For Current Students at Hyde School

[Anonymous]

There are obviously some kids at Hyde who are trying to post on this board.  First of all, good luck to you.  I hope you don't get caught and hope that Hyde does not try to censor you or punish you for speaking out against them.

I have some questions for you since I have been out of there a long time.

1.  Does anyone know the real reason why Duncan McCrann is leaving?

2.  What is the current enrollment?  Hyde lies on their website so want to know if anyone knows the true numbers?

3. Has Hyde hired a professional Psychologist at either campus?  When I was there a nurse handed out drugs and sometimes a staff member did this.

4.  What would you say the majority of the kids there suffer from?  Do you see kids with eating disorders, drug and alcohol issues, psychological problems, aggressive behavior?

Would really appreciate what any of you have to say.  Also my advice to you is to play the game Hyde School wants you to, otherwise it will be a losing battle for you.  Seldom do the parents realize how bad it is at the school and how unprofessional the staff and teachers are.  They put on a good show.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-04-20 19:50:00, Anonymous wrote:

"There are obviously some kids at Hyde who are trying to post on this board.  First of all, good luck to you.  I hope you don't get caught and hope that Hyde does not try to censor you or punish you for speaking out against them.



I have some questions for you since I have been out of there a long time.



1.  Does anyone know the real reason why Duncan McCrann is leaving?



2.  What is the current enrollment?  Hyde lies on their website so want to know if anyone knows the true numbers?



3. Has Hyde hired a professional Psychologist at either campus?  When I was there a nurse handed out drugs and sometimes a staff member did this.



4.  What would you say the majority of the kids there suffer from?  Do you see kids with eating disorders, drug and alcohol issues, psychological problems, aggressive behavior?



Would really appreciate what any of you have to say.  Also my advice to you is to play the game Hyde School wants you to, otherwise it will be a losing battle for you.  Seldom do the parents realize how bad it is at the school and how unprofessional the staff and teachers are.  They put on a good show."

What campus did you attend?  When I was at Woodstock I was always amazed at the number of students who would line up outside the nurse's office in the boys dorm to get their meds.  Many (probably most) were there to get the medications to help them with their depression, ADD, anxiety and lots of other mental problems.  Many of these students seemed to have a real hard time at Hyde.  I always wondered why Hyde didn't have any counselors on staff to help these students.  Wouldn't you think that a school that accepts these kinds of students would have professionals to help them?  No wonder so many of them had a hard time at Hyde.

I'd also like to know the answers to your questions.  Does Hyde have mental health counselors now?  When I was there Hyde seemed to accept almost everyone who applied.  I wonder if they've really started to reject so many people, or is that a lie?

[Anonymous]

I was at Woodstock a couple of years ago only for a few months...
The faculty there were pretty up tight.  Who did you think the cool ones were?  You know the people who really cared and really wanted you to succeed?

[Anonymous]

Can't answer all your questions but have ideas about some-

Have no clue why McCrann is "downsizing" although I know that opening their house continuously for seminars and the like seemed to drive his wife nuts - although she remained consistently pleasant.....

We withdrew our child at the end of the year from Woodstock - after one year - one of our concerns was that there was just nursing staff/or staff members to hand out meds - no other medical professionals were there -(our child was NOT on meds so didn't have to get in that long line - but he saw it as the nurses' offices were just below his room)-

Our child was learning disabled with adoption issues and anxiety issues.

Hyde had promised an adoption group - never happened - his learning disabilities were supposed to be addressed in their nightly LEAD program for which we paid an additional 2/3000 dollars EACH semester - was nothing more than a study hall with anybody they could find to proctor - NO specific subject help was given.

Seminars - required- were a disgrace - the atmosphere was eerily quiet and foreboding for ALL - there was no allowance for smiles and GOOD experiences - everything you related was to be bad.....

All in all - a pretty patehtic experience

[Anonymous]

On 2006-04-21 09:05:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Can't answer all your questions but have ideas about some-



Have no clue why McCrann is "downsizing" although I know that opening their house continuously for seminars and the like seemed to drive his wife nuts - although she remained consistently pleasant.....



