal guardian. This discussion has ceased to be anything more than me reiterating what I've already said because of poor reading comprehension and my time is too precious for that. I'll continue my research elsewhere. I really do hope that justice is served for any wrongdoing on the part of any and every home where it may be occurring.
Posted by: ElisabethScherger · Apr-14-2011
I feel extremely compelled to say something on here. Nothing I usually say about this is ever well receieved, but that does not change the truth. I too was in the new Beginnings Home from 2004-2007. I obviously can't comment on anything that went on outside of those three years, but I would say that I have a pretty good idea about the home from that amount of time. I have read many testimonies of girls that have left, "survivors" as they call themselves, and they all share one thing in common. They are full of half truths. Exaggeration is the only word that properly explains them. They take something that happened rarely, such as being woke up in the middle of the night, as something that happened constantly. I only knew Brittany in the home for about 1 of those years, so I won't begin to say everything she says is false. But I do know, for example, she made enough money where just 1 to 2 months of saving would have been plenty to leave. So when I read things that say she didn't have enough money to leave, I know that is not true. I have plenty of other opinions about her specific situation, but I am not on here for that. I am simply on here to say that as someone else pointed out, you are only receiving half truths. In some cases, no truth at all. There are many other girls who would say the same thing as I am. Also, consider, when someone says they have a group of 50 survivors, consider how many girls are not on there. A home that housed 25-30 at a time for around 15 years, you are talking about hundreds of girls.
Posted by: Light_Shed · Apr-14-2011
Elisabeth, it's lovely that you had such a grand time during your stay, but like you said, you can't comment on times you weren't there ect. I was there in 01' to '03 and didn't witness "too much" but the things that I did were heinous, and makes me believe these girls stories even more. I personally never had to experience any of these horrible things, but like I said.. I did unfortunately have to witness some of the crap. And as far as you speaking on how much Brittany Made, I take it you were the one signing her paychecks? Or perhaps Keeping the financial books for the home?? The day you can say yes to either of those questions would be the day that you should speak on her financial situation. Until then I think you should keep your mouth shut and only speak for you self and that which pertains to you!
Posted by: concerned girl 03-07 · Apr-14-2011
Yes, Elisabeth only talk about what you know not what you heard.
Posted by: ElisabethScherger · Apr-14-2011
Thank you light shed for your comment., but can you tell me how much she made then? Because unless you can then your comment is no more valid than mine. I said I couldn't comment on what went on when I wasn't there, but thank you for that reminder. I love that you think I should keep my mouth shut because I believe that is the last thing you girls have done. You preach this tolerance and keeping an open mind to the hurt you supposedly went through, but if anyone says anything contrary to what you believe they need to shut up. Well I have been quiet long enough and I just simply want other people to know that some people are thankful and owe their lives to that ministry. I also know of countless situations where you all have gone and what you think, not what you know. I could give many examples if I had the time. But thank you concerned girl. People need to realize that 90% of the girls that went to the home went with serious issues, but becuase they still have issues it is the home's fault? That is laughable. Some people's time in the home may have been harder than others, but it was always a choice and they made it hard for themselves. Just as some people's lives now are harder than others, but again it is a choice. I am not saying some don't get dealt harder lots that others, but the majority of our circumstances are a choice.
Posted by: Light_Shed · Apr-14-2011
Actually Elisabeth yes I can Say how much she made! But that is no ones business but hers, but yes I do know for a FACT that it was not enough to survive in the real world (and I do not know this from her, but from A conversation I heard between Miss. Heather and Mrs. Mac about Brittanys pay)!! And I also think you should READ more carefully, because you seem to think that I said you should "keep your mouth shut period" when in actuality I believe I said "speak on what pertains to you." Okay you took alot from that "Ministry" and like I said, thats good for you. But just as you took so much good from that time in your life, Others might have took bad from! Your story is just that, "YOUR STORY' you get on here and expect everyone to believe that this place is full of love and light and no bad at all and that what these girls are saying is all lies. Tell me why should they believe you over anyone else? NOBODY is gonna ever walk out of any situation like this and have the same feelings towards it as the next person! Like I said previously, I never had a hard time there, I feel the way that I do towards them because of abuse I PERSONALLY WITNESSED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS WITH MY OWN EYES! And because of what I witnessed, if a girl that was their after me or before me says "they did this and that to me" I am to an extent going to believe what she is saying. Who am I to say she is lying just because I didn't see what, if anything, happened to her? I saw others mistreated so unfortunately I know it is possible it could have happened to her too! Im happy for the girls that did walk away from this place with a positive experience, and I also feel hurt for the ones that walked away with a bad experience. I just don't feel it's right for you to try to insinuate that they are lying about what they went through while in the home, simply because you didn't endure the same things!
