Atlantis Leadership Academy is located in Treasure Beach Jamaica, owned and operated by former WWASP-Student turned Staff member Randall Cook, son of WWASP’s “The Source” Magazine Editor, Glenda Cook. Randall Cook was a former student at Paradise Cove in Western Samoa, a program that was closed by the Samoan government after a series of child abuse allegations.
Randall also co-founded his own referral service, Core Solutions out of Winchester CA, referring kids to Midwest Academy among other troubled teen programs.
Reports have indicated students are subjected to hard labor and cruel and unusual punishment.
Atlantis Leadership Academy
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Good Day and Respect to All,
I hope that this finds each of you well and healthy.
My name is Randall Cook, I am the Owner of Atlantis Leadership Academy in Jamaica as referenced here.
Recently this post was brought to my attention and in the spirit of transparency, dialogue and respect I would like to fill in some of the gaps in what has been posted here. Much of it is true as far as my life’s history and I feel compelled to help further the reference points that have been listed here:
Atlantis Leadership Academy is located in Treasure Beach, Jamaica:
Yes, for sure we are, and we love it, as do the Students. Our Students are out and active in the community from day 1. We partake in a number of resources within our community, everything from our awesome Sports Park, the Sea, volunteering in our local Elementary Schools, volunteering for community projects, participate in Jamaican Holidays, frequent and get involved with local international events such as Calabash International Literary Festival (which we have had Students as presenters), Boxing Camps, Baseball Camps and Soccer (Football) Camps as well as an International Yoga Retreat to name a few of our activities.
Again, these opportunities begin for our Students from their time of arrival. We have a much different philosophy vs. other Boarding Schools in that Students need to be locked up and broken down in order to be rebuilt. We believe that as much of a struggle a young man has found themselves in prior to arrival, they still have a good heart, a sharp might and were raised with good character. They truly need a moment to step away from the chaos at home, reset, be exposed to beautiful and loving community, socialize in a new healthy norm, find intrigue in the Sea and local landscape, the weather, health and local diet consisting of locally grown fruits and vegetables, and locally raised chick, pork and beef.
And to further clarify, we do not sit on the old Tranquility Bay Site, we are nowhere near it.
Owned and operated by former WWASP-Student turned Staff member Randal Cook, son of WWASP’s “The Source” Magazine Editor, Glenda Cook:
This is correct. Many years ago, prior to Facebook or even MySpace for that matter I approached WWASP, I had never worked for them and persuaded them with the idea that it would be a point of strength to support their parents to communicate in an open Bulletin Board format (closed to the general public for privacy reasons) and give them a platform to utilize as a parent support group.
The forums were split up among the individual programs. They were not hosted or monitored by the programs. On a very rare occasion you would have a program Director make an update post about something, but again that was a rare occurrence.
My focus was to help new parents get enrolled as well as help out at all hours of the day and night when a parent was having technical issues. Again, as mentioned this was prior to Facebook and MySpace and all of the developments and increase in tech use as we have now, so many parents having much more limited exposure and experience as they do made for a busy job…. but that was my role. I did not operate the programs, provide guidance to their Students, or dictate policy or any of that.
I was simply behind computer screens doing my best to connect parents with other parents in a smooth and transparent way, it was a great lifeline for many families.
As for my wonderful Mom, it was a very similar dynamic though hers was in print, as mentioned above “The Source”, also a great lifeline for parents and professionals. She also had presented them with the idea prior, when the internet was even lesser known and suggested (as a former parent) that it would be a great idea to have a platform for Students in their program, Staff, Parents and outside Professionals to have a central point to share testimonials, updates on their lives, reflect on their growth, their anxiety of going through their journey and so on. This publication went out 1x per month and was soaked up by 10s of thousands of readers per month. She to had no input of vote or anything in how the programs operated, or guiding Students or anything of the sort. All we were focused on was our commitment to connecting everyone together in 1 spot and let them reap the benefits.
I strongly still stand by the concepts and the service provided.
And to further clarify, WWASP or any of its past affiliates or businesses have any ownership, involvement or anything of the sort. It is solely owned by my family, with 0 exception.
