Redirected from Tranquility Bay
WWASPS programs have become notorious for allegations of child abuse against the school staff. On June 17, 2003, the New York Times reported about such allegations against the WWASPS facility on Jamaica, "Tranquility Bay":
The organization emphasizes that it teaches "respect for authority" and that its programs are "tough". It has taken legal action or threatened to do so against some of its critics. Children as young as 12 have been admitted to Tranquility Bay, for reasons ranging from drug use to conflicts with a new stepmother.
Aaron Kravig, who was court-ordered to spend about a year in the facility, delivered the following sworn testimony about Tranquility Bay regarding the sanitary conditions:
Teens had to shower twice per day. The witness said that although he asked for medical treatment, he could not get his scabies treated until he left the facility:
According to Kravig, the facility used a "level system" based on score points, where students on the lower levels "have no privileges whatsoever" and cannot talk to anyone but students on the higher levels, nor contact their parents, until they have reached "level III". It took Kravig 6 or 7 months to reach that level. Letters to parents were screened by the staff, with sections deemed problematic marked out.
Students were not allowed to talk during meals; instead they were forced to listen to "motivational tapes" and take notes. Kravigs described meals as "not very nutritional" - a sandwich for lunch, sometimes without any meat, and "a plate of rice with a little bit of meat" for dinner.
There were 5 different categories of "consequences" (punishments) for every different rule violation. Category II punishments (given for violations like talking to other students) required students to write a 5,000 word essay. Kravig received 74 such punishments. "By the end you will have bruises on your fingers from pressing the pen; your whole arm will hurt; you will pretty much be numb (...)." Category III punishments are given for refusing orders or fighting among students:
According to his testimony, Kravig was in "observation placement" described above once for four and once for twenty-one days. At night, students were required to do fitness time, which Kravig described as severe. Students who did not complete their punishment were restrained. Two or three and up to nine or ten staff members would
Category IV and V entailed longer observation placements for more "severe acts" like obtaining tobacco or alcohol, or making "run plans", which, according to Kravig, was already the case when students looked out the window or one student picked up another's writings. Self-injury also entailed a category V punishment.
Kravig describes a suicide in the girl's facility, and claims that his towel was used to pick up the girl, returned to him with a large blood spot, and that he was not given a fresh towel.
The facility was cleaned when parents would come to visit (which was only allowed for higher level students). Parents who would come uninvited, according to Kravig, were not allowed to see their children. Although the facility is on Jamaica, popular among tourists, there was no fishing, swimming, or snorkling. Kravig also describes what could be interpreted as false advertising[?]:
In the same case, Lindsey Wise delivered testimony about her stay at Tranquility Bay. She was signed up for the program by her parents at age 16, after having unsuccessfully participated in a different WWASPS program. She was escorted to the airport alone by program staff, and her testimony about the level system etc. corresponds with the one by Kravig. According to her testimony, she spent two monts in staff watch (because she cracked her knuckles, deemed "self-injury"), which she described as follows:
During her two months of staff watch, she "wasn't allowed to touch or read books" and did not attend school. While Kravig was restrained only once, Wise, who was at the girls' facility, claimed that she was restrained "too many times to remember". About the sanitary conditions, she said:
Negative letters to her parents were considered "manipulation", which reduced her score within the system and sometimes entailed "consequences". Wise confirmed Kravig's testimony regarding medical treatment; like Kravig, she was told to stop complaining and denied medical treatment, in her case for severe acne and a yeast infection.
In the first month, during staff watch, students were not allowed to do any fitness activities, and after the students complained, they were assigned, according to Wise's testimony, "5000 jumping jacks and 3000 crunches and 200 push-ups three times per day". If students failed to complete the exercises, they were restrained, which may explain the high number of restraints reported by Lindsey. She also confirmed the suicide reported by Kravig, by Valerie Herron on August 10, 2001. According to Wise, Herron's clothes, notebook, pens and other personal belongings were given to other students for re-use; no discussions about the incident took place, and "the staff just acted like it was something that was normal."
Wise also reported that she "would go to sleep every night hearing people scream."
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump