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I think its time for me to jump in here, as I graduated Discovery Academy in 2005. All the staff their thought I was trustworthy, believed in the program, and was 'cured' from depression, which in of itself is a dubious claim. None of that is true of course.
Side Note: The Facility is ran by a Brent R. Hall, and is owned by the ASCENT CORPORTATION which also owns 'RED-CLIFF ASCENT' wilderness program.
I have recently learned that i am a manic-depressive, and I do have a better hold on it now, almost three years later.
I truly hate that place, I faked my recovery from depression. They tried to slow down the rate at which I blowing through their school curriculum. They initially made it so that I had to get a 96% to pass a test or I had to retake it. I will personally testify, in court if need be, that they are actively defrauding the accrediation system. but enough about that.
I graduated as a level 4, the highest 'level', which is a measure of trust, in their 'program' their was only one other 'level 4' after I and a few others, graduated. So I have been Through the program, faked it, and know its ins and outs. Not only that, but because of my level, I was privy to information, discussions, and general musings of some of the staff.
I am a highly intelligent individual, no boasting; IQ, memory, psyche, and standard tests continually back that up. Some of the more intelligent staff, being a majority college students, were eager to engage me in conversation. I learned a lot.
Below is part of an e-mail i sent to someone in regards to their son's plight at discovery academy. I tried to make it as factual as possible. And include much about the inner workings as possible.
Well, I can tell you that it won't actually help the kid if he has actual problems. Most of the kids their when I was their were kids with drug problems or problems with the law. Its essentially a lockdown school, cant leave campus by yourself, alarms on all the doors, daily chores, it a like a step up from a military school. The environment their is controlled by 'therapists' and two people in charge of the boys and girls divisions respectively, Alan is the guys, guys and girls cannot normally interact at the school. You get punished with 'reflection points' which are similer to demerits. A reflection point is an hour of work. kissing a girl is 75 reflection points for example. Running away is 150. Saying a racial slur is 10. Cursing is one.
I particularly found the place unhelpful, and sometimes hostile. The staff is mainly college students. The therapists see students once a week for an hour, some even less than that. There are strong religious (mormon) overtones, all community service benefits the LDS in some way or form. All media, books and tv is regulated, cd players and mp3 players are not allowed, though students can own a radio. You cannot send letters without permission of a therapist, nor call anyone. They reccomend everyone stay their a year or more, it is not a non-profit organization as far as I can tell. While I was there (9 months) I saw three students return with more severe drug problems.
Failing to Follow the rules results in PHYSICAL RESTRAINT
The school there is all self taught they have four teachers a day for the whole school and everyone works independently. Thus students who are depressed about being there or are not good self-teachers tend to fall behind.
I personally graduated from there with a full highschool diploma and completeion of 'the program'. To complete the program you must show yourself progressing in 'therapy' and trustworthy and hardworking their are 12 'levels' representing level of trust and responsibility, level changes happen every two weeks or 4 weeks I cannot remember, and rarely do students progress that fast.
Perhaps I should mention that I absolutly hate discovery academy. If your kid has actual problems their are better places to send him, if he doesn't, the therapists will make one up.
The people who run the place are unreasonable, they are for the most part fundamentalists, and you will hear such rehtoric and beleifs coming from their mouths often.
I have considered filing legal action against them, but I really do not have the time, with college, and the money, being that I am in college.
If he is a good kid, he should not be there, end of story. If you are looking for a legal challenge, perhaps you take up the actual existence of these schools. Think about this for a second.
If you lock your kid up and never let him go out into the world, social services will come after you. If you physically restrain your child from leaving the house to go outside and play, Social Services will come after you.
Judicial Oversight needs to be in place to represent a neutral third party in determining whether it is proper to send a child to one of these places.
Sources:
- Discovery Ranch (The original testimony on the Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora)
- Factsheet about the facility (Fornits Wiki)
I also attended Discovery Academy from December 1999 to January 2000. I am now 32 and the memories from this place still haunt me. DA had a practice of locking children in an isolated unit for weeks at a time, refusing to turn the lights off. I was deprived of sleep and food when I disagreed with their rules. The staff that runs this place are in their early 20's and they are as mature as the students that are forced to go there.
ReplyDeleteThe staff encouraged bullying, and fights were a daily occurrence. One staff member, Dan even encouraged students to fight in the large classroom after the teachers had left for the evening. I also saw a male student get raped by 2 other students. A few female students claimed that they were raped by the counsellors, and I completely believe these allegations.
I watched a 14 year old girl get injected by a drug that made her pass out, after that 2 male counsellors brought her into the isolation unit. A few days later, she claimed she was raped and they left her in this unit for a few more weeks before she was transferred to another program.
This school controls how long you are forced to stay by limiting the amount of classes you can take, I was actually punished for studying. If you completed too many units in a week, you would be forced to stand in front of a wall for days or weeks at a time. I actually spent my Easter weekend starring at a wall for studying too much, I still have back issues from this today.
There was also a counsellor that provided the students with ecstasy on more than one occassion, he also provided students with alcohol. I left this place with more issues than I came with. A staff member was convicted of raping a student who was 16 at the time. You can find this conviction online if you search for, "Orem resident arrested for attempted rape of a 16 year old". This place abused children, and then dismissed the claims as displaced anger.
I was personally jumped by 4 students when I first attended the school, I was beaten and the counsellors just watched and laughed. Another student was beaten so severely that he suffered permanent brain damage and talked with a slur for the remainder of the time that I attended. Of course the staff did their best to dismiss this as "boys will be boys" his parents obviously didn't want anything to do with him, very sad.
I learned very quickly that I would have to literally fight every single day to survive this place. I was sent here because my parents did not want to take responsibility for raising their own child. Sure I skipped class a few times and I smoked weed here and there, when I left I couldn't relate to people, and within 2 years of leaving I was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Prior to going to this school I had never been in a fight in my life, by the time I left, at least 50. I started communicating with words and used my fists instead, sadly as aforementioned, this was encouraged by the staff.
The children here would routine play a game of passing each-other out at night. I saw one kid convulse for almost 5 minutes. I am certain that these activities kill more brain cells than your kid smoking weed with his friends on the weekends.
Don't be a fool, if you send your child here, they will come home with more issues than they were sent there with. I have been in contact with a handful of the students I went here with, and they all have the same issues I have or have had. Many of them ended up in jail or worse.
These years are the most important years of your child's life in terms of mental development. Do you want your children raised by 21 year olds? Wake up people, don't convince yourself that you are doing the right thing, be a parent, that is what your child needs right now.