Archive | February 2013
27/02/2013  

60. The Cascade School

The Cascade School was founded in 1984 by a person who had worked for CEDU. The school was located in a remote location outside Whitmore in California. The curriculum was very much the same used at CEDU. He ran out of money so the school closed in 2003 The campus was turned over to other programs. Lately one of the counselors of a program which occupies the campus left her baby to die. I think that there is a trial going on about it somewhere.

But back then it was not a picnic for the teenagers to be there. If they had the chance they would have run. It doesn’t sound like a fun place for at teenager.

Sources:

Update 2021

The Cascade school project has the goal to bring old friends back together again and document the past so other do not have to end up at survivors as the former students became.

Source:

23/02/2013  

59. Camp O’Neal

3 boys died, several teachers and rescuers died. Like the Danish boarding school over on the “Devil’s Island” the managers of Camp O’Neal liked outdoor activities during the winter. Unlike the rescue of the Danish student which involved all helicopters owned by the Danish defense and all hospitals in that part of my country, the accident in California ended in death of no less than 3 students.

I found a youtube video which you can watch here. It promotes a book about the tragedy.

The owner was fined and banned from ever running a program like this in California. This prevented her not from opening a new program in another state.

Unfair? Yes.

It couldn’t have been fun to be at this program for a teenager.

Sources:

21/02/2013  

58. CEDU

A member of the now closed cult Synanon decided to create a boarding school including elements of the teaching from the Synanon cult which opened around 1967

The first school was located in California and they expanded to Idaho around 1982. While the schools closed in 2005 when the lawsuits began in pile up, their legacy had a profound impact on the entire private teenage detention industry who were able to detain a lot of teenagers under the pretext of treatment.

The schools and programs listed as part of the CEDU chain were:

  • CEDU High School (Located in Running Springs – California, founded 1967, closed 2005 – purchased by Bnei Akiva of Los Angeles)
  • Rocky Mountain Academy (Bonner’s Ferry – Idaho, founded 1982, closed 2005 – purchased by Universal Health Services)
  • Hilltop for Young Adults (Located in Running Springs – California, founded 1984, status unknown)
  • CEDU Middle School (Located in Running Springs – California, founded 1992, closed 2005 – purchased by Bnei Akiva of Los Angeles)
  • Ascent Wilderness Program (Naples – Idaho, founded 1992, closed 2005 – purchased by Universal Health Services)
  • Boulder Creek Academy (Bonner’s Ferry – Idaho, founded 1993, closed 2005 – purchased by Universal Health Services)
  • Northwest Academy (Naples – Idaho, founded 1994, closed 2005 – purchased by Universal Health Services)
  • Milestones Transitional Program (Founded 1999, status unknown)

Over the years the school made transitions and were developed to make the look more conventional. In the start medicating the students were not allowed but in order to be able to cure basically everything to attract more clients, the teenagers were allowed to take medication in the later years and some medical staff was hired.

The concept of using attack therapy was always a part of CEDU. The methods developed at Synanon were never abandoned. Also the process of “smushing” where both teenagers and teachers were forced to lie close together after the therapy stayed as a part of the curriculum. Some students felt violated just as much as the attack therapy violated them. Some felt that the touching became focused on something sexual.

A suicide took place in 1994. A boy hanged himself in one of the dormitories.

There was no supervision with the employees so at one point a murderer had access to the campus. 3 boys disappeared and has never been found.

So much more could be told about CEDU. I lack words. It was not a fun place to be a teenager.

Sources:

Articles and datasheets

Message boards:

19/02/2013  

57. Blue Mountain Wilderness Program

In a world where teenagers die every year in wilderness programs, it is not hard to imagine that several states demand that such programs are licensed.

Blue Mountain Wilderness Program tried to operate but didn’t get the license. It doesn’t really matter. It does not sound like fun being shipped to this program.

According to various sources the program closed in 2005

Sources:

18/02/2013  

56. Bell Academy

They try, try and try yet another time

There are people out there who want to lock all teenagers up. One of those persons are a Jade Robinson. First we worked at Casa by the Sea in Mexico. The government closed the school down. Then he tried with Bell Academy which are the focus of this entry. It didn’t work. He moved to Nevada building a boarding school in Death Valley. He ran out of water for the school. He was also in La Verkin, Utah running a boarding school with metal bars for the windows.

Bell Academy did not exist for long. The authorities demanded some supervision and he risked being fined if he didn’t comply. So he closed the school and moved on.

However being forced to live there during the months the school was in operation does not sound like fun for a teenager.

Sources:

14/02/2013  

55. About Face Boot Camp

This private-run boot camp was used as entertainment related to the Jenny Jones show.

It is quite odd that there are people out there who believes that there is something called emotional growth. People are born and raised on basis of their social heritage. Teenagers do just have to be given time so they can figure out what line of business they will work in when they grow up.

Here is a boot camp where the teenagers are forced to run, they receive hair-cuts robbing them of their identity. It is evil.

The authorities also intervened as he in their opinion ran an unlicensed group home.

It is not a fun place for a teenager.

Sources:

10/02/2013  

54. 180 Recon

Helping our Youth Give Their Lives A 180° Turn do they promise on their homepage.

According to a case where a mother sues the company running the program the 180° turn can be damaging to the child. When you push teenagers out of their comfort zone so they can expand their world, there are many examples all over the world proving that it can endanger the teenager. We just had such a care where students from a boarding school were forced to sail out in a dragon boat. They capcized and many of the teenagers suffer living in and out of hospitals.

When the boy returned home from the program the boy was in a weakened state and was still urinating blood.

The case has not been settled to my knownledge yet, but it does not sound like a fun place to be as a teenager.

Sources:

08/02/2013  

53. Guangxi Qihang Survival Training Camp

Yet another camp, yet another attempt to cure the so-called Internet Addiction Discorder, Yet another death.

Guangxi Qihang Survival Training Camp was nothing special compared to other camps claiming to be able to cure the so-called illness.

And as it is the case this was also a place where a teenager lost his life. Deng Senshan was only 16 years old when they killed him off.

It does not sound like a fun place for a teenager.

06/02/2013  

52. Chinese Anti-traditional Education Training Center

Chinese Anti-traditional Education Training Center was marketed as a cure for the funny “decease” called Internet Addiction Disorder. Of course there is no such decease. It is only something which was been invented so some guys can earn money.

The place was shut down by the authorities, but not before a stay left the only 14 year old known as Liang Liang in critical condition.

It does not sound like a fund place to be as a teenager.

Sources: