Eric David Schibley - 1980

17 year old Eric David Schibley was sent out to sail in a boat operated by Visionquest. The crew wasn't that experienced so when they ran into a storm, the boat sank. Together with several teenagers he died. It was called a survival trip and it might be right when the crew was inexperienced to pronounce it like that.

It was one of the tragedies which claimed most lives in the troubled teenage industry but for the family of Eric David Schibley it didn't matter how many who died at the same time. They lost a son.

A real tragedy which has been remembered to this day.

May he rest in peace.


Sources:

• Search for missing teens on survival trip (The Bryan Times)
• Panic noted in VisionQuest (Kingman Daily Miner)

William "Eddie" Lee - year 2000

It has been 11 years since 15 year old William "Eddie" Lee died at Obsidian Trails Wilderness Camp.

It was not the first death in a wilderness program. It was not the last death in the wilderness program.

It had not the media coverage as in the case of Aaron Bacon. His parents did not testify in congress. There was no movie made of him.

The wilderness program was not as high profile as Sagewalk known from "Brat Camp". A wilderness program which got closed down 9 years later when Sergey Blashchishen lost his life at Sagewalk.

Who's fault is it that William "Eddie" Lee is not an everyday household name? Did he not have just as much a right to outlive his potential and fulfill his dreams?

Of course he had. But in order to make it to the frontpage, you have to have a strong support group. One second used on natural grief and the death is forgotten in a modern and cruel media world. It is not the fault of his parents. They were only humans and kept their grief private.

That's why this post was made. I never knew William "Eddie" Lee but his deaths was unfair and cruel.

RIP

References:

• Death Trip (Healthday Magazine)
• Charge in Wilderness School Death, The Associated Press, September 20, 2000 (Reprint from Project Nospank)
• A son's death fueled drive for wilderness-school law (The Seattke Times)

Shirley Arciszewski - 2004

When a 45-year-old staff member placed her full body weight on little 12 year old Shirley Arciszewski it became time for the little girl to die as she couldn't breathe due to the massive weight of the staff member on her chest. She was strangled.

Face down restraints were considered dangerous even back then but in many states facedown restraints continue to be used.

As for the staff member the authorities ruled that she showed poor judgment but that her actions were not criminal. As a little sorry to the family left behind by the death of the girl the group home was shut down by the authorities.

So none were to blamed for her death. Certainly such a decision was met with criticism in the public but should have been more upsetting was the continued neglect of proper supervision of group homes, boarding schools and other residential solutions for minors.

This death should have resulted in legislation but it didn't. This is not the only entry for Missouri we sadly have to put in this blog.

Shirley Arciszewski would have been a young women who would have started out on her adult life this year, but her life was taken from her. May she rest in peace.

Source:

• No Charges In Girl's Restraint Death, By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express, January 11, 2005
• Victims between 2005 and 2009, Fornits Wiki
• Shirley Arciszewski, Find a grave
• Shirley Arciszewski (1992 - 2004) (Memorial page)

Sergey Blashchishen - 2009

August 28 2009 marked to endings.

First it marked the ending of the claim that commercial wilderness therapy can be safe. Sagewalk - a wilderness program - featured nationwide as a safe option for parents who had teenagers facing trouble in a modern world where temptations present themselves even inside the home when the computer is switched on, did turn out as deadly.

It was hardly a surprise as many teenagers had died in wilderness programs before. But the industry did always have some kind of explanation. Among the lame excuses were:

• It was a simple accident
• It was an unlicensed wilderness program
• It was the actions of a single employee running amok

But this time a 16 year old boy died in what was the properly finest wilderness program in the United States. There were no excuses. There were no staff members doing other things than they had done with hundred of teenagers. They had simply gambled as all employees in wilderness programs do when they take a teenager who had been removed from his home not days ago out in the wilderness without days of hospitalization to determine if the child was fit to function without the basic standards of 2009.

This day they lost their bet and had to pay the price with the loss of their jobs.

But there was another ending. It was the end of the life for 16 year old Sergey Blashchishen - a boy who knew that he helped help and had reached out to his parents. What did look like an obvious choice of hospitalization in a place where he could detox and receive therapy were somewhere changed - perhaps by an educational consultant on the payroll of schools or programs - to include a stay at a wilderness program.

A deadly choice but also a tragic loss for his family who had to suffer the ultimate sacrifice - the loss of a child.

May he be remembered as a person who paid too dearly with life so families of teenagers in need for treatment may be advised better in the future?

May be rest in peace.


References:
On the the fatality of Sergey Blashchishen at Aspen Education Group's Wilderness Camp, Sagewalk..., The Troubling Troubling Troubled Teen Industry blog

Shanice Nibbs - 2010

17 year old Shanice Shamika Nibbs fell and died as result of temperature changes within her body on a wilderness outing while she was in the care of Five Oaks Achievement Center in New Ulm.

The question must be whether wilderness outings should be allowed when it is related with treatment of teenagers. They don't have same possibility to control their body temperature as grown up adults.

The increased risk of bodily harm which occurs when you take medicated young people out in the wilderness has been been known for at least a decade. Still it happens every day. The counselors are ready to bet. This time the bet turned out deadly for poor Miss Nibbs. She didn't deserve this.

When will people decide whether the stakes is too high?

May she rest in piece.

Sources:

• List of teenagers who have died in residential treatment since 2010
• Obituary
• Teen who collapsed at residential treatment facility dies, By TERRI LANGFORD, Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle