Thursday, January 24, 2013

Brendon Ogonowski - 2005

18 year old Brendon Ogonowski died from a fatal fall from the roof of one of the dorms. What led him to enter the roof is not known.

However a recent police investigation has led many to believe that something was hidden at the campus which could explain his presence at the roof.

May he rest in peace.

Sources:

Friday, January 18, 2013

Corey Foster - 2012

2012 was just started when 16 year old Corey Foster died while the employees at Leake & Watts residential treatment center in New York tried to restrain him.

The restraint was not done by the book and a cause could be the massive number of residents in the system making it hard to give each teenager the attention he needs.

An investigation is ongoing and the center has been met with a lot of criticism.

To die just 16 year of age is a tragedy and a terrible loss for his family.

May he rest in peace.

Sources:

Thursday, January 10, 2013

James Richard "Jim" Shirey - 2009

January 10, 2009 should have been a day just like any other. At the ranch a 14 year old boy was in the final stages of his stay at the ranch, when he fell ill. The ranch located miles from the nearest town was not a place where you should fall ill.

Even ordinary illnesses could turn fatal and then of course the so-called counselors - the musclemen guarding the teenagers - have to be convinced that the complaints of one of the residents are not act planned to get them to transport the teenagers to a place where it is easier to escape. When the boy entered the hospital it was too late. His life was cut short and ended way too soon.

All that delay which is kind of ordinary when taken into the account that the victim lists of teenagers who have died while they were placed in such treatment programs are way too long. There is only one conclusion for parents thinking of sending their children to facilities like Diamond Ranch Academy: If you child have even the slightest health problems then keep them at home!

For the 14 year old James Richard "Jim" Shirey his stay at Diamond Ranch Academy ended with his death. Back in 2009 they tried to find the cause of his death several times. It is not clear whether the cause was found. Maybe the autopsy was performed locally under the stress of keeping jobs in a small community with few jobs and an economy under pressure. In fact it would not be the first time when the cause of death is altered to keep the facility out of the case. Just remember the Martin Lee Anderson case.

There is no reason to blame his parents. They fell for a very crafty marketing machine. How many websites are promoting to fix the problems of teenagers? Thousands!! A lot of the so-called educational consultants are paid by both the parents and the facilities when they recommend certain wilderness programs and facilities to the families. In fact most in the Ed-con industry would not be able to keep their business running if they were not small recruiting outlets for the wilderness programs and special boarding schools.

It is a business built on scams. Just look at the cases where parents have been made into believing that a certain boarding school is better than a local offer by a school district. Modern school district have experts. They know about the double payment educational consultants receive and they are no longer giving in. They take their day in court and they do often win.

But unfortunately parents are still being fooled. They don't have the knowledge professionals inside the education system have. They are easy pray, when parents in some cases are paid or given discount in exchange of praising a certain schools or wilderness programs.

It is easy to say that deaths can be accidental and fewer children dies at the ranch compared with other schools but when is a death one too much? We believe that every death is one too many and that even one death should result in an evaluation of the entire business.

The tragedy which took place on January 10, 2009 should have resulted in a suspension of the operations just as it has been the case with many other schools and wilderness programs. For reasons unknown to us it did not happen.

James Richard "Jim" Shirey got only 14 years in this world. May he rest in peace. We will pray that he is in a better place than the "hell ranch".

Sources:

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Joshua Ferrarini - 1989

When an untrained employee at St. Aemelian Hospital tried to intervene against the only 13 year old boy the boy died.

The employee had a reputation of using "power" to discipline the children and he had been suspended before. Regardless of that he was allowed to restrain Joshua Ferrarini alone and declined help from a co-worker.

As it was custom in the 1980s there was no prosecution against the employee and the Hospital only received minor discpline actions.

So it took som decades more before things started to improve. Improper use of restraints continued to be a major factor when it came to claim the lives of children in residential care.

Cases like the one with Joshua Ferrari could have ended without his death. Unfortunately the political willpower wasn't existing and it claimed his life in the end.

May he rest in peace.

Sources:

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Martin Lee Anderson - 2006

A video camera was basically what brought his family such justice after they so unnecessary lost him to a cruel justice system. He was riding a car which didn't belong to him. There shouldn't be death penalty for car theft but in Florida it became the result as he was bullied and kicked to death.

The state tried to put an autospy report on the table showing that he died from an unrelated illness but it was clear for everyone that the report was doctored.

The guards was prosecuted but escaped through a loop hole. The state did however shut all the boot camps down. Boot camps has never proven their value dealing with the youths problems, so it was about time such a costly system was shut down.

The state decided that families of children in the system shouldn't be allowed the same chance to find the truth because video's are now banned from being shared with the public.

Several children have lost their lives in Florida's justice system since and they died away from the cameras in almost 100 percent secrecy.

14 years was all he was allowed in this life.

May he rest in peace.

Sources:
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...