Mr. Giffin at Midwest Academy
I spent 6 months at Midwest Academy and I can honestly say it was the worst experience of my life.
The staff controls the kids through fear, abuse, and neglect. The staff are not qualified in any way to be "teaching" the children. They are simply locals who have no other options for employment. Their so called "teachings" are simply this; no food if you break a rule, a 9x9 white concrete cell with cameras that the child must spend 48 hrs in whenever the deem necessary, so called group therapy where the unqualified "dorm parent" gets to yell and verbally abuse the child until the break. There are many more wonderful attributes this place possesses.
They also like to threaten the kids with Tranquility Bay which is in Jamaica and is one of their sister organizations. I suggest if you have not heard about this place look it up. Midwest is not a good place. Don't be fooled by the website or the tour around their "campus" because when potential new parents cone through on the tour they warn the kids to smile and look happy or they will be severely punished.
If you do not believe any of my testimony I assure you that your child will be physically and emotionally scarred if and when they make it out of there. There are better ways to deal with so called "troubled youth". MIDWEST ACADEMY is not the answer I promise you
Mr. Savard at Casa by the Sea and Midwest Academy
I was there for 21 months and am very dissatisfied with my expirence...it was the most terrible thing that has ever happened to me.
I spent 3 months at Casa by the Sea, a boarding school that was run by the same people, WWASP. That was in MEXICO and it got shut down because they were running things illegaly and I wouldnt doubt that this place has its faults like Casa did. In fact I can easily say it destroyed my teenage life and left me wondering how to be normal for quite some time.
I have just recently started to piece together my life almost 6 years later. Im now 22 and have hate that the time I spent there having not helped me at all, for long periods of time I was ignored and emotionally abused, and by the brainwashing seminars that they hold at WWASP facilites are unreal...
I am begging any parents that have thoughts of sending their children to these types of places to please re-evaulate what it is that their child/teen needs and to handle it in a much healthier way for them and their family. Nothing good will come of sending your youth to this program...I promise.
Carpe Omnia at Midwest Academy
I spent 15 months at Midwest Academy. It was overall a terrible experience. I usually tell people I spent 15 months in juvenile detention because that's really what it is. I know MWA can be used as an alternative to jail time. It was a really crazy place and they did care a lot about money.
I missed out on a lot of my life but it made me who I am today. I definitely became a stronger person after going through that experience. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone though. Overall it was just a very abusive and controlling place.
Sources:
- Mr. Giffins testimony (Google Plus)
- Mr. Savards testimony (Google Plus)
- Mr. Omnias testimony (Google Plus)
- Factsheet about Midwest Academy (Fornits Wiki)
- Factsheet about Casa by the Sea (Fornits Wiki)
I was at Midwest Academy from June 16, 2004 till December 19, 2004. I was 16 when I was sent there and turned 17 while inside. For my 17th birthday I received a tube of toothpaste and a roll of some nice toilet paper which I ended up getting a consequence for a week later even though it had been approved by my family rep. Mr. Eric S. Now at the age of 26 I've served in the United states Army as a 68W Health care specialist aka combat medic. I've buried my parents, grand parent and a close friend. I'm an artist now. I was a troubled youth although I never got in trouble with the law. My mother died when I was 8 years old and I made many bad decisions after that. Midwest Academy did nothing to help me. They did help my depression go deeper by making sure I knew I was a piece of trash. I was forced to eat my own throw up when I was ill and couldn't finish 80% of each portion of food on my trey. Mr. Jake was the staff member. A former graduate of the facility. He liked to make life the worst because he went through worse when he was at "casa by the sea" in mexico which was closed down. While I was there I had no mental health help. My letters outgoing and incoming were read and censored. There was no looking out windows due to accusations of "Run Plans". 10 kids attempted to escape one night. The next week an electric wire was installed on top of the fence. No interaction with the opposite sex. I mean zero interaction except for during seminars (I graduated through the first 3 past discovery), if the girls were around we were forced to turn our heads and close our eyes. None of the staff had backgrounds to help troubled teens. Mr. Doug and Mr. Bob were cool. They let me know I was still human. Mr. Bob quite or was fired 4 months into my stay unfortunately. Ultimately Midwest Academy made me a worse person. I just got better at Manipulating while i was there. My depression worsened due to no contact with family except for censored letters and no mental help. In fact you could say that place was mentally damaging and I've been through Military bootcamp equal to Paris Island which was a billion times better. I still have all the letters also. Midwest Academy was no different than a county jail except it was 3 grand amonth. I don't know if they've changed at all. I prey they have for the sake of the kids there now. It has been close to 10 years. I got my act together in March 2007 at Ft. Benning Georgia. I sought out help for my issues through a licensed therapist. Some kids need help. Help and guidance not to make stupid mistakes that can destroy their lives and their families but Midwest only works on roughly 15%. Look into Military Schools. Look into rehabs. Look into theropy. Be straight forward with your children tell them you love them and the decisions they're making are worrying you. The Midwest Academy I remember was the Hell on earth and what does hell create? Demons and Monsters. almost anything you do will be a wiser decision than sending a loved child to that institution. Parents that praise the place are fools. Teenagers rebel. Teenagers get into arguments with there parents. That's just a stage of growing up. The kids that are doing good now aren't doing good because of Midwest Academy, They're doing good because there smart people who just needed to grow up and get a view of the big picture. Well I hope this helps. Sincerely, Michael B. NICKNAMED by Max in Honor family(before it was against the rules), Baka
ReplyDeleteMy name is Grace and I was at Midwest Academy for 14 months. I have been out for almost a year now, and I am traumatized from my experience. I honestly don't even want to go into it because it's too emotional for me, but if anyone needs to talk about their experience please feel free to email me at gracieoriordan@gmail.com thanks
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