Randal Cook was a former student at Paradise Cove in Western Samoa, a program that was closed by the Samoan government after a series of child abuse allegations:
Correct. And for the record it is spelled “Randall” and for the record I had seen a post where someone had suggested I changed my name from “Randall” to “Randy.” This is just a simple shortening of my name as it would be “Michael” to “Mike” or “Andrew” to “Andy”, you get the idea. So to be clear I have never made any modification to my name.
Anyway, yes in the early to mid-90’s I was a Student enrolled at Paradise Cove. I got sent there as a result of my family falling apart in a very rough and sad divorce. In the spirit of transparency, you are invited to head to our website at https://www.atlantis.academy/directors-story
My time at Paradise Cove was a major challenge at times but in direct proportion a time of major growth for all the same. I needed it. I was enrolled at the founding of the program, I was the 24th Student to arrive. While I was there, I did not witness or participate in any abuse. At this time, we were able to go spear fishing which was great, as the food was nothing to be excited about, we got to know the natives, I got through HS (which I was certainly not on track for), I got in peak physical shape, which felt great, it was truly an adventure. Leading up to Graduation I did certainly feel as they were just growing way to quick (I think they had ballooned to about 150 Students) and so I just waited my time out from that point on which was a bummer, due to the fact the boys and I had made an awesome bond, I am friends with several of them to this day.
As far as the closure that happened years after I left, I was not all surprised, nor really saddened. I could only imagine at that point how much genuine spirit would have vanished by that point. So, in my opinion the Students there would not have been having the same unique experience, the Staff probably hated their jobs and so on. I don’t know any other details of their closure, just my outside opinion. At the time I was building Horse Ranches, which I really enjoyed.
Randal also co-founded his own referral service, Core Solutions out of Winchester CA, referring kids to Midwest Academy among other troubled teen programs:
Again, Randall, and yes, I did open a service to provide guidance to families seeking solutions for their teens. It was not co-founded as I solely owned it, again in the spirit of transparency. I opened this in the early 2000’s. I had been volunteering at local support groups for parents (not affiliated with WWASP) and was struck by how much misinformation parents had to sort through; provided by a myriad of non-educated professionals, eager program salespeople, relatives that had the best intentions though just taking a shot in the dark based on emotion and ego, Schools with multiple marketing sites that gave the appearance of being neutral and so on….So I decided to make myself available and walk parents through what it is like from their child’s perspective.
For example, if you are a devout religious family it may be tempting to send your teen to a School that provides Chapel 9xs per week, though is that sincerely something that your teen would respond well to? For some yes, for others, maybe not. Or, has Sports always been where they operated in an optimal way in their life as a young man or young woman over the years? The points in which you got along best, they had their peak self esteem and were focused and happy? If that is the case, ditch the Church route and let’s find something that suits them best.
At the end of the day that young man or woman is the one that has to put their head down in their pillow each night in that particular setting, not the parent. Church will always be available once they have had a chance to reset and come back home. Parents get skewed on cost, “the more I pay the better service and outcome”, Wilderness for an example, this is nonsense more often than not.
And yes, in that period of time I did place some kids at MWA and the Students as well as their families did great. I cannot speak on MWA behalf, or every kid or family enrolled, though I can and would say under Oath I never 1x had a family call, text or email me anything referencing any concern or complaint of any form of abuse or mistreatment. Again, I can only speak to my experience as well as the families I was in service to and became friends with.
Reports have indicated students are subjected to hard labor and cruel and unusual punishment:
Untrue. Not “Reports.” There was 1 Student that posted 1 item, while in attendance the School. It was a unique circumstance, the items that were suggested were nothing that he ever partook of. There were some other moving parts at work and the family and myself parted ways, which was a win/win for everyone. We wish him and the family all the best in their life journey, good people and a cool kid. At the end of the day we can’t be everything to everyone, we just do our best, which ultimately turns out to be pretty awesome.
I support having a watchdog out there (you guys), as there are many programs that should not be in existence and many Staff that should not even be within driving distance to said programs.
On the flip side there are many great and unique environments for a teen to get out and explore life in a safe and exciting way and step away from the madness of family chaos, negative friends and society, where needed and appropriate. I am not and have never been a believer that every kid that just got caught smoking pot or a hiccup in their grades will wind up dead or in jail unless you place them in XYZ program this minute, that is utter nonsense and greed, or at best a very trigger happy uneducated admissions person.