We withdrew our child at the end of the year from Woodstock - after one year - one of our concerns was that there was just nursing staff/or staff members to hand out meds - no other medical professionals were there -(our child was NOT on meds so didn't have to get in that long line - but he saw it as the nurses' offices were just below his room)-



Our child was learning disabled with adoption issues and anxiety issues.



Hyde had promised an adoption group - never happened - his learning disabilities were supposed to be addressed in their nightly LEAD program for which we paid an additional 2/3000 dollars EACH semester - was nothing more than a study hall with anybody they could find to proctor - NO specific subject help was given.



Seminars - required- were a disgrace - the atmosphere was eerily quiet and foreboding for ALL - there was no allowance for smiles and GOOD experiences - everything you related was to be bad.....



All in all - a pretty patehtic experience"

Holy cow, things haven't changed much.  Our kid was at Hyde 4 years ago.  The problems we had there were exactly the same.  We were told there would be an adoption group, but there was none.  We paid for LEAD services and got virtually nothing.  The seminars were a disgrace - grim, painful, humorless, and run by staff who didn't have a clue and were so far in over their heads (with one exception).  Lots of kids with horrible problems got handed meds and nothing else.  We left Hyde feeling furious, misled, disillusioned and embarrassed that we got sucked into Hyde.  We are so much better off out of the place.

[Ursus]

1.  Does anyone know the real reason why Duncan McCrann is leaving?

I imagine the following might have something to do with why Duncan McCrann left ... for a while. This allegedly happened in 2006:

Posted about a month and a half ago on the Wall of FB group hyde school is hell on earth:

haha my parents finally let me go home after one of the girls in my wing got gang-raped and mccrann told everyone if we said anything to our parents we would be in more trouble than we'd ever known. obviously i told my parents, and look what happened? mccrann got fired and now i'm home doing whatever i want. to the people who liked hyde in 05-06- FUCK YOU. you're idiots.[/list]

[confrontinghyde]

I would love to know why Duncan Mcrann is leaving... I was NOT a fan.

I do want to address the issue of RN's handing out meds. What is the problem? Are you assuming that all the meds are psychiatric? What would having a psychologist have to do with RN's handing out meds? Psychologists don't handle meds or prescribe. Psychiatrists prescribe medications and Hyde could never afford to have one on staff, and even if they could, no MD in their right mind would work there with all the questionable ethical practices.

When I was there we weren't even allowed to keep advil in our rooms. Things like birth control, allergy meds and vitamins are handed out by the nurse's. Nurse's don't prescribe them- the doctors the students see, who are not Hyde employees prescribe. FYI many boarding schools do this. The medication line is not unique to Hyde and quite frankly, I'd rather have a nurse make sure a 14 year old takes prescribed medication then hand a child a bottle of antibiotics, and HOPE they take them.  There are certainly many many kids taking psych meds at Hyde, and the other posters are right, many in that line are getting just that. I was one of them, of course, even if I hadn't been I'd still have been in that line to get my ortho and iron pill.

Bottom line, Hyde admits those kids, but has little to do with the medications. There are plenty of regulations about medication storage and administration that Hyde can't screw with. Which is a good thing. If Hyde had it's way I am pretty sure you'd be expected to solve your own mental health problems though work crew and having one to ones during dinner.

Hyde needs mental health professionals on staff but won't ever get them. Why? It would be professional suicide. Too much of the shit Hyde pulls is in direct violation of what you SHOULD do. Look up the National Social Worker code of Ethics. A real SW would run out of there screaming.

Back to Mcrann. I always thought it was a crock of shit that he worked for a school that was supposed to be so great at working with families, and yet, he had such a hard time with his own children.

Hyde is disgusting, and I wish some one would hurry up and do an expose of that place!

When I was there, there truly were a lot of good kids there. Many were going through hard times, and came from troubled families. but even the best kid can be made into a rotten crazy by that school. If you don't have issues to talk about in seminar then you're in trouble!

There were a lot of kids with learning issues, add, depression and self esteem issues. Many were adopted, had lost a parent or had parents who were just batshit crazy. There were also kids with substance abuse issues. There were kids who tried hard to magnify their own issues to fit in, seem strong or get props for "digging deep"

There were a few kids that I think were seriously mentally ill, and many had parents who just couldn't accept it. There was a girl there that I now recognize had schizophrenia when I was a student. My heart goes out to her now, she had a very hard time and it was never fair or ethical. She didn't get the treatment she needed, and was made fun of horribly by her peers.  (I am a social worker now, and have worked in multiple mental health settings) I remember being instructed to take my roommate's razors from her so she would stop cutting herself- I look back at that and cannot believe that was how a faculty member thought fit to handle a very serious situation!

[Ursus]

I would love to know why Duncan Mcrann is leaving... I was NOT a fan.

I believe he was made scarce for a short period of time (this happened back in 2006), but then came back, true to Hyde formula.

See also:

Hyde School Woodstock Headmaster Leaving???
viewtopic.php?f=43&t=14634[/list]

[Ursus]

I do want to address the issue of RN's handing out meds. What is the problem? Are you assuming that all the meds are psychiatric? What would having a psychologist have to do with RN's handing out meds? Psychologists don't handle meds or prescribe. Psychiatrists prescribe medications and Hyde could never afford to have one on staff, and even if they could, no MD in their right mind would work there with all the questionable ethical practices.

When I was there we weren't even allowed to keep advil in our rooms. Things like birth control, allergy meds and vitamins are handed out by the nurse's. Nurse's don't prescribe them- the doctors the students see, who are not Hyde employees prescribe. FYI many boarding schools do this. The medication line is not unique to Hyde and quite frankly, I'd rather have a nurse make sure a 14 year old takes prescribed medication then hand a child a bottle of antibiotics, and HOPE they take them. There are certainly many many kids taking psych meds at Hyde, and the other posters are right, many in that line are getting just that. I was one of them, of course, even if I hadn't been I'd still have been in that line to get my ortho and iron pill.

Bottom line, Hyde admits those kids, but has little to do with the medications. There are plenty of regulations about medication storage and administration that Hyde can't screw with. Which is a good thing. If Hyde had it's way I am pretty sure you'd be expected to solve your own mental health problems though work crew and having one to ones during dinner.

Yup. That's exactly the way it used to be. Work crew, confrontation in seminar, ridicule in school meeting, and school-wide ostracism was used as a cure for everything from a bad attitude to aspergers. Joe had tremendous disdain for the professional practice of psychology, preferring a do-it-yourself approach using psych tricks brought to popular awareness through the human potential movement. From what I can tell, that's pretty much exactly what Hyde School still does, although they have been forced to make concessions re. kids taking psych meds due to cultural trends and public awareness.

The "character education" is, IMO, a reflection of Joe's obsession with his own self-improvement. What actually transpires at Hyde was probably based in part on, or at least was heavily influenced by, a therapeutic community based program for treating juvenile delinquents called Guided Group Interaction, originally developed for military offenders by Lloyd McCorkle in the 1940s.

GGI is the forerunner of Positive Peer Culture, a more palatable label that many folk confuse with a general descriptive of using the influence of peers in a positive way or towards positive goals. Make no mistake about it, PPC is a "group therapy" method which, in its original form, strives to create a 'round the clock, 24/7 therapeutic milieu in order to effect intended behavior modification. Pretty much every single program featured on fornits uses it or other TC-based protocols of one form or another. It all boils down to using group pressure, or mob mentality if you will, to coerce both behavioral as well as psychological change in adolescents.

[confrontinghyde]

Yup. That's exactly the way it used to be. Work crew, confrontation in seminar, ridicule in school meeting, and school-wide ostracism was used as a cure for everything from a bad attitude to aspergers. Joe had tremendous disdain for the professional practice of psychology, preferring a do-it-yourself approach using psych tricks brought to popular awareness through the human potential movement. From what I can tell, that's pretty much exactly what Hyde School still does, although they have been forced to make concessions re. kids taking psych meds due to cultural trends and public awareness.

