Hyde School Survivors

From Justice Law Collaborative:  https://www.justicelawcollaborative.com/schools-boarding-schools-colleges-and-universities# The Hyde Boarding Schools of Woodstock, CT and Bath, ME JLC is currently representing a group of brave survivors who attended the Hyde School (both the Woodstock, CT location and the Bath, ME location). Since its founding in 1966, the school has been marketed as a behavioral modification program for teenagers (ages 14-18) with emotional or behavioral problems. The Hyde School case stands as a notable instance within the sphere of education and parental rights. This case, which garnered widespread attention, unfolded in the late 1990s, shedding light on the intricate balance between a school's disciplinary measures and the rights of parents to advocate for their children. At its core, the Hyde School revolved around the expulsion of two students from the prestigious Hyde boarding school. The school, renowned for its character-based education and emphasis on pe

Brochure that Hyde School has given Hyde parents Brochure link Transcribed text:  HYDE SCHOOL CONCEPTS 
HYDE SCHOOL AND THE RUNAWAY: A POSITION PAPER QUITTING DEFINED HISTORY WHO RUNS? WHEN AND WHY
 HOW TO RESPOND
 THE LEGITIMACY OF OUR POSITION Hyde is many things but it is first and foremost a challenge. Plain and simple, this is hard school. Many on the faculty are alumni and can vouch for this from both sides of the desk. Much has changed in our 25 years as a school but the idea of Hyde as challenging place has remained. Some students occasionally want to quit. That is normal. Taking the step from wanting to quit to acting upon it is a serious matter. It is also a family matter. There are two ways to quit. One is to pack up one's belongings and depart the campus - i.e. run away. The other is to refuse to comply with the demands of the program. Both ways add up to the same conclusion: the student has decided to quit on the commitment that was made at the interview. It is importa

From Fornits Hello, I am new to this board. I found this board after I realized Hyde(Woodstock) was not working for me, -- I AM a current student on their Woodstock campus. I also realize how risky it may be for me to come on this board, but I know my mom is going to struggle withdrawing me, and Hyde's manipulative ways. I can here a mere 4 weeks ago and already feel manipulated and lied to. When I came for a tour they seem to have put on a false front and this school is nothing what it seems. I was told this was a school for kids "who struggled, but were striving to get better" and trying move on in their life. I lost my father in February (14) of this year to cancer, and I struggled from there at home. I used to be a straight A student, but the sudden death of my father rocked my boat a little too hard and I lost my groove. I was struggling with simple tasks, and my mom thought a change of scenery would do me some good. She researched school, and was easily attracted t

  HYDE School: Follow Your Own Advice and Heal Thyself A Former Hyde Parents' Review. Original post Our family has now been affiliated with Hyde for several years.  It has taken us some time to figure out Hyde's true colors.  We started Hyde in earnest.  We were not in a true state of crisis, although we had some concerns about our child's path.  Our child enrolled in Summer Challenge which, overall, seemed to be a rather benign experience (with the exception of a couple of group seminars where, clearly, the group facilitators were in over their heads when a couple of parents disclosed some incredibly powerful, sensitive, and provocative information in front of their children and the rest of us -- it was painful to watch and hear the staff's inept handling of the situations). Our child then started Hyde in September of that year.  Initially we bought into the program and attended all meetings (regional, FLCs) faithfully.  We gave it our best shot as we embraced Hyde'

HYDE School: Follow Your Own Advice and Heal Thyself A Former Hyde Parents' Review. Original post Our family has now been affiliated with Hyde for several years.  It has taken us some time to figure out Hyde's true colors.  We started Hyde in earnest.  We were not in a true state of crisis, although we had some concerns about our child's path.  Our child enrolled in Summer Challenge which, overall, seemed to be a rather benign experience (with the exception of a couple of group seminars where, clearly, the group facilitators were in over their heads when a couple of parents disclosed some incredibly powerful, sensitive, and provocative information in front of their children and the rest of us -- it was painful to watch and hear the staff's inept handling of the situations). Our child then started Hyde in September of that year.  Initially we bought into the program and attended all meetings (regional, FLCs) faithfully.  We gave it our best shot as we embraced Hyde's

  CONDITIONS FOR MIND CONTROL DR. MARGARET SINGER (Margaret T. Singer, Ph.D., Emeritus Prof. of Psychology, Univ. of CA, Berkeley) THOUGHT REFORM = LANGUAGE + SOCIAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCE In a thought reform program: the self concept is destabilized the group/leaders attack one's evaluation of self SELF: 2 Elements in one's self-concept Peripheral Sense: adequacy of public & judgmental aspects, social status, role performance, conformity to social norms Central Sense of Self: adequacy of intimate life, confidence in perception of reality, relations w/family, goals, sexual experiences, traumatic life events, religious beliefs, basic consciousness and emotional control When you attack a person's self-concept, aversive emotional arousal is created 6 CONDITIONS THAT NEED TO BE PRESENT IN ORDER TO CONSTITUTE MIND CONTROL: 1. CONTROL OVER TIME Especially thinking time Use techniques

