Interview for ex-WWASPS Students
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A 25 question interview of ex-students who attended WWASPS schools. Answers to each question can be found on the page links below.
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Question 1. Were you unhappy with your family life at home before you were sent to a WWASPS program? Please explain, and give a couple examples of what your home life was like before the program.
"I was unhappy with my family. Mostly with just my mom, and sometimes my brother and sister. I lived with my mom, dad, older brother, and younger sister. I always felt like the black sheep. My mom and I would get into arguments all the time. I was also shoplifting a little and got caught twice, so that strained my relationship with my mom. I wasn't doing drugs, wasn't having sex. Of course, my mom didn't know that. Once I got my license I was out late, and sleeping in on school days. I didn't really talk to my family or do any family activities with them. I guess I was "troubled" but I wasn't lost. My mom could've handled the situation much more easily than jumping to such a dramatic conclusion like sending me out of the country." - C.A., Casa by the Sea
"No it was not happy. My mother and I were never able to live in the same house. I was sent to different boarding schools for 4 years (from age 14-18). Two of those years I spent in WWASP facilities. Somehow my mother and I could never agree, and she didn't have the patience or will to deal with my slight rebelliousness. She wanted total obedience from me, and that wasn't what I was willing to live with." - B.B., Ivy Ridge & Tranquility Bay
"My home life was certainly less than happy before entering WWASP. My mother suffers from severe depression and panic disorders, as well as what is now likely considered (both by my fellow family members and psychologists I have personally spoken with post-WWASP) an undiagnosed personality disorder. My mother was emotionally abusive and my father ignored this. Rules were inconsistent at best. I acted out for attention and was ignored, only to be “heard” when I was no longer looking for affection or love. We fought constantly. I ran away frequently. My parents were constantly holding the nothing of “getting rid of me” over my head. My mother had threatened everything from reform schools, boot camps, exorcisms, and giving me up as a ward of the state. At one point, she was going to put me in an apartment by myself. Instead, upon the recommendation of an Ann Arbor-based therapist, Kathleen Sullivan, they sent me to Tranquility Bay. Ironically, another student of TB was from my same high school - we had the same therapist." - C.M., Tranquility Bay
"I didn’t really have a family life at home. I kept to myself, as the bad kid, in my family. While my older sister was the golden child, the high achiever. When I came home with a C on an exam, my parents wouldn’t really comment. But if my sister came home with an A-, she would get punished for not getting an A+ or A. I really didn’t mind this, I think it was just a phase, and all my friends were the same." - J.K., Casa by the Sea
"I was very unhappy, due to religious differences in the house hold with my parents. Life at home got very uncomfortable when my sister left for college. There are 7 children in my family, and when I, being the youngest, was alone in a large house with all my sisters and brother gone... I started to feel very alone. I started to hang out with kids that were about ditching school and smoking marijuana. I was kicked out of my high school by a boy that told on me for having marijuana at school. For me, I felt like a failure. I was then sent to two psychiatric wards for smoking marijuana, and it never made sense that i was living with girls and boys with severe mental issues, girls were stabbing each other and boys beating the other kids. Some of the staff there was also sleeping with the girls and doing dishonest acts. After I left the Psychiatric ward, two weeks later, I was sent to Casa by the Sea on February 18th, 2000." - J.C., Casa by the Sea
"I would say my family life wasn’t the best but I brought that on myself. I was hanging out with undesirable people and finding myself in a life of drugs and sex. It got to the point where I was locked in my own house like a prisoner. I had bars over my bedroom window, and a security system not to keep intruders out of the house, but to keep me in it." - A.E., Casa by the Sea
"I was incredibly unhappy with my family life at home before I was sent. My parents were both drug users, were emotionally and physically abusive, and both suffer from mental illness. I would leave for weeks at a time and they would barely notice. It was only until my mother slept with my boyfriend (she was 50, he was 16) that I got sent away as to not interfere with what they had going on." - L.W., Cross Creek Manor
"My step father would break my fingers while my mother watched while thinking of excuses in the future to why." - D.G., Casa by the Sea & Ivy Ridge
"Well yes and no I was a teenager. My mom knew nothing and I knew everything. She hated my friends I thought they were my world. But my mom and I just didn’t get along. she would tell me I couldn’t got out and I would tell her to f-off and leave anyways. I guess when she sent me away she wanted structure and help." - C.L., Casa by the Sea
"First, I’d like to state I was not forced into attending Casa by the Sea. However, my best friend was taken away at 4 a.m. in the morning one night while we were all at his house. During his first 2 months there, he attempted to hang himself with his tie. At that point, his mother had asked me if I would be willing to attend Casa. Her thought was if my friend had company, he would try to follow the program. (I didn’t know what the heck she meant by program)... I had agreed to it, and spoke with my mother about it. We both looked into the program and thought, “I could get at least finish my high school education while I’m there since its an independent study program. At least I can redo my sophomore year that I had failed from when I was in regular high school.” Out of the sophomore school year, I had completed only 30 some odd days of school. I spent most of my time with my best friend and we would do all kinds of kid stuff. No drugs were involved, alcohol became a weekend/nightly thing for us. I didn’t live at home, as my step father and I did not get along. The last time we were under one roof, the police were called and we were given two choices. Either one of us leaves the house, or we both go to jail and my sister goes to social services. At that point I grabbed some clothing and called my friend and left. That was at the age of 15 and the last time I saw him." - A.T., Casa by the Sea
"I was not unhappy with my family life at all. I don't really know what I was unhappy with. I'd say it was more along the lines of confusion. Confused about how I felt about myself. Confused about what I wanted to do with my life. I didn't know what direction I wanted to head in. I feel i chose the easiest thing to go for. My friends and what they were doing. I feel that's what we all were doing. Just going for what each other thought was the cool thing to do. Boils down to acceptance." - G.A., Casa by the Sea
"Yes I was unhappy with my situation." - Anon, Casa by the Sea
"Yes, life at home before the program was very difficult for both my parents and I. My parents were getting extremely worried about me after i went into middle school. That is when they noticed my behavior changing. I was not going to school, not following rules and guidelines at home. It all began when i was 13 but by the time I turned 14-15 my parents were well aware that I was abusing some kind of substance, they just never knew what. So finally they went ahead and checked me into an out patient type of program where I would have to report a few days a week... get drug tested and all... I never had regard for getting caught or anything so I continued to act out. Shortly after turning 16 my parents were terrified at the fact that I had been in and out of the hospital a few times for my drug abuse and were worried they were going to lose me to the streets or drugs. So on March 20th, 2003, I was picked up by escorts from the hospital (shortly after overdosing) - straight to Casa." - N.T., Casa by the Sea
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Question 1. Were you unhappy with your family life at home before you were sent to a WWASPS program? Please explain, and give a couple examples of what your home life was like before the program.
"I was unhappy with my family. Mostly with just my mom, and sometimes my brother and sister. I lived with my mom, dad, older brother, and younger sister. I always felt like the black sheep. My mom and I would get into arguments all the time. I was also shoplifting a little and got caught twice, so that strained my relationship with my mom. I wasn't doing drugs, wasn't having sex. Of course, my mom didn't know that. Once I got my license I was out late, and sleeping in on school days. I didn't really talk to my family or do any family activities with them. I guess I was "troubled" but I wasn't lost. My mom could've handled the situation much more easily than jumping to such a dramatic conclusion like sending me out of the country." - C.A., Casa by the Sea
"No it was not happy. My mother and I were never able to live in the same house. I was sent to different boarding schools for 4 years (from age 14-18). Two of those years I spent in WWASP facilities. Somehow my mother and I could never agree, and she didn't have the patience or will to deal with my slight rebelliousness. She wanted total obedience from me, and that wasn't what I was willing to live with." - B.B., Ivy Ridge & Tranquility Bay
"My home life was certainly less than happy before entering WWASP. My mother suffers from severe depression and panic disorders, as well as what is now likely considered (both by my fellow family members and psychologists I have personally spoken with post-WWASP) an undiagnosed personality disorder. My mother was emotionally abusive and my father ignored this. Rules were inconsistent at best. I acted out for attention and was ignored, only to be “heard” when I was no longer looking for affection or love. We fought constantly. I ran away frequently. My parents were constantly holding the nothing of “getting rid of me” over my head. My mother had threatened everything from reform schools, boot camps, exorcisms, and giving me up as a ward of the state. At one point, she was going to put me in an apartment by myself. Instead, upon the recommendation of an Ann Arbor-based therapist, Kathleen Sullivan, they sent me to Tranquility Bay. Ironically, another student of TB was from my same high school - we had the same therapist." - C.M., Tranquility Bay