Go through the normal channels, sit down and visit as a family, come up with a game plan…not working, try individual and/or family Therapy…if not working (and things are not dangerous) give it some time, or see if they can take a cooling off period at a relatives.
For the most part I am not a believer in meds. This is not a religious conviction; it is Big Pharma one with massively missing data as to the long-term effects and the immediate self esteem hit it takes on the teen as well. We have had Students that are diabetic or with severe acne, in those cases meds are a requirement. Though so far, by our Students choosing our Students have gone through our program 100% off meds, 100% of the time and flourished, so it is a clear contrast.
I respect your time in this lengthy read, and I appreciate the opportunity to represent my/our program, community and hopefully serve my purpose in clarifying the items above.
All the best.
Kindly,
Randy Cook
Atlantis Leadership Academy
https://www.atlantis.academy/
Hey Randall, Sorry for the error in your name, We will update that.
We don’t get very many program owners coming to us with such transparency and for that I’m inclined to give you the opportunity to speak to your experience here on the site just as every survivor is given that right. However, it disappoints me to hear you essentially call the minor who reported abuse to us a liar. That’s something we don’t stand for. The treatment (which I would refer to as bullying) this child described was truly abhorrent and shows the reality of an environment that is inherently hostile and not conducive to a therapeutic experience. In fact what he describes is precisely the kind of toxic environment we are all too familiar with, because we all experienced the same thing in our respective programs. To just say none of that ever happened, is a denial we simply cannot consider credible.
Another thing that troubles me here are your statements about Paradise Cove, a program in Samoa, run by WWASP staff, which, from it’s conception was governed by WWASP rules, structure and inherent abuse. The co-founder of this website is a PC Survivor and he’s written many accounts in great detail about the physical abuse, the deplorable conditions, the “lord of the flies” type relationship between the students and of course, the tiny time out box that kids were held in for hours, days even weeks at a time. To say you never witnessed abuse there, simply baffles me. More than that, it worries me that you have no real concept of what constitutes abuse in a therapeutic setting.
You chronicled your involvement with WWASP, starting after your internment, you approached them to work for them. Then you created a referral service, where you referred parents to these programs… Now forgive me if I missed some information, but what education do you have to qualify you to make treatment decisions for these families? How much research and investigation went into approving a school like Midwest Academy to be worthy of your recommendation? What standards do you hold these programs to and how do you enforce those standards? How are you to become aware of abuse/ sexual abuse in these programs? Do you have an abuse hotline that you insist be made available to the kids in the programs? Do you have any kind of system set up to check on the kids (no, not just following up with the parents, but actually speaking with the kids while they are enrolled) to ensure that children you have placed in these programs are not in fact experiencing abuse due to your recommendation? Personally, this is why I would never recommend any program, no matter how great it seems, because you never know when, if or how a child could be abused in such an isolated, totalistic system. You can really only hope that you put them in good hands based on the “show” of the tour and the promises of the director that their school is actually different from the rest (sound familiar?). The problem with that, and you must know by now, programs like Midwest Academy, who claim up and down not to be affiliated with WWASP, claim to be different and totally dedicated to improving these kid’s lives, still get shut down for child abuse and in Midwest Academy’s case, charges of sexual abuse and child endangerment.
I would actually love to have a long discussion with you about how we see these incidents as a symptom of the toxic program model created by WWASP and how in every iteration of these programs, you see the same methods used and countless abuse reports to follow. I have a group of over 3300 active members most of which remember their time in WWASP programs as traumatic. MANY from PC, and Midwest… and I can tell you we don’t all agree on much, but we do believe the way that WWASP operated, from the ground up, was just all wrong. Given your history with them, it might be hard for you to see that or empathize with the stories of others… but I highly suggest you try, because you might actually be able to draw the same conclusions and see the pattern of abuse is largely due to the methods used. You also have a unique opportunity as a program director to end the cycle, to ban the use of these methods, but you can only do so when you can understand and see them from the POV of a survivor.
Please take some time to read the website, The Red Flags List and the Research pages provide a lot of information. Also, you might want to look into the research on the use of Restraints and Seclusion.