The "character education" is, IMO, a reflection of Joe's obsession with his own self-improvement. What actually transpires at Hyde was probably based in part on, or at least was heavily influenced by, a therapeutic community based program for treating juvenile delinquents called Guided Group Interaction, originally developed for military offenders by Lloyd McCorkle in the 1940s.

GGI is the forerunner of Positive Peer Culture, a more palatable label that many folk confuse with a general descriptive of using the influence of peers in a positive way or towards positive goals. Make no mistake about it, PPC is a "group therapy" method which, in its original form, strives to create a 'round the clock, 24/7 therapeutic milieu in order to effect intended behavior modification. Pretty much every single program featured on fornits uses it or other TC-based protocols of one form or another. It all boils down to using group pressure, or mob mentality if you will, to coerce both behavioral as well as psychological change in adolescents.

Ursus, I was there. I don't need you or anyone else to validate my personal account of Hyde.

As far as Hyde making "concessions" regarding medication- did you read my post to begin with? Hyde has no authority to tell anyone what medication they can and cannot take. There was no concession due to "cultural trends." Stop making crap up and scouring the internet for whatever snipit of text you can copy and paste to support your opinion of the day.

Hyde is not a good place. I don't support it, but a lot of what you post on here is as off-base and misinformed as anything that goes on at Hyde.

PS who gives a crap what the etiology of Hyde's dogma is? I sure don't.

[confrontinghyde]

PPS correlation does not mean causation.

[Ursus]

Yup. That's exactly the way it used to be. Work crew, confrontation in seminar, ridicule in school meeting, and school-wide ostracism was used as a cure for everything from a bad attitude to aspergers. Joe had tremendous disdain for the professional practice of psychology, preferring a do-it-yourself approach using psych tricks brought to popular awareness through the human potential movement. From what I can tell, that's pretty much exactly what Hyde School still does, although they have been forced to make concessions re. kids taking psych meds due to cultural trends and public awareness.

The "character education" is, IMO, a reflection of Joe's obsession with his own self-improvement. What actually transpires at Hyde was probably based in part on, or at least was heavily influenced by, a therapeutic community based program for treating juvenile delinquents called Guided Group Interaction, originally developed for military offenders by Lloyd McCorkle in the 1940s.

GGI is the forerunner of Positive Peer Culture, a more palatable label that many folk confuse with a general descriptive of using the influence of peers in a positive way or towards positive goals. Make no mistake about it, PPC is a "group therapy" method which, in its original form, strives to create a 'round the clock, 24/7 therapeutic milieu in order to effect intended behavior modification. Pretty much every single program featured on fornits uses it or other TC-based protocols of one form or another. It all boils down to using group pressure, or mob mentality if you will, to coerce both behavioral as well as psychological change in adolescents.

Ursus, I was there. I don't need you or anyone else to validate my personal account of Hyde.

As far as Hyde making "concessions" regarding medication- did you read my post to begin with? Hyde has no authority to tell anyone what medication they can and cannot take. There was no concession due to "cultural trends." Stop making crap up and scouring the internet for whatever snipit of text you can copy and paste to support your opinion of the day.

Hyde is not a good place. I don't support it, but a lot of what you post on here is as off-base and misinformed as anything that goes on at Hyde.

PS who gives a crap what the etiology of Hyde's dogma is? I sure don't.

Jeeezzz... you seem to have some issues with someone, but I'm not sure it's me! Sorry if the way I phrase things seems to piss you off; it surely isn't intended to!

You had said, "If Hyde had it's way I am pretty sure you'd be expected to solve your own mental health problems though work crew and having one to ones during dinner," and to which I replied, "Yup. That's exactly the way it used to be. Work crew, confrontation in seminar, ridicule in school meeting, and school-wide ostracism was used as a cure for everything from a bad attitude to aspergers." I'm sorry if that somehow offends you.