"I didn’t really have a family life at home. I kept to myself, as the bad kid, in my family. While my older sister was the golden child, the high achiever. When I came home with a C on an exam, my parents wouldn’t really comment. But if my sister came home with an A-, she would get punished for not getting an A+ or A. I really didn’t mind this, I think it was just a phase, and all my friends were the same." - J.K., Casa by the Sea
"I was very unhappy, due to religious differences in the house hold with my parents. Life at home got very uncomfortable when my sister left for college. There are 7 children in my family, and when I, being the youngest, was alone in a large house with all my sisters and brother gone... I started to feel very alone. I started to hang out with kids that were about ditching school and smoking marijuana. I was kicked out of my high school by a boy that told on me for having marijuana at school. For me, I felt like a failure. I was then sent to two psychiatric wards for smoking marijuana, and it never made sense that i was living with girls and boys with severe mental issues, girls were stabbing each other and boys beating the other kids. Some of the staff there was also sleeping with the girls and doing dishonest acts. After I left the Psychiatric ward, two weeks later, I was sent to Casa by the Sea on February 18th, 2000." - J.C., Casa by the Sea
"I would say my family life wasn’t the best but I brought that on myself. I was hanging out with undesirable people and finding myself in a life of drugs and sex. It got to the point where I was locked in my own house like a prisoner. I had bars over my bedroom window, and a security system not to keep intruders out of the house, but to keep me in it." - A.E., Casa by the Sea
"I was incredibly unhappy with my family life at home before I was sent. My parents were both drug users, were emotionally and physically abusive, and both suffer from mental illness. I would leave for weeks at a time and they would barely notice. It was only until my mother slept with my boyfriend (she was 50, he was 16) that I got sent away as to not interfere with what they had going on." - L.W., Cross Creek Manor
"My step father would break my fingers while my mother watched while thinking of excuses in the future to why." - D.G., Casa by the Sea & Ivy Ridge
"Well yes and no I was a teenager. My mom knew nothing and I knew everything. She hated my friends I thought they were my world. But my mom and I just didn’t get along. she would tell me I couldn’t got out and I would tell her to f-off and leave anyways. I guess when she sent me away she wanted structure and help." - C.L., Casa by the Sea
"First, I’d like to state I was not forced into attending Casa by the Sea. However, my best friend was taken away at 4 a.m. in the morning one night while we were all at his house. During his first 2 months there, he attempted to hang himself with his tie. At that point, his mother had asked me if I would be willing to attend Casa. Her thought was if my friend had company, he would try to follow the program. (I didn’t know what the heck she meant by program)... I had agreed to it, and spoke with my mother about it. We both looked into the program and thought, “I could get at least finish my high school education while I’m there since its an independent study program. At least I can redo my sophomore year that I had failed from when I was in regular high school.” Out of the sophomore school year, I had completed only 30 some odd days of school. I spent most of my time with my best friend and we would do all kinds of kid stuff. No drugs were involved, alcohol became a weekend/nightly thing for us. I didn’t live at home, as my step father and I did not get along. The last time we were under one roof, the police were called and we were given two choices. Either one of us leaves the house, or we both go to jail and my sister goes to social services. At that point I grabbed some clothing and called my friend and left. That was at the age of 15 and the last time I saw him." - A.T., Casa by the Sea
"I was not unhappy with my family life at all. I don't really know what I was unhappy with. I'd say it was more along the lines of confusion. Confused about how I felt about myself. Confused about what I wanted to do with my life. I didn't know what direction I wanted to head in. I feel i chose the easiest thing to go for. My friends and what they were doing. I feel that's what we all were doing. Just going for what each other thought was the cool thing to do. Boils down to acceptance." - G.A., Casa by the Sea
"Yes I was unhappy with my situation." - Anon, Casa by the Sea
"Yes, life at home before the program was very difficult for both my parents and I. My parents were getting extremely worried about me after i went into middle school. That is when they noticed my behavior changing. I was not going to school, not following rules and guidelines at home. It all began when i was 13 but by the time I turned 14-15 my parents were well aware that I was abusing some kind of substance, they just never knew what. So finally they went ahead and checked me into an out patient type of program where I would have to report a few days a week... get drug tested and all... I never had regard for getting caught or anything so I continued to act out. Shortly after turning 16 my parents were terrified at the fact that I had been in and out of the hospital a few times for my drug abuse and were worried they were going to lose me to the streets or drugs. So on March 20th, 2003, I was picked up by escorts from the hospital (shortly after overdosing) - straight to Casa." - N.T., Casa by the Sea
