Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. ... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. C. S. Lewis
Imagine you are hog-tied and placed in a body bag or wooden cagewrap mat. You have already been drugged and subjected to brainwashing, sensory deprivation, hypnosis and electric shock treatment. You are forced to eat your own vomit, or, in the alternative, you are starved and dehydrated. A sandbag is placed around your neck as a cure for your dehydration. Some of your companions have died from these practices and you know you could be pushing daisies soon. Thinking of human beings going through this treatment makes a person want to tell George W. Bush off about Iraq and his torture camps. If, this very minute, Bush stopped all the mistreatment of the foreign detainees and all the renditions, it would have no effect upon the abuses mentioned above. They could continue and more would die. Why? As this is being read, these abuses continue to be committed against teenagers in the United States of America in what have become known as Gulag Schools, also called military boot camps, behavior modification schools, Christian military schools or "boarding schools."
What happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Where is the freedom in being sent to a behavior modification facility for failing to follow the social norms?
There are two standards. There is one standard for those above 18 and another for those under 18. Torture is bad, as long as the recipient is over 18. If the individual is below 18, torture and abuse are justified as long as it is done by some type of school or facility. This is why young people have no political rights. If they did, Gulag Schools wouldn't exist. If anyone cared about the young, they would have a chance to vote before they died in Iraq for a war older Americans created. If the youth had rights, they would not be dragged across a street for holding a sign, off school property, that contained the joke, "Bong Hits for Jesus." At the 2007 California State Bar Convention, Kenneth Starr stated that the ultimate Supreme Court decision in the Frederick v. Morris case turned on sympathy for the principal, Deborah Morris, who dragged student Joseph Frederick across the street and suspended him for his harmless joke sign. She couldn't really have believed he planned to track Jesus down and give him a bong pipe. Nobody would suggest dragging the Deborah Morrises of the world off to Gulag Schools. Gulags are reserved for secondary and elementary school students. You don't torture adults in the United States of America.
Gulag Schools have been called the second fastest growth industry next to the building of prisons. This is a $1.2 billion unregulated industry that serves 10,000 to 20,000 children and adolescents annually. What makes them different from prisons is that they are filled with rich white kids and are given nice nicknames, such as "boarding schools." The general rule is that the more money the parents have, the worse the abuse. Based on referrals from friends or "experts," parents blindly place their kids into these schools in the hopes that their kids will emerge as solid, respectable citizens. The parents generally have no idea that they just turned their kids over to modern day versions of Josef Mengele.
Across America, teenagers are dying in Gulag Schools. The Democratic Party has sometimes taken stances against the mistreatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Why are Iraqis more worthy of freedom and rights than American teenagers? Torture is torture. Torture looks and feels the same, whether it is happening in America or Iraq. Why is torture more acceptable to government leaders, American political leaders and activists if the victim is an American teenager with no rights than if the victim is an adult who has never stepped foot on American soil? Why are torturers in this country trusted to know what is best for a child? Why haven't both major parties adopted resolutions condemning this practice? Why hasn't there been legislation? Why aren't the human rights of young Americans being enforced?
Under Hope v. Pelzer, 122 S. Ct. 2508, 2514, 2518 (2002), the use of restraints without penological justification is cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, since some feel the 8th Amendment of the Constitution does not apply to those under 18, use of these restraints hasn't stopped in Gulag Schools. Hundreds of children and people have died from restraints. In fact, use of restraints is a common practice in these schools, where the goal is to turn kids into well-behaving future adults, or at least that's what they claim. In Texas, 17-year-old Chase Moody chest-down, pinned to the ground by three camp counselors, died from choking on his own vomit. At schools in Mississippi, students,ages 10 to 18 have been routinely hit, shackle to polls, sprayed with Pepper spray while in restraints, and hog-tied in cells known as "dark rooms." These are just a few of the thousands of examples of a nationwide problem. Schools that engage in such practices rarely close down. When they do, they generally reopen under another name and continue their practices.
One common practice involves stripping girls and placing them in a "dark room" for acting out. The "dark room" contains nothing but a drain on the floor for use as a toilet. If they object, they are sprayed in the face with pepper spray. Sometimes, girls are hog-tied and left in bare cells for more than a week at a time. One girl was left in a bare cell for 114. days. Some schools believe in making sure the kids do their daily exercises. One boy was sprayed with pepper spray for failing to do exercises. After being sprayed, he was forced to do 100 squat thrusts, 100 push ups, and 100 jumping jacks. In some instances, girls are forced to eat their own vomit if they throw-up while exercising in the hot sun.
