Due to a lawsuit that
has made its way to the Supreme Court, an Oregon boarding school has come under
public scrutiny for practices that, in my opinion, quite clearly constitute child
abuse. And yet, parents continue to send their “problem” teens to Mount
Bachelor, supporting a multimillion-dollar therapeutic boarding school
industry. Some parents have spoken out about the school’s controversial treatments,
but many claim to be satisfied with the Mount Bachelor education.
According to former students and teachers interviewed by
TIME,
the foundation of the therapeutic method employed at Mount Bachelor is
humiliation. “For instance, in required seminars that the school calls
Lifesteps, students say staff members of the residential program have
instructed girls, some of whom say they have been victims of rape or sexual
abuse, to dress in provocative clothing — fishnet stockings, high heels and
miniskirts — and perform lap dances for male students as therapy.”
Other students described how they were forced to repeatedly
relive painful childhood experiences. “In a Lifesteps seminar called Forever
Young, students were placed on a mattress and taunted with painful information
about their childhood that they had previously revealed, an apparent attempt to
trigger regression to infancy.” One girl, who was taunted with memories of her
younger sister’s death, vomited on the mattress.
After hearing dozens of tales of abuse and humiliation from
students, a part-time driver for the school turned to the authorities last
month, prompting the state to investigate the school. But the school has been
investigated for similar grievances in the past, with no results.
The school’s director has refuted claims that her students are
“sexualized” in any way. However, she does freely admit to relying on controversial
role playing exercises, saying, "We
also use a psychodrama-treatment approach designed to do one or both of two
things: get a student to embrace qualities of their character (such as beauty
or courage) about which they have doubt or assist them in recognizing qualities
that are unproductive (such as selfishness or conceit) about which they have
little insight."
Tragically, Mount Bachelor is no pariah when it comes to “therapeutic”
methods in boarding schools. According to the executive director of the
Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth, "The process of
breaking kids down is very much integrated into the therapeutic milieu."
Therapeutic boarding schools are not tracked or monitored by
any official body—which means it’s entirely up to parents to decide whether their
kids should be sent away or not. When faced with a teenage who has repeatedly
used drugs, been suspended from school, or threatened suicide, some parents may
simply trust that the “experts” know best.
But, while some psychologists who are either misguided or
misinformed do recommend schools like Mount Bachelor for troubled kids, numerous
health care professionals have spoken out against the methods of treatment used
at Mount Bachelor, claiming that the “therapy” used at Mount Bachelor causes
more harm than good. “Such programs, they say, are overly restrictive and
unproven, and virtually all their students — who typically have depression,
substance use, behavioral problems or ADHD — can be safely treated within the
community.” Mental health experts also point out that separating children from
their parents is not healthy except in cases of domestic abuse.
The lawsuit that has put Mount Bachelor in the limelight
centers on whether or not states should pay for disabled children’s private
education. The only thing worse than parents paying to send their kids to Mount
Bachelor would be for taxpayers to foot the hefty bill. As Naomi Gittins,
deputy general counsel for the National School Boards Association, put it, “A
lot of private schools for which parents want reimbursement don't have to meet
state standards. How does that really serve the interest of children?"
Photo: TIME