Posted by: b.burnias88 · Apr-14-2011
of course we have people out there that are gunna say that were not tellin the whole truth but the fact of the matter is we are telling the truth but your just to blind to see it. i went through nbga from 2003-2006 and seen many girls get treated badly, humilated, and pretty much tortured. if u didnt experience it (elisabeth) than dont judge the girls that are telling there storys open ur eyes to the truth because u know wat the truth is. the macs dont work for GOD they work for the DEVIL
Posted by: ahkydnic · Apr-14-2011
I admire Jeannie Marie and her daughter's bravery for speaking out about NBGA. The things that each and one of these girl's went through is very personal and it takes a lot of courage to talk about the things that have happened to them, especially because I'm sure they wouldn't have wanted everyone to know about their personal business. But the fact of the matter is, these people who run the home Bro Mac and his wife are definitely NOT sincere people. I know this because I too went through the home from 2004-2005. I came from a Buddhist family and my parents were desperate to send me there even though they knew it was a strict IFB Christian home. They felt they had no other choice, and being the parents that they were, they honestly did not know what else to do with me. I was singled out, mentally taunted until I confessed my sin and asked Jesus to save me. Their rules are extremely mind controlling and manipulating -- I had gotten in trouble when I spoke to my dad in Chinese over the phone, even though he doesn’t speak much English. My phone calls were immediately shut off once I tried to communicate with him in my home language. They ignore proper medical attention constantly, I remember being really sick and bed and not being able to go to the doctor’s. I had never been that sick my entire life -- I had a high fever running for days on end. All the girls who went through this place, they didn’t have a choice than to submit to their rules and controlling discipline, we had to play the part of the good Christian girl or else we couldn’t go home because Bro. Mac would tell our parents we weren’t ready. It becomes very difficult to explain all the rules and regulations of this place, and how it really felt to be one the girls, if you did not first-handedly experience it yourself.
Posted by: ahkydnic · Apr-14-2011
Continued from last post --- However, as a girl who went through NBGA for an entire year, I can say that these girls are telling the truth as to their own personal experience here. Nobody has the time or the effort to sit and make up these stories or "exaggerate" them, we are not getting paid millions of dollars to make up these stories purely for your entertainment. These are actual events that unfortunately has happened to us, and I'm sorry if you cannot or are not capable of comprehending how exactly it happened to us, or you cannot fully empathize, but let me just say, these things really did happen. Homes like this do exist all across America, and out of all the girls who go through them, only a small percentage can truly say they were "helped" or "saved" and come out with a good experience. All in all, these homes are abusive, filled with untrained, unprofessional staff who claim to be doing "God's Work" and yet it is all a scam. They are scam artists who are there to make a quick buck and hiding all the money away, while hurting girl and girl abusing them during a very emotional, sensitive time in their life and the fact of the matter is, they need to be stopped, shut down, and prosecuted. Thank you for your time.
Posted by: NBGAsurvivor · Apr-15-2011
"Anne left the school in January, but said the punitive approach left her with no self-worth and anxiety attacks so bad she cannot breathe. " "She looked like the most pitiful thing standing in the little snow boots I bought her -- mud-covered with a thin skirt covering her knees with dirt on it...Her face was ghostly white, her eyes bugged out and hair was pulled back. My tiny girl had a horrible look on her face...the most awful expression I have ever seen on the face of my children. I gasped and held my breath."Jeannie Marie said that when she held her daughter, "she was so weak and faint...and her body went limp. There was nothing left to her." "I just wanted to paste these parts of the article and also say that @Elisabeth do you realize that this girl was rescued from NBGA just 3 months ago? Are you gonna say that someone's mother would tell a "half-truth"? I don't think so. Why would people waste their time doing that? We are not trying to be insulting to you in any way and do honestly wish you the best in your life but you don't have to get on here and say that we are We have a very valid cause and none of use would ever make anything up. If there are so many girls who would agree with you then where the heck are they at? Where is your "praise group" group for the home? We have roughly 57 people in our group saying that this place is abusive and that being in there for so long does have long terms affects on some people. Also, there are several other girls who are not a part of our group because they simply can't handle thinking about what happened to them while they were in there. Some people were not as fortunate as you Elisabeth, Bro. Mac really liked you and everyone that was there with you knows that. Some people were on the wall for MONTHS straight and I KNOW that you know that. I don't Ithink you would think so much of them if you had been one of those stuck on the wall for months at a time and Bro. Mac openly rebuking you every chance he got.
Posted by: ElisabethScherger · Apr-15-2011
I truly wish I had time to debate with every one of you, but I just don't. Asking if I think someone's mother would tell a half truth, I absolutely do. I have no idea who Jeannie Marie is so I will not speak about her. What I can say is when I worked on staff I talked to so may mothers who would tell me of their own accord, not because I or the Macs said so, but because they knew what was best for their daughter that she was not ready to come home and needed to stay longer. Then 5 minutes later they would be on their phone call with their daughter telling them they couldn't wait for them to come home. They were to scared to tell their daughter the truth. So, in that case they either lied to me or their daughter. That is only one of countless situations where that happened. I do not deny that my stay there was much smoother than others. I did feel awful for the girls who spent the majority of their year or more on discipline. I was only on a few times and hated it, but at the same time I chose to follow the rules so I wouldn't be on. Just as others didn't chose too. That is what I mean when I say it was a choice. If you think I was never openly rebuked than you are wrong as well. There was several times I was in trouble for something I didn't do. One time I even had to serve a six hour punishment for it. But guess what? That is life. I don't have a disorder because of it. The home may have not seemed the fairest to everyone, but neither is the real world. When you have a boss that yells at you are you going to tell him he needs to be shut down and he is causing you emotional distress? See how far that gets you. Regardless of all that, I am not leaving these comments for you girls. I know where you stand and I don't need you to reiterate it for me. I simply want anyone reading this article to know that not everyone feels the way you girls do. I know where I would have been without the home and many of you as well, regardless of whether you want to admit that.
Posted by: turnhook · Apr-15-2011
You really need to stop trying to justify their actions by comparing life there to the real world. I have so much to say but will not do it here on the comment board. I will join forces with the survivors and share my truthful facts with ABC...I have prayed for this day to come , the day the truth would and could be told and someone listen. There are those that are way to strong to fall pray to their sick mind games.
Posted by: Light_Shed · Apr-15-2011
I also find it interesting that Elisabeth keeps trying to compare this home to the real world. Last time I checked, some of the "disciplinary" tactics they use at New Beginnings is considered "Assault" out here in the "Real World" which is against the law to commit. Let me go to a mall and tell a group of girls to go jump on and restrain another girl because she doesn't want to listen to me. I'm PRETTY sure the girls that jump on her will not be praised for their actions! Better Yet, lets see Brother Mac go out to a local walmart with the girls and tackle one of them himself because she tried to "run" or have other girls hold her down while He openly rebukes her and tells her she smells like masturbation in front of everyone in the store... I Highly Doubt that He would be walking out of that walmart un-cuffed!
Copyright © 2011 ABC News Internet Ventures.
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More of the "god wills it bunch" nothing new.
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More of the "god wills it bunch" nothing new.
It's continued perpetration of the same. Lester Roloff redux, if you will. From the above article,"Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=37039&p=400281#p399993)" (By Susan Donaldson James; April 12, 2011; ABC News), emphasis added:
New Beginnings began as the Rebekah Home for Girls in Corpus Christie, Texas, in 1968, but was shut down by the state in 1985 after numerous investigations of abuse and its refusal to submit to state licensing.
Under changing names, the school moved temporarily to Devil's Elbow, Mo., before relocating in Pace, Fla., and eventually to its present home in La Russell, Mo.