In my day, there was almost no one taking any medication. There was even talk to the effect of that going that route was a cop-out. That kids' problems were all moral failings and character flaws. That has changed, not necessarily because Hyde wanted to, but because the way our society views that issue has changed, i.e, that of kids taking meds. And I do, personally, see accommodating that as a concession that Hyde has made due to economic realities, but you're more than welcome, of course, to disagree with me.

I don't see where I even addressed the issue of whether or not Hyde has the "authority to tell anyone what medication they can and cannot take." However, on a related note, that is, on how Hyde's philosophical stance on medication may have affected kids' access to it, it appears that on at least two somewhat recent occasions a kid has been sent to outpost and their bipolar meds were simply "forgotten."

If you feel that strongly that what I post is "off-base and misinformed," how come you're not on here trying to refute it?  

[Ursus]

PS who gives a crap what the etiology of Hyde's dogma is? I sure don't.

Personally, I find that figuring out where Hyde's psychobabble comes from ... goes a long way towards putting it in its rightful place. You may very well not feel that way, and apparently don't.

PPS correlation does not mean causation.

No, there is a tremendous amount I don't know of that went into Joe's witches brew. He seems to have picked up bits and pieces from here and there. I just report on what I find, for what it's worth.

And I am sure that the "official Hyde version" thereof, while certainly informative, is apt to be more than a little skewed and incomplete.

If you know of other info, why not report/discuss it here?  

[DannyB II]

:shamrock:  :shamrock:

viewtopic.php?f=43&t=15027

confrontinghyde spoke:

Ursus, I was there. I don't need you or anyone else to validate my personal account of Hyde.

As far as Hyde making "concessions" regarding medication- did you read my post to begin with? Hyde has no authority to tell anyone what medication they can and cannot take. There was no concession due to "cultural trends." Stop making crap up and scouring the internet for whatever snipit of text you can copy and paste to support your opinion of the day.

Hyde is not a good place. I don't support it, but a lot of what you post on here is as off-base and misinformed as anything that goes on at Hyde.

PS who gives a crap what the etiology of Hyde's dogma is? I sure don't.



confrontinghyde spoke:

Re: For Current Students at Hyde School

New postby confrontinghyde » Today, 00:49

PPS  "correlation does not mean causation."


Ursus spoke:
Jeeezzz... you seem to have some issues with someone, but I'm not sure it's me! Sorry if the way I phrase things seems to piss you off; it surely isn't intended to!

In my day, there was almost no one talking any medication. There was even talk to the effect of that going that route was a cop-out. That kid's problems were all moral failings and character flaws. That has changed, not necessarily because Hyde wanted to, but because the way our society views that issue has changed, i.e, that of kids taking meds. And I do, personally, see accommodating that as a concession that Hyde has made due to economic realities, but you're more than welcome, of course, to disagree with me.

I don't see where I even addressed the issue of whether or not Hyde has the "authority to tell anyone what medication they can and cannot take." However, on a related note, that is, on how Hyde's philosophical stance on medication may have affected kids' access to it, it appears that on at least two occasions a kid has been sent to outpost and their bipolar meds were simply "forgotten."

If you feel that strongly that what I post is "off-base and misinformed," how come you're not on here trying to refute it?


Ursus spoke:

confrontinghyde wrote:
PS who gives a crap what the etiology of Hyde's dogma is? I sure don't.

Ursus:
Personally, I find that figuring out where Hyde's psychobabble comes from ... goes a long way towards putting it in its rightful place. You may very well not feel that way, and apparently don't.

confrontinghyde wrote:
PPS correlation does not mean causation.

Ursus:
No, there is a tremendous amount I don't know of that went into Joe's witches brew. He seems to have picked up bits and pieces from here and there. I just report on what I find, for what it's worth.

And I am sure that the "official Hyde version" thereof, while certainly informative, is apt to be more than a little skewed and incomplete.

If you know of other info, why not report/discuss it here?


DannyB II spoke:
 :notworthy:
Get what I have been saying hotshot, listen more you may learn.
You have opinions anybody can have them.
BTW,  you don't just report what you find that would be fine, you take it a step further.

Danny