Fornits

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

Quote from: ""Guest""

Quote from: ""Ursus""

I imagine that the sheer number of pages this thread contains may well be daunting, but this thread, among a few others, contains quite a lot of material not just about Larry's sexual proclivities, but also those of a number of other former Hyde faculty, etc, and is well worth the reading time invested.

To summarize re. your question:  Larry was a former Hyde student in the mid 70s who married another former Hyde student (Donna) and who both returned to teach at Hyde.  Several of the current Hyde administration knew Larry as a student, and some knew Donna as well, as some of them were students around the same time.

Larry was... shall we say... a bit too liberal in translating his "affections" for the (female) students into physical channels...  He was also in charge of the Dean's Area, and hence privy to student's required confessions of their sexual misadventures and transgressions, which he apparently took great satisfaction in hearing out in a most "thorough" manner.  

Hyde was well aware of this problem, as there had been complaints from students for years.  Eventually, as Hyde never did anything save make these girls feel pretty shitty for even opening their mouths about such a thing, one of the parents sued re. the sexual assault of their daughter.  

Apparently Hyde still did not see fit to alter Larry's circumstances, hoping that Larry "taking some time off to think about things" should suffice.  However, Donna is still employed at Hyde, and least two (I believe) of their kids still attend Hyde, so Hyde rationalizes that Larry's involvement with the Hyde community is necessary for "family reasons."  It is my understanding that the Dubinskys live in faculty housing, on or extremely close to the Woodstock campus.

How could Hyde take the risk of having someone like this on campus?  They must be out of their minds taking on this liability

If in fact all of this is true, why is Larry still hanging around Hyde?  What type of people would run a school that allows known pedophile on campus and even provides housing for them?

I do not blame Hyde for someone else's behavior but I do blame them for the way they ignore this very dangerous situation!  This is something to take very seriously and it is obvious from everyone posting that this is a man with severe sexual problems.  How can any parent send their child, (especially a female) to Hyde knowing the attitude of the faculty toward sexual harassment?

Quote from: ""Guest""

Quote from: ""Ursus""

I imagine that the sheer number of pages this thread contains may well be daunting, but this thread, among a few others, contains quite a lot of material not just about Larry's sexual proclivities, but also those of a number of other former Hyde faculty, etc, and is well worth the reading time invested.

To summarize re. your question:  Larry was a former Hyde student in the mid 70s who married another former Hyde student (Donna) and who both returned to teach at Hyde.  Several of the current Hyde administration knew Larry as a student, and some knew Donna as well, as some of them were students around the same time.

Larry was... shall we say... a bit too liberal in translating his "affections" for the (female) students into physical channels...  He was also in charge of the Dean's Area, and hence privy to student's required confessions of their sexual misadventures and transgressions, which he apparently took great satisfaction in hearing out in a most "thorough" manner.  

Hyde was well aware of this problem, as there had been complaints from students for years.  Eventually, as Hyde never did anything save make these girls feel pretty shitty for even opening their mouths about such a thing, one of the parents sued re. the sexual assault of their daughter.  

Apparently Hyde still did not see fit to alter Larry's circumstances, hoping that Larry "taking some time off to think about things" should suffice.  However, Donna is still employed at Hyde, and least two (I believe) of their kids still attend Hyde, so Hyde rationalizes that Larry's involvement with the Hyde community is necessary for "family reasons."  It is my understanding that the Dubinskys live in faculty housing, on or extremely close to the Woodstock campus.

How could Hyde take the risk of having someone like this on campus?  They must be out of their minds taking on this liability

Not exactly novel behavior on their part.

How could Hyde take the risk?  Very easy answer.  Number one, Hyde's arrogance is beyond anything you have ever experienced, and number two there are always desperate parents out there who play into all this B.S. and are weak enough to worship J Gauld.  Most every adult who is involved with Hyde has deep deep issues even after spending years and years at Hyde.  Truth is, that none of them ever truly "get it" or they would move on!!

to the original poster:
thanks you for sharing that with us, although you shared this long ago. i read this as one of the first threads i read on fornits. i was saddened. i even emailed it to mr. bragg b/c maybe he could remember the incident and you and know you weren't lying and if you were ever brough up in conversation as a liar, he could say something. another senior at bath i met happened to read this too, he had done the same thing that i had done.
i don't like the whole battling out atmosphere on this site. i wish it could just be a place to share your experiences, good and bad. b/c it is a therapeutic thing to do. i hope others are able to post something as difficult and hate-enducing as this memory was without trying to bash hyde.

Part of the original post.......

If I didn't have my father...
I would have ended up in foster care, and the foster care system here--at least from what I've heard of it, from what I understand--is, to put it lightly, hell. My father HAD to get me into SOME kind of school program, quick, or he was going to lose me... Like I'm sure most parents do, he did a lot of searching, consulted some people, blah blah...and decided on Hyde. I do believe that he wanted the best for me, and Hyde looked the best to him...but

he couldn't afford it... SO
he went to court to get the life-insurance money (left in my name from my mother dying),
to pay for Hyde.

That said...

Hyde put me back on grade level as a freshman. For that, I am extremely thankful.

HOWEVER

Did I get the help I needed? No. At that point in my life, (I can admit now that) I was a pretty disturbed individual. I had no desire to do anything. In the morning, I didn't want to wake up; I wanted to sleep forever, and I physically couldn't sleep at night without six or seven Xanax, minimum.

I needed serious psychological HELP. Instead, I recieved MORE psychological DAMAGE.

At Hyde, I picked up the habit of cutting myself, a practice I learned from fellow students. My reality became even more distorted. I was made to feel inferior. I was isolated, and, at the age of 14 (through 15) utterly ALONE, an object... I did not feel human. The Xanax was taken away cold turkey, with no kind of therapy at all. Food became my replacement for this; at mealtime I would eat as much as possible, because it was all I had to comfort myself, and then I was made to feel inferior/disgusting about my body (mostly BY STAFF); I eventually developed a mild eating-disorder which, chances are, would NOT have developed in a HEALTHIER environment.

Post-traumatic stress? Instead of recovering from that, or even reckognizing that I was suffering from it, I got traumatized again...cold bathroom floor and all the words that followed... Instead of healing, I got fresh wounds. Every day I felt trapped, hopeless, abandoned and misunderstood. Most of my peers (majority of which were rich, much older kids, coming from a totally different culture) looked down on me and abused me. Most of the staff (though one or two did genuilely care/make attempts at helping me without really knowing how) stopped ignoring me ONLY to chastise and humiliate. (My already-unhealthily-low self-esteem became almost non-existant.)

I do believe that (though many succesful Hyde students are simply good actors, caught in a sadomasohistic script)...Hyde does work for some people...the keyword there being "some". There ARE certainly a FEW kids who have actually been helped by it. But that isn't enough to justify the damage it has done (and continues to do) to others, to kids like me. It has taken me years of therapy just to understand and begin to get past this, to be able to write about it now.

To the "Guest" who originally posted her trauma at Hyde,

I want to tell you how sad I feel for you and how much I can relate to this.  I would like to correspond with you in a "private message" if that is ok.  I think that maybe we can help each other.  I get the feeling you don't know how to set up a way to do this.  You need to sign up for a name.  You do not have to use your name.  You can call yourself whatever you want.  No one will be able to get in touch with you outside of this board.  You can check for private messages whenever you want to sign in.

You did NOTHING WRONG at Hyde. You were innocent, naive and a part of you wanted and needed the attention you thought you would get from this guy who took advantage of you.  You then were made to feel shame.  The shame is with Hyde for accepting you into their program to begin with.  For knowing your father had to take your trust money to pay for this so called character school. This is not your father's fault.  Hyde told us that they could help our daughters self esteem and instead they destroyed it.  It is great that you are writing about your experiences here for the sake of other girls who might be considering Hyde and come to this board.  Unfortunately I don't have high hopes that Hyde will try to change.  They have never taken responsibility for the wrongs they commit.

PLEASE sign up for a name on this board so I can then private message you.

As far as Billy, thank you for bringing this to the attention of the person at Hyde who had something to do with this.  I hope he doesn't come back to you and just slander the poor girl which would be typical of Hyde.  Point is that Hyde has emotionally damaged many people.  Whether these people already had problems or not is not the point.  It is wrong to take in kids who need psychological counseling and put them in Hyde's seminars.  It is downright dangerous and detrimental to them.

Quote from: ""Guest""

by choice or by "design?"

  I think it a false dichotomy.

Everything is meaningless and full of meaning at the same time.  There is an emptiness at the center of things that defines everything that it is not. There is somethings that you just can name and it is better that way.

  In greyhound racing, after a dog catches the mechanical rabbit, they say the dog will never race again.

 The future is uncertain and the end is always near.

Very intersting, but what does this have to do with Hyde?  Maybe you guys want to go dance on another board?

:rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:
This has been a collaboration of many!!  Keep up the good work!

Hyde School (Bath)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hyde School is a character education high school in Bath, Maine.

Hyde was founded in 1966 by math teacher Joseph Gauld. Mr Gauld was interested in providing education based on character development rather than academic achievement. Since its inception Hyde School has had the reputation of being a "turn around" school. The organization, based in Maine, also includes national parenting workshops and wilderness experiences. Outdoor activities are incorporated into the educational scheme and a Outward Bound like experience is provided to many if not all students. That is a place where well to do families can send their children who are having difficulty in other educational environments. Some of these children have behavioral abnormalities, others are underperformers. In addition many students are there because their parents believe in the educational theory of character before performance. Thus there is a mix of the more traditional prep school crowd and nontraditional "turnaround" children. Because of this mix many who start there do not finish and it is not uncommon for only 6 or 10 from an original freshman class of 50 remain at the school for the entire 4 years.

Although Hyde is typically categorized as a college preparatory schoolthe school administrators regard their primary purpose as preparation for life. Hyde helps students learn, embrace, and adopt a character compass that will guide them for the rest of their lives.

Emphasis is placed on performing arts and sports. Participation in athletics is mandatory and sports are often assigned to students in order to balance the schools teams and provide for as strong a school showing as possible in as many sports as possible. Performing arts is also mandatory. Singing, acting and dancing are seen as critical steps in the development of all students. These students often perform in shows designed to attract other potential families to the school. Academics are provided but not emphasized and those who are talented at school work are enlisted to teach those who are less able. There are the typical high school classes and academics and most if not nearly all who complete school there gain access to colleges and universities.

Group counseling sessions are mandated several times per week and run by non-accredited counselors. Students are encouraged to council each other both inside and outside of these sessions when they consider another student's actions or thoughts to be in discordant with the schools philosophy. These sessions focus on the individual students and their current issues and problems faced at the school. Students are encouraged to share intimate secrets, insecurities, doubts and regrets about them selves and their families. These amateur psychology sessions are extended to parents. The parents are incorporated into local groups based on region where they too are exposed to the school doctrine and counseling methods. The purpose of these sessions is to indoctrinate all involved into a sequestered and intimate social structure. This limits behavioral problems and helps the school with the behavioral reform aspect of it's mission. In addition it helps the school close the loop on the behavioral problems many of their students have by addressing the problems, fears, shortcomings and insecurities of the parents. In juxtaposition to the parents involvement in their own counseling, they are encouraged avoid over involvement with their children while at the school. When children are having difficulty at the school parents are instructed to stay detached from the student and to focus on their own physiological issues, while allowing the schools programs and counseling methods gently bring the child into the philosophical and cultural fold of the enclosed society of the school.

Students are encouraged and regimented to recognize and address the faults of their peers and to communicate these perceived character flaws to them in a terse manner in the "brothers keeper" line justification. "I am saying this because I care about you" is the rationale for what could be perceived as demeaning verbal encounters by outsiders. These encounters are believed to play an integral role in the improved character growth and development for all involved as espoused by the school leadership.

Truth is emphasized over harmony and students are rewarded for turning in their peers for transgressions against the Hyde School code of ethics. Students who have difficulty with following the rules of the school are put on work duty where they perform maintenance jobs and lawn care for the school during the wee hours of the morning. The idea behind the work crews is to "earn" acceptance by the group, and work back into the good graces of the school.

In recent years, Hyde has received national recognition. In 1993, Joseph Gauld’s experiences were published in his book Character First: The Hyde School Difference. Television shows, such as ABC’s 20/20, CBS’s 60 Minutes, and NBC’s The Today Show have aired full segments on Hyde, and the Hyde character concept has been featured in publications such as Education Week, Insight, The New York Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, and The Wall Street Journal.

The Hyde of today continues to uphold its Five Words as the core values on its boarding campuses in Maine and in Woodstock, CT, as well as in its public school initiatives in New Haven, CT; Washington, DC; and the Bronx, NY. These schools are presently run by the extended Gauld family and all Joesph Gauld’s primary children and several in-laws hold the key leadership positions with in the school consortium.

I don't agree with this.  Hyde does not uphold it's "Five Words."  They are hypocrites!!  Also this post indicates Hyde has gotten national recognition recently.  Show me one national program Hyde has been on in the last five years?  Maybe I am wrong but I believe those shows highlighted Hyde years ago when they didn't know what a toxic place it was

simply because i dont' know much of anything about the financial stuff at hyde. i also don't mind much since money is not what the school is about. that has nothing to do with character.

You couldn't be more wrong Billy.  It is ALL ABOUT CHARACTER!! Lies, and more lies, and you say this isn't about character?  I am not sure about you, guy!  

Hyde gets up on the podium crying and begging for money from many already struggling parents and you say this is not about character?  You are very naive.  It proves that the "family" is all about MONEY, not CHARACTER!!!

Quote from: ""billy procida""

we both thought of the same post too: the "i lost my virginity at hyde" thread. we even reacted to it the same way after we had read it: we both emailed it to mr. bragg. idk where i'm going with this.

Could someone fill me in on who Mr. Bragg is and his relevance to the "i lost my virginity "thread?  thnx

Look at the Hyde website under faculty and look for Mr Bragg.  It appears to me that Billy is talking about a staff member.  Unlike many other boarding schools, Hyde only lists the names of the staff, not anything about their credentials or how long they have been at Hyde.  My guess is that these stats would not be very impressive.  The average teacher/staff usually stays one to two years at Hyde.  As soon as many of them find out the truth about Hyde, they get the hell out of there.