Comments on: SageWalk’s Weak & Inappropriate Response

By: commonsense

commonsense — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:19:16 +0000

To add, why would you be so angry in the first place? Your paying someone to take care of the child you feel you cannot care for in the first place. If you don’t believe this institution should take care of your child, then maybe you should try to do so. Thats what parenting is all about.

By: commonsense

commonsense — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:15:05 +0000

To begin, I am disgusted by the level of ignorance in this article. Clearly written by someone who has never experienced the individual treatments of this institution, these accusations are without experience, nor reference. I refuse to believe that someone willing to take the time to write this article could not be open to the opportunities an institution such as Sagewalk has to offer, nor giving proper credit where it is due. The majority of the statements that were commented on were in regards to legal matters, certainly not to family members. I’m sure to say that sincerity and sympathies were paid to the family by those who were present at the time of death, but I cannot believe for a second that a school bent on emotional and physical rehabilitation would disregard something of that nature.

If for any reason you believe that the school “may not care”, perhaps consider the possibility that it MAY NOT BE THEIR FAULT! If anyone in support of this article were to imagine a guest in your home falling dead in your living room, unexpectedly, would you feel like you caused it? Consider that every employee of Sagewalk started their career there to ASSIST those in need of help, you cannot possibly believe that they signed up, or founded such an organization to HURT children? The amount of confusion and disproportionate anger in these statements infuriates me.

Robert McNamara, former Defense Secretary once reiterated the importance of sympathizing with your enemys. This lesson got us out of the Cuban missle crisis. Why not try and see it from their eyes before letting your foul, uneducated mouth run? You may start a war you did not wish for in the first place…

By: davidsanders

davidsanders — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:55:39 +0000

I would like to add the fact that I am a SageWalk Alumni. During my 63 days of therapy, the counselors showed nothing but the utmost care and attention to every single camper who was there, including myself. There was never one instance in which they put any of the campers lives in jeopardy by pushing us beyond our limits. It is a tragic event that such a young life was lost, but it cannot be blamed on abuse or negligence by the camp administration or staff. I would be fully willing to testify that the staff worked their hardest keep us safe, comfortable, and within our limits, and taking every measure, even if we as students thought it unnecessary.

By: marianne

marianne — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:28:04 +0000

My son graduated from SageWalk July 2009. I am so sad and disturbed about learning of this death. I went through an extensive screening process before choosing SageWalk, especially since I am in Ohio and there were many closer programs to me. Everyone there is extremely skilled and talented and loving. It is NOT a boot camp. I believe that An unfortunate confluence of events occuring in this young man’s body just a day into hiking caused his death. I CANNOT believe ANYONE at SageWalk was negligent in any way. They measure all the water given to make sure there is a minimal amount consumed and watch the student consume it. NO ONE is bullied ever or pushed beyond their limits. My son saw more anger and bullying at home with us as distraught parents than he ever saw at SageWalk in 58 days of being there. I just can’t say enough good things about the staff and the program. They have a reverence for both the students personal struggles and journey as well as a reverence for the peace and healing of the wilderness. It was palpable. As parents, my husband and I went into the wilderness mid-program and spent 2 days living as he was living. Yes it was arduous and austere. That’s part of the magic. Getting our son away from from the world of i-pods, video games, raunchy television shows and movies and music, and the cultural messages that say drugs are cool – well, that provided the space in his life and in his head to allow the excellent counselors and therapist to really make inroads into his perception of himself and the world.

This death is a tragedy to be sure. But the good work that SageWalk does should not be brought into question. Knowing the staff and program as I do now from being a consumer, I would not hesitate to make the same decision again today.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:02:21 +0000

True. Today I did read a more complete statement where the program did a least mention extending sympathies to the family. (That’s why I clarified that it could be an omission on the part of the reporter. Generally, expressions of sympathy are the first statement that comes from a program after the death of a student (whether sincere or not) followed by their explanations, excuses or defense of their actions.)

You can hardly compare a public school system to residential programs.

First, public school systems are made up of day schools where the children go home to their families at night, therefore they wouldn’t need monitoring on a 24/7 basis. Residential programs are responsible for children on a 24/7 basis and many times they are located very far away from any family or friends. The kids in these programs are cut off from the world. I don’t know of any schools in the public school systems that work like this.

Second, while I can acknowledge that they have students that bully other students, and on more occasions lately than in the past, some teachers have had inappropriate sexual contact with students, I’m not aware of a teacher killing a student or a student dying due to a teacher’s neglect and/or abuse. I have seen vast improvements in many public schools regarding bullying and teacher/student relationships. With all of that said, there lies the potential for abuse in ALL institutional atmospheres; schools, churches, hospitals, residential programs, etc. However, in my opinion, there is a greater danger in residential programs where children are cut off from the outside world and have no way to contact anyone. That is why the focus of this web site is mostly on residential youth programs that claim to help adolescents. It is too broad of a subject for me to address all of the institutions that exist in the USA. I have picked the one that means the most to me and is in my opinion the most dangerous of all.

By: username

username — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:32:54 +0000

I read the original article and the very first thing they did was express their sympathy. The investigation is continuing, so really, you can’t expect them to say much more at this point.

As for your statement :
‘This just goes to show that licensing by a state agency is NOT an answer to preventing abuse and neglect from occurring in these youth programs. Licensing means nothing when no one from that agency is there on a 24/7 basis monitoring these programs.’

That pretty much sums up the entire public school system to me. If you are going to harp on programs that are ‘failing kids’ why not mention doing away with them as well. They hardly ever deliver what they promise too, have had thousands bullied, abused and even killed on their watch. Why leave them out?