My son was at Anchor a couple of years ago. I agree with yall, something definitely needs to be done. Here is a post that I put on another page. This is how I feel and a little bit about our story:
The people that have never had any dealings with Anchor really don't know what goes on there. We sent our son there 2 years ago. When we went to check out the program, we felt like it was a great place. The boys seemed well mannered. We were told what we wanted to hear. We thought it would be great place for our son because he had problems with defiance. He wasn't a REBEL but he was an ADHD child that needed some direction. We are a Christian family and our children have been brought up in a Christian home and church.
We took money out of my husbands retirement to send him there. This was the biggest mistake of our lives. There IS abuse there. I don't care what a child has done, YOU DO NOT TIE THEM UP!!!!! There are other options!!!!
We were told there would be counseling in which there was not. For breakfast they ate Raw oats and milk. For 3 1/2 months of the 4 months that my child was there he had Mostly Peanut butter and water for meals. We paid them thousands of dollars and my child ate raw oats and peanut butter sandwiches. These are children not criminals. Number one, you do not allow children to totally be over another child. They are Children. My son could not speak, address or even look at the other kids for four months. In prison, at least you can carry on a conversation with people. They allow the guides and leaders; in which are children;to be responsible for the discipline of the other children. The adults allow the guides and leaders man handle the kids that are under them. They give way too much control to the kids that have learned how to play the system. MY son was pulled off the commode while having a bowel movement because he took more that 3 minutes. So again we gave them thousands of dollars to allow other children to do their job. There are way too many kids and not near enough staff. If you have a kid with adhd then you know how easily distracted they can be. This does not make him a REBEL. So naturally his complaints piled up especially when the complaints were given to him by the kids the were "IN CHARGE".
The exercise was way to intense. They made them exercise around the clock. They wouldn't allow them to drink enough water during the exercises. Im a nurse and from what I have been taught, Peanut butter sandwiches and water, raw oats and milk is NOT enough food for that amount of exercise. When my son came home he did not have an ounce of fat on him. In fact he was malnourished. Im sorry; That is ABUSE. There are plenty of programs out there that can get across to these kids. The Punishment should fit the crime. And it doesn't there. In fact when we went for our visit and we asked for a meeting with BRo. Dennis because we thought there was a problem maybe with his guide, we were told that were undermining his authority and he didn't know if he wanted our son to stay because of it. During our meeting Bro Dennis blasted me because I was asking all the questions. I was told our child was just a REBEL. My child is not a REBEL!! In fact to this day my child still has nightmares about that place. In fact, He would cry if you even discussed Anchor with him. They did teach the Bible but in my opinion they hide behind the Bible. They also make these kids work long hours at the cotton mill and are not paid for it. Sounds like a child labor issue to me. If my child is such a rebel why is he done with high school and in college at 16 years old. No thanks to Anchor. If you went to Anchor and had a good experience; thats great. Not everyone did!! You cant let children have that much control over other children.
By the way we pulled our son 4 months into the program. Praise God, we got him out of there. Yes my son had problems, but no one deserves to be treated like that. Like I said the punishment should fit the crime. No matter what a kid does, you don't tie them up, You don't pull someone off the commode while trying to use the restroom, You don't allow other kids to control there every move. You don't allow kids to manhandle other kids because you cant. They even made my son do so much exercise It caused a testicular hernia. You also should make sure these kids are getting enough food to justify the exercise. By the way Bro Dennis did verify all of things were told to be correct. Funny how he didn't tell us everything when he first met him. We were told they had no connection to Roloff homes in TX. If this is true why did they go to Corpus Christi for Founders day while my son was there.
My son is at Youth Challenge Academy now. He make platoon leader and squad leader right off. He has not gotten the first citation against him the entire time he has been there. No we didn't send him there because he was defiant or a REBEL. He wen't to finish high school and start college early. The staff loves him. They have nothing but great things to say about him. There are children there that are defiant and rebellous. If they can get to these kids without the extremes that Anchor uses, Anchor could do the same. I don't see ycp tying kids up. They get plenty to eat. They receive real counseling every day. They make sure they have plenty of water. The kids aren't touched by staff or other children. There is an adult with them at all times. The do exercise but in moderation. The punishment fits the crime. By the way, when we withdrew our son for Anchor they refused to refund us any of the thousands of dollars that we paid up front. Sounds real Christian-like to me. So if any of you are thinking about sending you child here. Please be VERY vigilant. Do your research and go with your gut feeling.
The home later moved to Montana and on to Missiouri where it exists today.
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