Representative George Miller had the courage to hold a hearing on the issue. Miller had the strength of character to use the word "torture" to refer to practices occurring at these facilities. Congressman Howard McKeon, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Education and Labor, pointed out, "...if a parent just were reported abusing the child, the child would be taken away and the parents would go to jail." George Miller spoke of the need for official action. So far, no action has been taken on the information acquired in the hearing. The hearing can be viewed at http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/fc101007.shtml.
Among the youth, teens and younger, who have died at Gulag Schools are Lorenzo Johnson, Tammy Edmiston, Carlos Ruiz, Mario Cano, John Vincent Garrison, Bernard Reefer, Robert Zimmerman, Charles Lucas, James Lamb, Leon Anger, Leroy Prinkley, Joshua Ferarini, Wauketta Wallace, Roxanna Gray, Danny Lewis, Diane Harris, Michelle Lynn Sutton, Kristen Chase, John Vincent Garrison, Anthony Green, Geoffrey Alan Vorhies, Paul Choy, Christy Scheck, Dawn Renay Perry, Jason Tallman, Casey Collier, Aaron Wright Bacon, Thomas Mapes, Jamar Griffiths, Shinaul McGraw, Lorenzo Johnson, Carlos Ruiz, Jonathon Avila, Jeffrey Bogrett, Earl Smith, Dawnne Takeuchi, Eric Roberts, Will Futrelle, Bobby Sue Thomas, Eric David Schibley, Rochelle Clayborne, Melissa Neyman, Jimmy Kanda, Chris Campbell, Robert Rollins, Sakena Dorsey, Jeffrey Demetrius, Kelly Young, Dustin E. Phelps, Laura Hanson,Mark Draheim, Nicholas Contreras, Matt Tappi, Chris Brown, Ashley Shaddox, Andrew McClain, Tristan Sovern, Mark Soares, Edith Campos, Chad Andrew Franza, Kristel Mayon-Ceniceros, Jerry McLaurin, Joshua Sharpe, Michael Ibarra-Witsie, Sabrina E. Day, Randy Steele, Wilie Wright, Candace Newmaker, William "Eddie" Lee" , Diane Pickens, Tanner Wilson, Stephanie Duffield, Ryan Lewis, Angela Miller, Robert Doyle Erwin, Lyle Foodroy, Valerie Ann Heron, Aaron Albert Grey, Katherine Lank, LaTasha Bush, Matthew Goodman, Erica Harvey, Ian August, Isiah Simmons, Anthony Haynes, Charles "Chase" Moody, Jarnal Odum, Orlena Parker, Carey Baines, Daniel "Danny" Jack Matthews, Omar Paisley, Maria Mendoza, Karlye Newman, Roberto Reyes, Garrett Halsey, Travis Parker, Linda Harris, Shirley Arciszewski, Kathy Warner, Willie Durden, Christening "Mikie" Garcia, James White, Martin Lee Anderson, Joey (Giovanni) Alteriz, Angela Arndt, Lenny Ortega, Natalynndria Lucy Slim, Dillon Peak, Elisa Santry, Rocco D. Magliozzi, Alex Cllinane, Caleb Jensen, and Brendan James Blum. You can see pictures of some of these kids at http://www.teenadvocatesusa.homestead.com/INMEMORIAM.html.
The Democratic and Republican Parties have failed to protect these and other young Americans who have died as a result of the paternalistic approach American society has regarding youth rights. Nothing will bring back those who have died. Nothing will undo the damage done by those society has trusted to take care of the youth. Could those who died have done any worse a job of taking care of themselves?
What does this say about our society, its beliefs about youth and its insistence on preventing those without rights from protecting themselves? What does this say about a political system in which youth have no rights - except the right to be mistreated, tortured and killed? Will we sit back, oblivious to the children who are being tortured and killed in our country, or will we act by closing these schools and declaring that that all humans of all ages are entitled to human rights and equal protection of the laws?
Those, wishing to do something about these abuses help to bring about change, have the power to act.. They can call their legislators and demand action. They can get organizations to which they belong to adopt resolutions and demand actions from legislators. They can join or contribute to organizations, like the National Youth Rights Assoc iation, that are working to end age-related discrimination. When someone above 18 speaks of inferior minds and the need to protect children from themselves, they can stand up and say, "enough."