The school was run by Lester Roloff, an independent fundamental Baptist preacher who broke from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1954 and founded a series of reform facilities, known as Roloff Homes (http://http://www.pbc-roloffhomes.org/content/), for what he called, "parent-hating, Satan-worshiping, dope-taking immoral boys and girls," according to a 2000 investigative report in Texas Monthly (http://http://teenadvocatesusa.homestead.com/Roloff.html).[/list][/size]
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Some more comments (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/comments?type=story&id=13310172) left for the above article, "Biblical Reform School Discipline: Tough Love or Abuse? (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=37039&p=399996#p399993)" (by Susan Donaldson James; April 12, 2011; ABC News), #s 101-107:
Posted by: Light_Shed · Apr-15-2011
And Elisabeth, when I finally did go home after almost 3 years of being in the home, i asked my parents why I was there so long and couldn't come home, and they told me that They thought that I wanted to stay there because Bro. Mac was telling them that I didn't want to leave and that I wanted to finish up my schooling and stay and work on staff.. Which I never said AT ALL. And they told me that they were informed not to talk about any coming home or anything like during phone calls that because it would "distract me from the path i was focused on" (what ever the heck that was) So I have to question, why would the Macs Blatantly lie to my family and tell them that I SAID these things about wanting to stay ect?? I definitely didn't want to be there, so what did they have to gain from it other than more money??
Posted by: turnhook · Apr-17-2011
Agrees totally ! And you answered your question. MONEY , the only damn reason ! Scammers , nothing but scammers. Money that sure isn't used for medical treatment , money that isn't used for clothing , not used for UP TO DATE food items ( unless it's something the Mac's and other staff wants ) , not used for certified schooling and teachers , etc......It pays for the Mac"s nice home and cars they drive...........And school ? What a joke ! Oh, they sell ya on it but it's all a lie. My daughter, as we speak is having to try and catch up because of the year spent there with no schooling...
Posted by: brandy1428 · Apr-18-2011
I was the first girl in the home starting at the rebekah, that turned into the new beginnings, and most definitely everything is true. to say that it is not is true would be a lie. I came from a good girls home called Charity Haven the Macs worked at charity haven for a while that is where they picked up some experience. but most definitely I didn't go through that stuff at charity haven. they would make the girls stand on the wall for the entire day!!! if you deny it your lying, sanitary paper was rashioned!!! we couldn't talk we were on dorm silence the whole time. dorm silence was suppose to be as a temporary punnishment but it lasted about 2 yrs. the doors were taken off the hinges, if we were caught communicating it was considered talking and we got in trouble. I believe in God and I love Him, but these homes are suppose to help treat everyone like a robot !! thats what they wanted easy control of the dorm 98 girls and only four staff to take control !!! how else do you think they took control!
Posted by: brandy1428 · Apr-18-2011
before I went to Rebekah aka new beginnings I was at charity haven and acted up and was disciplined for my actions, by the time I went to the Rebekah I knew don't act up or else. just because I was RARELY, VERY RARELY, and I worked on staff that is not to say I didn't see what I saw! I actually feel that I would love to work in a girls home again! But having girls stand on a wall for punnishment for 3 to 5 months straight is not righ, its just not right!!!! And it's also not right to punnish all 98 girls at the time for the actions of one girl !!! that would happen all the time. Also I remember durring the winter months when one of the girls got out of a straight line while walking to lunch we would have to stand there as punnishment for about a half an hour. then at about 2 or 3 in the morning he would wake us up with the fire alarm and say on the announcement everyone out, we would all run down the hall outside thinking there is a fire most of us didn't bother to get a sweater (because we though we were running from a fire) and he made us stand out there while he preached in like 30-40 degree weather and no sweater then we would just stand there for an hr. or two in the cold! that wasn't right that kind of punnishment isn't ok
Posted by: brandy1428 · Apr-18-2011
In total I was in homes for almost 5 YRS. honestly the fact that you don't get to communicate with anyone for so long left me unfit to even have a conversation or even sit for a job interview it felt so weird! and also that fact that we were constantly accused of stuff always left me explaining every detail of what i am doing even to this day, just for fear of getting falsely accused! when i first got out I had real night mares like I was running and they were trying to put me back in the home, thank God I had God and my man who is now my husband to help me.
Posted by: brandy1428 · Apr-18-2011
These homes are fighting not to be state or government regulated because they know that the forms of discipline would not be accepted. why not have a home where the government can come in and check on things and make sure children are not being abused. why do they keep fighting because they know their forms of discipline are considered abuse!
Posted by: itellyou · May-1-2011
A liitle wrong teaching contaminates the entire lesson! The denying of ourselves, which is to deny our own will, and submit to God´s will is strictly and only voluntary, never to be forced; the Lord looks for sincerity from a person, but sincerity can only be true when it is voluntary. This manner of doctrine does not at all represent Christ, but their own appetite.
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See also:
20/20 victims forced confession video.
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=37153 (http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=37153)[/list]
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Anchor Home victim here too. It's all true. Is there a place to meet others who have survived this?
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