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Name: | lorri spickelmire
([email protected])
| | Date: | 11/6/2007 3:57:00 PM | | Subject: | Now You Ask? | | | Shouldn't you have asked these questions before you enrolled your child? All behavior modification programs are abusive. In order to modify someones behavior you have to totally break them down mentally and physically. I was in one of these programs 21 years ago and now run a support and healing group for survivors of these facilities. Please, I beg you, don't let your son be a part of my next generation of survivors. Help him at home! I know this is hard, I am a mom too, but dont let them victimize your child. Some of these places are going beyond victimization and killing kids. I have met parents in the forums who lost their kids this way, and it is something you can never take back. Best wishes. Lorri Spickelmire | | | Post Reply | | |
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Name: | Sonia V.
([email protected])
| | Date: | 12/12/2006 1:16:16 AM | | Subject: | Please take out your child or always stay on top and if they say you can't talk to your child....remove him call 832-758-0327... I sent my daughter and she only stayed for 16 days and it was bad.. | | | I was trying to help my daughter and learned that you should just try to keep the child at home any of the school don't trust what thay say..we learned the hard way...please take him out.find help @ home not far away from you. | | | Post Reply | | |
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Name: | Angela
([email protected])
| | Date: | 11/30/2006 8:04:26 PM | | Subject: | Correction to post | | | Spring Creek Lodge should read Midwest Academy. Both have claimed to no longer affiliate with WWASP, yet, they use the same methods provided by Premier Education Group (aka WWASP). And, on the affiliated program sites, they list all of the WWASP family of programs. I apologize for the error. Thank you. | | | Post Reply | Display replies to this message
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Name: | Angela
([email protected])
| | Date: | 11/30/2006 8:00:56 PM | | Subject: | Midwest Academy is a WWASP program! | | | Dear Nancy,
Thank you for posting to HEAL's message board. According to the information available online, Spring Creek Lodge is still affiliated with WWASP. See http://www.vpp.com/teenhelp/midwestacademy.html. Also, on their own website at http://www.midwestacademy.net/ they claim to use Premier Seminars, the Premier Education Group (aka WWASP) program seminars. I am concerned that you have been manipulated and lied to.
HEAL is a nonprofit organization working to expose the rampant abuse in the teen help industry and to protect children and families. The residential treatment and wilderness "therapy" programs have been denounced by the National Institute of Health as being harmful to children and families as well as ineffective in dealing with teen problems. There are multiple resources that expose the fraud and abuse of this industry. Some authors to check out are Dr. Peter Breggin, Alexia Parks, and Maia Szalavitz. Dr. Peter Breggin is author of mutiple books regarding appropriate treatment for teens (see Reclaiming Our Children by Dr. Peter Breggin). Alexia Parks authored "An American Gulag" exposing the "teen help" industry and Maia Szalavitz has written two great books exposing the fraud and abuse inherent in this industry, "Tough Love America" and "Help at Any Cost".
We suggest parents do not remove their children from their home environment unless they pose an immediate threat to themselves or others. Leading expert in adolescent psychology and part of the Department of Psychology at the University of California--Berkeley, Dr. Margaret Singer, has spoken out against these programs in great detail saying that they make a child's worst nightmare of abandonment come true and that the people who run these programs are slick businessmen with no training or expertise in helping teens appropriately. Maia Szalavitz, author of "Tough Love America", cites the National Institute of Health studies on these programs that have determined that they are harmful and not helpful to teens or their families. Szalavitz also stated on the Jan. 18th, 2005 episode of Montel Williams that even when children/teens pose an immediate threat to themselves or others that at most a short stay (1-4 weeks) in a local psychiatric hospital to deescalate the situation is what is needed followed by intensive out-patient family counseling.
The "schools" listed on our site are either suspectedly or confirmedly abusive. We recommend no one send children to a facility that matches any of the criteria on our warning signs list at www.heal-online.org/warn.htm (see also www.isaccorp.org) . We have successfully exposed the abuses at Bethel Boys Academy, Bethel Girls Academy (now closed), CEDU Family of Programs (all programs now closed), Mountain Park Boarding Academy (now closed), and many others. We had proof of abuse at CEDU programs up over 5 years ago and they were just closed down on Friday, 3/25/05. The system sometimes takes too long to catch up with justice and truth. That's why we exist. We exist to warn and protect families from abusive behavior modification programs.
You should also be aware that none of these programs are regulated by any outside agency. Child Protective Services, Law Enforcement, and Social Services do not inspect these programs. Right now, there is a bill in congress, HR 1738, entitled the "End Institutionalized Abuse of Children Act". The abuse of children in these programs is so common that Congress is making it a Federal Case. The bill has a way to go before it reaches the floor for a vote. And, in the meantime, risking any child's safety in any program is not recommended. You should also be aware that Educational Consultants and other professionals often receive a 10% commission on any children they successfully refer to/enroll in a program. If the contract with the program is for a minimum of a year at a cost of $24-60,000 than the referring party receives 10% of that. Participants/parents are often brainwashed in parent seminars and are also often given the incentive of a free month of the program for every parent they convince to enroll their child. They are not exactly objective references.
The U.S. State Department has put out a warning regarding sending American children to ANY foreign country for treatment. You may read the warning at: http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/brochures/brochures_1220.html. The original warning at this site was more explicit, it has been toned down mainly because the current administration is controlled and/or funded in large part by the industry. Please do not send any child to any program outside of the U.S.
We also advise that you do not subject any child to any residential treatment program, wilderness camp, or boot camp. These programs are harmful and ineffective. A business license is easy to obtain and does not insure your child is getting proper treatment. The alternative is to keep her at home and get family counseling.
We suggest you immediately rescue your son from Midwest Academy. Should you then decide to go against our advice and subject a child to a behavior modification program, we ask that you choose one that is within a convenient driving distance for you that you can and will monitor on at least a weekly basis to insure his/her safety. There is no guarantee that a child will be safe in any program. The best you can do, if you choose to send him/her away, is to monitor his/her treatment in person weekly as a safeguard against abuse. Other parents who have chosen to send their children into harm's way and have monitored the program in person have reported that while their children witnessed abuse (which is traumatic in itself), they didn't suffer physical abuse as a result of their parents' vigilance.
I hope you find this information useful. Should you have any follow-up questions, please don't hesitate to contact us again.
Sincerely,
Angela S.
HEAL Coordinator | | | Post Reply | | |
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