Natasha is the President of the Orange County Chapter of the National Youth Rights Association and the youth chairman of the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America. She is also an actress, writer, dancer, singer and choreographer.
And I would recommend to sell this story and other stories like this to the foreign English - language newspapers. The Guardian comes to mind. Contact Greg Palast and Mike Moore. You are not alone.
by
Mark Sashine (50 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3453 comments)
on Sunday, November 18, 2007 at 4:33:01 PM
Unfortunately, too many people do not believe they have the power to act, or, if they do act, there will be some sort of negative consequences tied to their speaking out. This insidious self-censorship contaminates our news departments, infests our schools and universities, and is so entrenched inside the minds of everyday Jane and Joe, that millions act as if the RFID mindcontrol dumb drop is already implanted inside their heads. The monster under the bed is growing bigger by the hour, unfortunately, Daddy is too afraid to come in and kick his ass.
by
M. Davis (43 articles, 2 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 152 comments)
on Sunday, November 18, 2007 at 7:58:48 PM
Candace Newmaker, 10, did not die in a "Gulag School."
Candace was tortured and killed by two "Attachment Therapists" and two "therapeutic parents" in one of the therapist's home/office. Candace's adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker, a pediatric nurse in North Carolina, brought Candace to Evergreen, Colorado, for a "two-week intensive" where the child endured Holding Therapy, Compression Therapy, compliance training, and finally a "Rebirthing" session (all videotaped). It was in the Rebirthing that Candace was slowly and hideously asphixiated under a mountain of sheet, cushions, and four adult bodies pushing on her. She begged for help and was heard vomiting while her mother sat a foot away from her head. In trying to escape, she kicked a foot-long rip in a new flannel sheet with her bare feet.
A clip demonstrating Attachment Therapy is now on YouTube. (The "therapist" in this clip was a business partner of Connell Watkins, Candace's Attachment Therapist who now is serving a 16-year prison sentence.): http://youtube.com/watch?v=i5qZrVzqGO8&mode=related&search=
The book "Attachment Therapy on Trial" by Jean Mercer, Larry Sarner and myself, explains the bizarre mindset of the therapists that led to Candace's death, and why Attachment Therapy -- an unvalidated and abusive pop psychotherapy inflicted on foster and adopted children -- is the most monstrous quackery to be found in the USA today.
Attachment Therapists claim their methods create a loving relationship between parent and child, but the real goal appears to be the creation of unquestioningly obedient children. Much of Attachment Therapy is still paid for with "special needs" adoption/foster funds from government sources.
This falls within the designation of Gulag school. Most researchers are using the definition broadly enough to include the short term intensive behavioral programs and the long term programs.
Is someone going to bring an action to close down these places?
by
Gary (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 11:29:24 PM
This falls within the designation of Gulag school. Most researchers are using the definition broadly enough to include the short term intensive behavioral programs and the long term programs.
Is someone going to bring an action to close down these places?
by
Gary (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 11:29:43 PM
An issue that needs far more attention and less support
Good article, the previous comment notwithstanding.
It is long past time that adults started taking our children, our future, seriously and stopped treating them as subhuman, inferior idiots who magically attain intelligence, sophistication and mature behavior at 18 or 21 or whatever that arbitrary number is.
Anyone who thinks otherwise should be required to pay off that part of the national debt ($8 trillion and climbing) that our children will have to address because we couldn't.
by
Mark Hull-Richter (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 11:28:38 AM
These Gulag schools, compliance camps, boarding schools, behavioral centers or whatever the owners choose to call them must be closed down before more kids die.
The two-week intensive compliance camp in which Candace Newmaker was killed is a good example of the kind of place that Natasha's article addresses. The various Gulag schools use different, potentially lethal, techniques and some hang onto the kids longer than others, but they trick the patients into trusting them to turn their acting out or problem kids into normal human beings. There is no normal. They suppress individuality and allow the kid to die if he/she doesn't comply. Most of the time, the parents aren't present when the kids die. In Candace's case, the parent was present but trusting of the so-called expert.
Imagine if they tried these techniques on those over 18. Society wouldn't stand for it.
by
Zan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 13 comments)
on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 7:30:11 PM
7 comments
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