I sincerely hope you take the time to take a look through this, and follow through on researching the methods used in behavior modification. You have a unique perspective being both a survivor and a program director, and perhaps you could do yourself as well as the kids you are currently “treating” some good by seeking to truly understand the industry you’re both a victim of and actively participating in. The separation of your own experience compared to others is what I think you should analyze… You have to recognize on some level that what went down at PC wasn’t all kosher, and in many respects if you can’t come to terms with that reality then you are in no position to be doling out the same treatment to kids today. You have a tremendous responsibility to these kids to truly understand what we went through in WWASP Programs, so that you can actively avoid that history repeating itself. All those times they beat the concept of accountability into our heads and yet when it comes to holding the program itself accountable for designing and perpetuating a broken system… and then it’s just some crazy disgruntled kids, mad that they didn’t get their way right? I think we all know we are too old now to be acting that way, and in fact are the only people on the planet qualified to tell you that in the long run, the WWASP Program Model was ineffective and ultimately traumatic. Are you aware how many WWASP Survivors have committed suicide? Do you know how many of us have been diagnosed with PTSD? Specifically Complex PTSD due to the nature of long term internment. Are you in contact with any group of survivors? How do you quantify the effects of this program as a long term study other than to be actively involved with the population affected by it? Honestly, If we didn’t have a strict no staff rule in our support group, I would invite you to witness the daily testimonies, the camaraderie and the support we as survivors share. It’s quite amazing actually.
I do hope you find your way… it’s never too late to process all this on a personal level and make changes that will not only help you to heal and grow as a person, but may significantly help the kids you work with.
Sincerely,
WWASP Survivors
Hello Randy/Randall,
In the spirit of transparency, I notice your name was brought up several times on the popular Fornits survivors forums. I was hoping if you could address the following allegations:
– https://www.fornits.com/phpbb/index.php/topic,21172.msg254898.html#msg254898
– https://www.fornits.com/phpbb/index.php/topic,8766.msg89496.html#msg89496
I also noticed that your name was brought up by survivor accounts on Fornits as having seen you work as a staff member at Tranquility Bay – also located in Jamaica- and there was also allegations in the ISAC report of actions you did against a child there.
Would you agree that it’s an interesting coincidence that there several accounts posted online of you working as a staff member at a WWASP program in Jamaica YEARS before Atlantis opened it’s door and then some time later, you just happen to open up a program in Jamaica of all places and also far beyond the reach of US regulation?
Hey Randy it’s tanner. Love and miss you and the Jamaican family so much. Randy you took me out of Babylon right before I was going to most likely die from neglecting myself with drugs alcohol and a negative outlook on life. You taught me that family isn’t always blood, it’s frequency. You taught me morale. You taught me to be fierce like a lion and to conquer my obstacles. And lastly, you gave me the best time of my life. For I found a family I never knew. Unfortunately, some people like that man frank and our families who like to prey on peoples emotions had to come along and try to ruin the experience that Genna, Evan, and I were experiencing with you, Aaron, Sparta and the rest of the Jamaica family. Anyways all I know is treasure beach is my home. You are my family. And ever since I came back to Babylon I have gone back and forth between being a sheep and being a lion. All I know is that I am continually breaking down and rising again and again and soon my “family” and “friends” and my circumstances won’t be able to dictate or govern my future. Pretty soon I will be the role model and leader that I have dreamed of being and if you see fit I would like to return to Jamaica and work on building leaders that can change the future of the world and the way other people think act and spread love. Love you Randy, ????????Hope to see you all as soon as possible for what I have experienced this 2020 makes me realized I want to leave “ the land of the dead and return to land of the living and never come back
I forgot to also comment on this part:
>For the most part I am not a believer in meds. This is not a religious conviction; it is Big Pharma one with massively missing data as to the long-term effects and the immediate self esteem hit it takes on the teen as well. We have had Students that are diabetic or with severe acne, in those cases meds are a requirement. Though so far, by our Students choosing our Students have gone through our program 100% off meds, 100% of the time and flourished, so it is a clear contrast.< Could you let us know where you got your Ph.D and what you majored into to make pharmaceutical decisions for children? If someone who has serious mental health issues or their brain chemistry is off, some medication might mean the difference between crippling depression and getting out of bed in the morning. It doesn't matter how you feel about "big pharma" if you're not formally educated enough to make the decision for children.
So as the minor. Who is now 19 years old. I want to comment. Randal Cook your program and “therapeutic culture” is horrific. I also wanna talk about the “punishment” you gave us right before i was pulled. Or the fact that you have a kid with one of the locals and are cheating on your wife. Or maybe the fact that you were taking prescription drugs the whole 3 months i was there. Or maybe for my 17 birthday you have me a racist Mexican police sign that i have photo proof of. Just to name a few things. Im here to set the record. I do not do the lies and i will speak up. And i can’t believe someone who is so about respect and honor would have such cowardly actions. I am so happy to fully be myself now as an adult. I hope you find your peace as i did. ✨🙏🏽
Just an FYI Randall… We graciously allowed you to speak your peace here and tell your side of things… But we will not allow you to spam us with fake reviews. Please be advised that we can see that you are posting these all as different students from the same IP address. Until you can be honest and allow your program’s results speak for themselves, we won’t be approving any comments from your IP.
Sincerely,
WWASP Survivors
I am a student at ALA and I would like to find a way for me to say my side of things. If you guys could find some way for us to verify who we are that would be great
I’m sorry but you must think we’re dumb. There have been four different “students” posting in the last week from this same IP address. This is spam through and through and we won’t allow that. I also see that you smartened up a little bit and used the RIPE VPN to mask your IP identity to post more comments. But sure, try to prove your identity. For me, it would take an actual verifiable IP address from an area that is no where near Jamaica, just so we know you are actually home and not pressured into leaving this positive review. That being said, you might be aware that we know how this goes, we know how it feels to just get out and to still believe that this experience “saved your life”. So I would personally suggest waiting 1-3 years, get some therapy and do your research on what constitutes institutional child abuse. Believe me, it takes time and a bit of deprogramming before you can truly comprehend what happened. That being said, feel free to submit your testimony, if it seems legit, I will post it.
Lmao at all of Randy’s burner accounts
Randal cook is a pathetic manipulative hypocrite who cheats on his wife and he thinks he’s qualified to “turn children’s lives around”. Get your own life right you clown.
I am a parent of a child abused by Randy and his team. Our son spent 8 months before we discovered the trufh along with 3 other families that got their kids out. The whole thing is a fraud. We have contacted ghe FBI in Miami and the Embassy in Jamaica. Lisa and Randy are slick. I will rhrow CHARLES their transport guy in with the crooks.Yes Randy it is the Edmunds family. You are the worst kknd of slimeball who abuses children for money. You lie and manipulate the kids and lie and manipulate the families.Beware- do not send your son here. iIf he is fhere gethim out, di notbelieve the lies. The “school” should be closed and the iwners and staff jailed.
rt
Randy Cook will stand before JESUS CHRIST one day and it will not be good. 😔😔😔
This didn’t age well. As of March 2024 Children have been pulled from here by Jamaican authorities due to abuse.
Hey Randall … This you?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jamaica-troubled-teen-abuse-allegations-atlantis-leadership-academy-rcna144426
Another one bite the muthafuckin dust. Time to celebrate another child abuser getting shut down! 🥳
I got to jamiaca on the 6th of October and since that day I was abused, forced to do inhumane workouts and even spent a month and a half sitting on a stool staring at the wall because I couldn’t keep up with the work out. Randy told all of our parents that we were doing school and getting our medicine (none of that happened). He also told our parents he was married to his partner in crime Lisa (also not true as the had been divorced for 6 years) the staff that worked there deserve life in the most dirty, ruthless prisons in Jamaica and I hope they go through worse than we did. I watched kids get punched, jumped and tortured ( one kid cut himself because he couldn’t take it anymore and the staff dealt with it but digging salt and bleach in his wound while stripping him and beating him with a stick) when I ran away they caught me stomped on my face, dislocated my shoulder) I got an MRI yesterday and we the doctor was able to see damage which is why he sent me to get an MRI. Rand, Lisa, and every staff has a special place in hell waiting for them when they die.