Darrington Academy Survey
Name: (or n/a for anonymous)anonymous
Do you wish to grant further testimony to investigators?yes i guess
Age and year of admittance:age:14, year : near the end of 2005
How long was your stay at D.A.?2005 till 2008 like 28 months
How long have you been back home?a year now
Before the program did you have a serious drug problem? not as much
Did you have a daily habit? not really
Before the program were you admitted to any other residential treatment, for instance a mental hospital? no i was not
Before the program did you have a criminal record or spend time in Juvenile Hall? yes but jut for run away
Where you court ordered, or did your parents choose to send you to D.A.? my parents sent me to darrington
Was there a medical admissions process?if you mean did the nurse take care of ous no i remember when i was runing a 300 and somthing fever and they told me i was fine until i barely walk and still they just set me in a lil intervention room and was being rude to me when i was very ill and they didnt take me to the doctor and i was sick of that room cause i was their for two weeks my fever didnt go down and no one was tending to me barely so i chose to leave it which i had to fight my fever all day and my fever cooled down with no ones help barely by the end of the day
Were your medical records considered before you were admitted into D.A.? no
Did you sign yourself in (give consent) to receive “treatment” at D.A.? no
How much was your tuition?4,000 a month or more which didnt even go to the school to better its self we ate and had really bad stuff cause darrington and dace goldening used it to buy them selfs expensive stuff
Do you think you were given a “proper” education at D.A.?no we didnt barely have teachers to teach use and if we wanted extra help we would have to we would have to get toutors which was 100 dollars for ten days so basically we had to teach ourselves
In your opinion were the teachers, good teachers? Did they have degrees and certifications?i dontr know if they had degrees but to me it seemed like the teachers were nicer then the people who worked in the program they were concerned for us
How many school credits did you earn? in two years mybe 4
Did you receive a diploma from D.A.? no i did not
Was a certified medical professional available to students at their request? Are you kidding me no
Were proper check ups, dental cleaning, and medication observation appointments held regularly?like i said no
If you got sick were you given adequate treatment and rest? pretty much you were aboned in a little room and sometimes whenever the nurse felt like it she come check on you and i have nothing against her i just saw what was infornt of my eyes obivious
Were you ever refused medical care because staff said that you were “faking it”? you know to think about it yes even though they were proven wrong but they still would give it to you
Was a medical service offered for drug detox or drug rehabilitation? we had none if you wanted one your parents would have to sing you up for a men that didnt even work for them and you only saw him once or twice a week
Was there any kind of “Drug Education” available for students who had used drugs in the past? no their wasn’t like i said in the last question
What is the name of your case manager? What was their role in your program?family rep and they didnt even have a degree for couslers they just hire them its pathitic and if you didnt talk they like think of something your parents said and say it infront of everyone forcing you to talk
Was group therapy considered to be of a confrontational nature? no it was very uncofortable but the girls their tryed understand one another it was like a sister bond we did become a family to protect one another from what the program did to us so we didnt lose our minds and brake down cause they asumed the worset of us
Do you feel you were forced to confess to things you did not do in order to progress in the program? yes i was
Were students encouraged to accept that they were alcoholics or drug addicts? most of us were
Was this required to advance in the program? what to lie yes and no see the thing was if you wanted to survive and leave you had to do whatever it took to get out lying prtending and worse hurting people at home because it was hell in their some people ran and got hurt by staff other tryed to work and fake it to get out not go back to the things we did because literally it startsfucking with your head after a while things the staff says & staff did or said to you
Were students encouraged to follow a 12 step program (the AA doctrine) in order to earn levels and graduate D.A? no it was all in the points
Were students encouraged to accept a “higher power” contingent to their recovery? yeah they were
In your opinion, How was the food quality? Was it prepared properly? some food was but it wasnt prepared good or hyginic we would find hair the food pubic hair in the food it was nasty and when we would tell them they’d make use take only a lil portion of were the hair was and eat the rest
Did you ever go hungry? Were you given proper portions? Was food ever withheld as a punishment? yes they would let you eat i didnt eat for 3 days one time no i wasnt given a proper portion yes it was for punishment
Did you gain a lot of weight? were you forced to eat more than you were able to eat? yes we were forced to eat more then we could i lost alot of weight at a point but gained it back again and when we did gain pounds theyd make us run in gym or outside without stoping cause they said we were fat and cut down our food
Please describe the “Fear Factor” games, including what was in the “Fear Factor” food. How did you feel about this? they were torment rotten things left overs but people chose to do it cause they would get a pizza party which rarely happened its was wrong to put them threw that so they could eat real food
Were upper levels or any level students asked to babysit the staff’s children, or taken to the staff’s house for any extended period of time?
