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
Sources:
- The original testimony on Sodahead
- Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)
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