Anthony Haynes - 2001

14-year-old Tony Haynes loved the outdoor and wanted to experience a boot camp but what he got at the America's Buffalo Soldiers Re-Enactors Association might have been called a boot camp but it was pure child abuse. If the ordinary soldiers had been put through the same level of training, the world would looked differently because they would not have been able to fight anyone.

The tragic death became extraordinary as it was one of the few times, employees and owers was actually held responsible. The so-called Colonel in charge of the program, only made it to Lance Corporal in the army ended up in prison for many years. We can question whether it was a fair sentence because the family of Anthony lost him for good.

May Anthony Haynes find peace where he is now.

Sources:

• Boot Camp or Boot Hill? Troubled Teens Suffer From Too Much Tough Love (Prison Legal News)
• Buffalo Soldier Released From Prison 2-18-2010 (AZfamily)
• Arizona Boot Camp Where Boy Died Reopens (The New York Times)

Robert Rollins - 1997

12-year-old Robert Rollins died because lessons were not learned from earlier deaths involving adults trying to restrain a child. Asphyxiation was the cause of death as so many times before. DCF placed him at the Devereaux School and lack of training among the employees meant that it became his death sentence.

If only DCF acted and made a consequence closing the school for the children in their care, but it seems that sadly nothing happened.

A child died and nothing happened!

We can only feel sorry for the family left behind and hope that he is at peace where he is now.

Sources:

• Lesson Not Taken From Fatality (The Hartford Courant)
• Another youth dead following 'restraint' (The Boston Globe)

Andrew McClain - 1998

11-year-old Andrew McClain died because the employees at the Elmcrest Psychiatric Hospital tried to restrain him. It proved to be a deathly decision. He was basically crushed to death because the employees were poorly trained to do their job. Maybe profit mattered more than the safety of the patients. We can not know.

All we know is that a family lost their boy, which should not have been the case.

When you commit your child to the hospital, you believe that your child is safe. This case proves otherwise. Please check up on your child in any residential setting.

May he find peace where he is now.

Sources:

• Andrew's Last Hours (The Hartford Courant)
• A Child Dies in State's Custody (The New York Times)
• Connecticut Examines Use of Restraint Holds on Psychiatric Patients After Death of Boy, 11 (The New York Times)
• Hospital and Employee Are Cited in Death of Boy (The New York Times)

Tristan Sovern - 1998

16-year-old Tristan Sovern died because the employees at the Charter Behavioral Health Systems tried to restrain him. Suffering from a cold it did not become easier for him to catch his breath when the employees placed bed sheet and towel over his mouth and nose. The employees were poorly trained and it saved them from criminal conviction. They simply did not know better.

So no training, equal license to kill.

Why the state did not intervene and close the hospital due to concerns of the safety of the patients is strange. No hospital should be able to operate without training their employees. The death of the boy shows that so clearly.

They managed to get away with this bad management and the family of the boy was left behind suffering from the memory of a boy who should have been given a chance to life and fulfill his destiny.

May he find peace where he is now.

Sources:

• Unsafe Haven: FAQ (CBS News)
• A mother's anguish - and a President's profits (The Guardian)
• Hospital personnel face prison for death of "restrained" patient (Google News-group)
• CHARTER AIDE DESCRIBES DEATH\ PRIOR TROUBLE WITH PATIENT IS RECOUNTED (News & Record - Greensboro)
• DA ENDS PROBE OF CHARTER PATIENT'S DEATH\ NO FURTHER CHARGES WILL BE FILED IN THE INVESTIGATION INTO TRISTAN SOVERN'S DEATH AT A GREENSBORO PSYCHIATRIC FACILITY. (News & Record - Greensboro)

Ryan C. Lewis - 2001

14-year-old Ryan C. Lewis was found hanging not far from a campsite class room. He was treated for depression and his parents had warned about the risk of suicide. Still he was left alone long enough to end his life. The management just closed the program down and founded a boarding school for girls instead. Wilderness programs can be dangerous because the teenagers are exposed to the elements. That claims the lives of lot of the teenagers as you can read on this blog.

But here the employees showed neglect. They should have watched. They didn't.

It was a tragedy for his parents who believed that they had found a treatment method for their teenage boy. It should not have been allowed to happen. He should have been allowed a long life.

May he find peace where he is now.

Sources:

• Teen's suicide settled (West Virginia Record)
• States Pressed As 3 Boys Die At Boot Camps (The New York Times)
• Teen, Interrupted (Brown Political Review)