Where you aware of anyone being restrained and isolated from the group? of course they were yes some students went to staffs houses for a while yes alot of people were
What reasons were these people restrained? (please describe actual events) talking back not agreeing to what they say standing up in intervention to strech runingor trying to run away fighting things like that
Where stress positions utilized? Were there more time in isolation given if the student would move or shift weight? yes which made alot of kid get bad achine and stress out more like depression
(Please describe the rules and structure that would pertain to a level 1 student.)no talking to level ones twos your on run and suiced watch basically they were treated as less and no body like they didnt excesset
Was contact with your parents limited? Where your letters (to and from) intercepted? Were your letters opened, read, crossed out or cut? yes it was if they wanted to you wouldnt get mail you could talk to your parents until level 3 which would take at least 3 or 4 months and if you lost it you couldnt talk to em yes they told my mo to stop telling me she loved me and told me she hated me she didnt want me and said the same thing to her yes they were crossed out cut etc.. no privace
How long before you were able to speak to your parents on the phone? Were your phone calls monitored? yes they were monitored and if you said anything bad about the program or said to take you home they hang up on them i didnt talk to my parent on the phone for 13 months and need to hear thier voice badly
If you felt you were being abused, was there anyway you could get to a phone and have a private conversation with your parents, child services or an officer of the law? no their wasnt anyway cause they keep you from telling them or that your just tryn to get out of their that your just manipulating them
If you wanted to leave were you discouraged to tell your parents how you felt? Were you afraid that you would be punished if you were to describe any incidents of abuse to your parents?yes we would get an any trouble if our parents found out intervention lose everything start over things like that
Were there other students (upper levels) assigned to watch over you? what was their role? did they give you consequences? were they allowed to restrain you or monitor the isolation area.yes, snetchers they had to tell i was one once i had to tell sometimes but i watch over my girls cause they became family cause i was their for a long time so they would get introuble so they could go home quicker but because of that i lost my level protecting them no we cudnt restrain people
Were you allowed to speak, stand, eat, go to the bathroom and do other normal activities of your free will? no we had to ask permission and if you went on school hrs you wouild lose points and school hrs were for at least 1hr 30 mins for 8 times a day
How often were you allowed to speak freely? and to whom? were you not allowed to speak with others in your group? once a day for 30mins level ones to level 3s and high level 2 and 3’s higher we couldnt speak to the other girl family or boys
Did you have to walk in line? How often? Were there consequences if you did not line up properly?yes ,everyday, yes their was
Would you be given a consequence if you forgot something? (for instance, your water bottle, a pen or a book) yes a cat 2 lose 25 points
Were your personal items inspected by other students? (upper levels?) with or without your presence? yes they were mostly with out
(Please describe the rules and structure that would pertain to a level 4 student.)not everything just to wear make up put hair down have choirs cause they were a privlage wear tenishoes hear music have breaks watch kids thats it
What were the requirements in order to progress in the level system? Was approval from the other upper levels required? yes their aprroval was required points and how well you got along with everyone pretty much u have to suck up
What kind of staff responsibilities were upper levels given?chois and watch kids and people their
Did upper levels have to “baby sit” the lower levels? How often?just on bathroom breaks or in the dorms if they talked
Were you expected to dole out punishments (consequences)?yes i didnt like to so i didnt do it so much
Were the rules upper levels enforced specific to the rule book or were the definitions of those rules assumed? (or sort of passed down as a tradition, basically could you give a consequence for “neglect” for any number of things)different rules
Did an upper level have to power to influence a child being taken to the isolation room? Were upper levels required to watch or participate in restraint?yes and yes
Were upper levels required to give visiting parents a glowing testimonial of their experience in the program, or make testimonial videos or letters?upper levels had to make vedios or write letters about they place and how good it was but it was all fake
What would happen if a student mentioned anything bad about the program in front of a parent? Were students afraid of punishment if they told the truth?yes we were afraid cause we get introuble or they’d tell our parent we were only manipulating and saying wat ever we could to get out
How easily could an upper level get dropped (start the program over)? What infractions would make an upper level drop and what level did they usually go back to? if you were a level 6 you go to 4 if you were five or four you go back to 3 and you could easly lose upper level in like two seconds if the staff wanted to drop you
What is your opinion on the effectiveness of the method of Behavior Modification that was used at D.A.? it was all bullshit
Considering long term effects, do you think the program has an effect on your life today? Positive or negative? the program did crap for me it effected me negatively i learned good behavoirs when i came home and bad was i hope god gives darrington and dace what they deserve because they distored not just my life but others mentally, physically
Do you believe that the program acting within the means of “Tough Love” was appropriate treatment for you in your adolescence?i know what tough love is and surely that wasnt it they took their problems out on use and for fun
Do you believe that the staff and junior staff usually acted within the US standards for health, safety and well being of the students? no they didnt