FINDING THE RIGHT SCHOOL: LESSONS LEARNED FROM “INSIDE” Rick Reamer and Deborah Siegel Pawtucket, RI freamer@cox.net Parents of struggling teens typically agonize about finding the “right” school or program. They sort through mounds of data – from educational consultants, school directories, pamphlets, promotional videos, websites, campus visits and conversations with school staff – before settling on what they hope is the right choice. We’ve been there. During the spring of 2003, we spent countless hours combing through every morsel of information we could find about an overwhelming array of school options. We knew our child did not need a therapeutic boarding school. We simply needed a school that offered structure; consistent, humane supervision; a positive peer culture; constructive emphasis on personal accountability and integrity; and a willingness to collaborate collegially with parents. We did not seek perfection, realizing that those who do will always be disappointed. We foll

This book paints an appealing image of an enlightened high school that involves the whole family in developing positive character traits. We do not doubt the authors' sincerity, genuine enthusiasm for, and commitment to the Hyde Schools. Clearly, these authors are eager to spread the good word. However, our actual experience as parents of a Hyde School (in Woodstock, Conn.) student showed us that the practices and policies used to teach "character" often, paradoxically, violate the noble principles articulated in this book and espoused at the school. In our view, it is ironic that a school whose mission is character education is misrepresented in this book, which provides a misleading, partial picture of the Hyde we experienced. Also, it's unfortunate that this book on education, written by educators, does not explicitly refer to the research and theoretical literature on effective behavior management, adolescent development, and education; much of this literature que

I am amazed & heartened to see this site. I'm a parent whose child left Hyde last year - after 2 years. He transferred to another boarding school, one we should have enrolled in in the first place. ANY good small school with caring faculty would have done it for us - without the high drama of Hyde. People put their kids into Hyde in a crisis - often on the advice of a consultant. It was negligent to do this. Leaving Hyde was leaving a cult. I won't go on about this - lest I be accused by a Hyde fan of being over- emotional. My son wanted to go to a real school - one that valued academics and didn't use him as a 'proctor'. Hyde pressured him intensely, wanting him to stay and 'face his fears'. I had several horrendous phone calls with staff. At Hyde the first day they tell parents not to believe what your child tells you: Deciding to listen to my son and advocate for his leaving was the best and hardest thing I have ever done. Hyde doesn't want to hea

Hyde likes to change its narrative about its intentions and student body as an institution depending on who its recruiters are talking to.  If Hyde School is "not for troubled teens" like the owners and surrogates of Hyde like to sometimes claim, why have they had thousands of "troubled" teens attend their institution for 55 years? And why are they still to this day on sites like Troubled Teen Directory, Family Sanity, Our Troubled Teen, and numerous education consultant websites, right next to residential treatment centers (RTC's), wilderness programs, therapeutic boarding schools, etc.? As stated below on an #educationconsultant website: " Hyde Schools... do not offer any integrated clinical services, since they view the problems of youth as ones of character, rather than as psychological or psychiatric. " Hyde has always actively recruited "troubled" kids with a wide range of diagnoses and issues, while purposely never offering any evidenc

Reader response/Letters to the Editor, Maine Times 1992 Joe Gauld still loose? I was interested to read Diane L Potter’s letter . I hadn’t seen the article she was referring to and was very surprised to find that Joe Gauld is not in an institution. As the father of a student at Hyde School in the mid-80s, I have an insider’s perspective. Ms. Potter’s letter covers some very valid points but she doesn’t know the half of it!  When my wife first checked out Hyde school Timothy Wilson was in charge but when we brought our daughter there to start school Mr. Wilson was gone and Joe Gauld was in full charge. What a difference! Joe claims the school is not for kids with behavior problems, yet most of the students I’ve seen were there in a desperation situation. The next step for most of them was either running away from home or reform school or jail. That is the only reason the parents and students put up with what they did. One of Joe’s fun little games is what he calls a “Family Learning Cen

Strong pushback from a parent when Hyde School tried to take over Gardiner Area High School in 1992: _____ Letter to the editor, Maine Times 1992-08-14 : It's time that I speak out about my reservations on the Gardiner-Hyde Project at Gardiner High School. Like many parents, my husband and I were at first curious, then more interested as we heard some things that we would like to see happen at the high school, and finally completely turned off. Joe Gauld (the founder of the private Hyde School in Bath, who will implement his educational philosophy in the high school) is a manipulator par excellence. In large group meetings he deftly skirts around questions without completely answering them. I believe there is reason for our school board to look more closely into allegations of inappropriate and humiliating disciplines that have been made against the Hyde School in the past Last winter the school board hesitated on accepting the program at Gardiner on a trial basis until they receiv