This article will be about the testimony of one of the victims who was held in OSS for an extended amount of time. In Jansing’s testimony, he testified that he felt this boy did not belong in Midwest Academy due to his issues.
Below we will examine some highlights we felt were important to call out and at the very bottom of the page, you can download the entire testimony.
The victim didn’t remember having a counselor while at Midwest Academy which is sad since he was being sent to a therapeutic boarding school.
Q. Did you have a counselor?
A. I believe I don’t remember about that.
Q. I’m sorry?
A. I believe I don’t remember anything about a counselor.
Q. Did you ever meet with a counselor very often?
A. I don’t know if I have.
He was in OSS a lot.
Q. Bxxxxxx, what is the Out-of-School Suspension room, OSS?
A. The OSS room is, like, a room, small room, concrete room, that has a dim light inside of it, and you got to go through certain ways to be able to get out of the OSS room.
Q. Were you in the OSS room a lot?
A. That’s right.
He had a hard time getting out of OSS. He never got out in just 24 hours. He would stay in there for 2-3 days on average.
Q. Did you have a hard time getting out of the OSS?
A. I did have a hard time.
Q. Do you remember how many times you went into OSS?
A. No.
Q. What types of things would get you ending up being put in OSS?
A. Aggressive behavior and not following directions.
Q. Aggressive behavior and not following directions?
A. Yes.
Q. How long would you have to stay in OSS?
A. For a person it’s twenty-four hours. But if they do something to start the time over, then it may be a little longer than twenty-four hours.
Q. So if you follow the rules, it’s twenty-four hours?
A. Yes.
Q. But if you don’t follow the rules, then your time starts over?
A. Yes.
Q. When you went into OSS, did you ever get out in twenty-four hours?
A. No.
Q. Normally, how long would you end up staying in there?
A. Like, two or three days.
His testimony about food and speakers playing self-help tapes corroborates with what Jansing testified.
Q. What kind of food would you get in OSS?
A. Morning would be peanut butter and jelly sandwich with fruit, and sometimes there would be like a cup of milk.
Q. Did you say a cup of milk?
A. Yes. Lunch would be a meat sandwich, some pickles on the side, a box of raisins. Dinner would be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a box of raisins and pickles on the side.
Q. It sounds like you got a lot of pickles?
A. (The witness nodded in the affirmative.)
Q. Did you like pickles?
A. No. I don’t like pickles at all.
Q. Did you feel hungry when you were in OSS?
A. Of course.
Q. Were the lights on all the time in OSS?
A. They were.
Q. Did the rooms have speakers?
A. They did.
Q. Do you remember sometimes they would play tapes in the rooms?
A. I remember some of it.
Q. Was it music or was it talking?
A. It was like a person talking about something.
OSS was extremely hard for him. He felt like his mind and body was trapped. He would bang his head against the door.
Q. Bxxxxxx, did you sometimes hurt yourself when you were in OSS?
A. Yes.
Q. What types of things happened?
A. Banging my head against the door.
Q. Banging your had against the door?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know why you were doing that?
A. I don’t remember why.
Q. Would Mr. Ben ever come see you in OSS?
A. Rarely happened.
Q. But sometimes?
A. Sometimes.
Q. Bxxxxxx, when you were in the OSS room and the door was shut, you couldn’t get out; right?
A. That’s right.
Q. How did you feel when you were in there?
A. I feel like I was in a box.
Q. In a box?
A. Yes.
Q. What did your mind feel like?
A. Closed and trapped.
Sometimes staff had other students help in restraining him.
Q. Did you ever get restrained while you were at the academy?
A. Yes.
Q. And that would happen a lot of times if you were being aggressive; correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Did staff restrain you?
A. Yes.
Q. Would other students restrain you?
A. Like some of the Level 5s that are, like, having the privilege to do so.
Q. So the kids who had the privilege to restrain could do that?
A. If like the staff needs help or requests them to come help.
After his mother picked him up from Midwest Academy, he had to be taken immediately to the hospital and treated for malnutrition due to the time he spend in OSS and the special diet he received there.
Q. What happened when you– Well, did your mom take you home to XXX?
A. Yes. Then a few days later when Mom decided to take me to go eat out in XXXX, during the car ride I didn’t feel too well. It felt like I had a lack of energy to do anything. So then I told my mom, like, can she take me to the hospital? And she took me to the hospital. The doctor and nurse said that I had a lack of nutrients and proteins inside of my body.
Q. A lack of nutrients and proteins?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you have to have some IV’s in your arm?
A. About two and a half pouches.
Q. Were they putting liquids inside of you?
A. Yes.
Q. How long did you have to stay in the hospital?
A. I believe I was in the hospital for like a day or two.
