Fornits

Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

really...listen to pile...don't write it. It's a ridiculous plot line. writing a story like that will require a significant departure from reality, and that's not good for anyone. Not for the cause, not for parents, not for the teens that will read the book. For starters,
A. that plot line - "get sent to prison on purpose" - has been used and re-used over and over ad naseum. It's generic as all hell.
 B. no kid would ever get himself set away for that purpose, it's ridiculous beyond comprehension.
C. if it was possible to "get sent away and then collect evidence" we would be doing that already. What the hell do you think fornits has been doing for the last decade? eh? When you're in the program, you're in the program. your hands are tied. You're fucked until your parents wake up and decide otherwise. Even those of us that have mountains of evidence can't do much with it. What..is your protagonist going to walk in on the headmaster anally raping a 12 yr old? or dig up some papers where the owner outright confesses to tax fraud? and even he managed to do that, how will they get that evidence out? these schools are closed societies. What goes in and out is tightly controlled, and they all have an incredible amount of support from local governments so coverups are easy. Just look at how various organizations gave HLA the blind eye for years.

ANYWAY, the issues at hand are much more complex than the examples cited. If it was as simple as tax fraud or sexual assault, it would be easy to get these schools shut down. They wouldnt need some kid to send himself away. The problem with these schools is the "mind-fuck" they put you through and the long-term negative psychological effects of that. PTSD, among other things. It's something that is entirely up for debate, there is no consensus on what's "right" or "wrong" with these schools. The parents think they are doing right, the school thinks they are doing right, half the kids are brainwashed into thinking they are in the right place and going through something necessary.
 
You don't have any experience to write about that sort of thing and unless you go through it yourself, you can't possibly even begin to comprehend what it's like to have your parents outsource their work. It will end up being some bullshit like that movie "boot camp". It will just sensationalize the issue and make people more skeptical of the truth.

and seriously, what are you doing asking us for help? you want us to write the damn thing for you or something?

Don't write it. Don't embarass yourself and turn this very serious issue into another sensationalistic teen pulp novel. Let the people with credibility do it.

When you say Anne and Bucci can't practice anymore, what do you mean by that specifically? Does this mean he just won't be able to get licensing to open another school or have a private practice, or does it mean he won't be able to do anything in his field? Alot of options exist for someone like him. He is (was?) already a "career consultant" and "ed consultant".
How about all the other staff, the 1% that were shamelessly cruel and powerhungry, many of whom have long since left the school? (Ted McAllister?)

More importantly,
What about the hundreds of other "schools" and "treatment centers" around the country (and just across the border) that are just as bad if not worse than HLA? Why do you think thewho focused so much on hidden lake? Bucci was a star in his time, in his industry, and HLA was his masterpiece. Flagship of the industry. It was the "top" therapeutic boarding school in the country, the "harvard of schools for troubled teens" as some liked to call it. When I spent countless hours countless hours typing up counter-propaganda to thewho's BS years ago, I did it because I felt that if HLA fell, the other schools would fall too. I didnt do it out of spite and vindictiveness towards just bucci and his cronies (disgruntled? hah!). I did it because it was the start of something much much bigger, something that would have a widespread effect on the future of troubled teen-dom.  

When I try to explain to people what went down at that school, no one is able to truly comprehend the sheer scale of the "mind-fuck" we all had to go through. No one gets it, no one believes it. "it can't happen here, this is america! we have checks and balances for that stuff" is a common reaction when I try to explain things. My parents still don't understand what happened, or what they were thinking sending me there and believing all the lies....they are just happy it's in the past and over with. No one gets what we all had to go through fighting the school either. It was an epic battle on every front, but the war isnt over yet. It won't be over until all the other "schools" fall like dominos.  

What happened here should not pass quietly and be forgotten. Jill, I INSIST you document your story and make a book out of it. Include all the names, and source everything so it's not defamation.

Bucci shouldn't be allowed to have any more responsibility than flipping burgers or mowing grass can afford him for the rest of his putrid and despicable life and awareness needs to be raised nationwide about these troubled-teen money farms.