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 13. Were you ever denied contact with anyone outside the program, including your family, the U.S. Embassy (for the programs outside of the U.S.), or an abuse hotline? Were you aware then or now that some of these are unconstitutional deprivations of contact for a U.S. citizen?
"I was denied all of that when I first arrived. They told me I had no choice and I would not be able to talk to my parents till I reached upper levels, only through mail once a week could I hear from them. I would tell my parents in letters what they were doing, and the case managers would just say we were being manipulative and lying. I was not aware about the U.S. embassy at the time, at 15 I was just too terrified being in a place where I couldn't even go to the bathroom by myself."- J.C., Casa by the Sea
"I never was granted any sort of access to telephones. I did go to the Embassy to receive my passport, however we were strictly forbidden from speaking to anyone, noting that someone had previously reported abuse there. We were told that if we did so, we would be immediately sent to OP. There was no abuse line offered and our parents were told to ignore claims of abuse in our letters as being manipulation." - C.M., Tranquility Bay
"Talking to my mom or dad wasn’t an option for at least 3 months, maybe longer. When asked I was told no that it was a privilege I had to earn by getting to level 3. There were many times I would write to my family and tell them about the things going on in the program, and they decided not to send those letters out. So there was no way for me to communicate with my mom the stress I was feeling. I did not realize that it was an unconstitutional deprivation; I was under the impression that I had no American rights while I was in the school." - A.E., Casa by the Sea
"I wasn’t allowed to talk on the phone with my family for 6 months. I did not know I even had the option to contact my family before then, nor was I given any opportunity to." - L.W., Cross Creek Manor
"Yes I was for 9 months. And they didn't send a few of my letters. I was sent to R&R once because of something I wrote in a letter to my parents, and our family rep said I lied and I would have to rewrite that weeks letter. I told her I would not rewrite the letter and bam! - on my face for three days." - Anon, Casa by the Sea
"Your joking right? I was held hostage till I was almost 18 by my (also abusive) parents. They didn’t give us phone calls and you couldn’t “manipulate” about the program - I was put in worksheets for telling the truth. Violation of my Constitutional Right FREEDOM OF SPEECH!" - D.G., Casa by the Sea & Ivy Ridge
"I never knew to ask for the U.S. embassy. As far as my mom no I wasn’t aloud to call her whenever I wanted." - C.L., Casa by the Sea
"Yes, everyday till I got to level 3 and then i had a 15 minute monitored phone call with my parents once a month. I was allowed to talk to my parents only. I didn't know that then nor would it have mattered." - B.B., Ivy Ridge & Tranquility Bay
"I was never denied my "one-letter-a-week" home to my parents, but I knew as soon as I arrived that my freedom of speech had been stolen from me. Sometimes they would even let letters to other people sneak through if you were savvy enough. I was able to send a letter home to my sister and friend's mother at the time. They still censored your letters, and once they implemented the computer system to write letters, I'm sure they just deleted whatever they didn't approve of. But, no, you had no outside communication with the world besides parents. I attempted to send my parents my journal entries hoping they would read between the lines and see my cry for help. I'm not sure how much they actually received though. My case manager, as well as other "students" made sure that I couldn't communicate with anyone but my parents, and if I tried I'd be sent to Worksheets or R&R, depending on how bad the letter was. So I never even tried. I had just given up hope at that point." - C.A., Casa by the Sea
"I was denied contact with anyone outside the program. I was only able to write to my mother and my mail was always screened and blacked out. I did not know that we could contact the U.S. Embassy for anything if we wanted to. We were under the impression that our parents signed us over to the program and the program became our “guardian”. Had I known I could have called a U.S. embassy, I would have done that the day I finished my schooling instead of sitting in worksheet for almost two weeks everyday." - A.T., Casa by the Sea
"We were only allowed to write letters to immediate family and denied phone calls until our appropriate level I was not aware that it was unconstitutional deprivation though." - G.A., Casa by the Sea
"If being told as a lower level you are not allowed to get letters from parents or speak to parents until a certain level then yes. But I was not allowed to get letters from ANYONE other than my mother and father. An approved friend from home had sent me letters packages.... and never once did I receive anything." - N.R., Casa by the Sea
"I had no idea at that time. I was a child and knew nothing about this certain rights. I think I was denied to call my parents in the beginning of the program." - J.K., Casa by the Sea
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Question 13. Were you ever denied contact with anyone outside the program, including your family, the U.S. Embassy (for the programs outside of the U.S.), or an abuse hotline? Were you aware then or now that some of these are unconstitutional deprivations of contact for a U.S. citizen?
"I was denied all of that when I first arrived. They told me I had no choice and I would not be able to talk to my parents till I reached upper levels, only through mail once a week could I hear from them. I would tell my parents in letters what they were doing, and the case managers would just say we were being manipulative and lying. I was not aware about the U.S. embassy at the time, at 15 I was just too terrified being in a place where I couldn't even go to the bathroom by myself."- J.C., Casa by the Sea
"I never was granted any sort of access to telephones. I did go to the Embassy to receive my passport, however we were strictly forbidden from speaking to anyone, noting that someone had previously reported abuse there. We were told that if we did so, we would be immediately sent to OP. There was no abuse line offered and our parents were told to ignore claims of abuse in our letters as being manipulation." - C.M., Tranquility Bay
"Talking to my mom or dad wasn’t an option for at least 3 months, maybe longer. When asked I was told no that it was a privilege I had to earn by getting to level 3. There were many times I would write to my family and tell them about the things going on in the program, and they decided not to send those letters out. So there was no way for me to communicate with my mom the stress I was feeling. I did not realize that it was an unconstitutional deprivation; I was under the impression that I had no American rights while I was in the school." - A.E., Casa by the Sea
"I wasn’t allowed to talk on the phone with my family for 6 months. I did not know I even had the option to contact my family before then, nor was I given any opportunity to." - L.W., Cross Creek Manor
"Yes I was for 9 months. And they didn't send a few of my letters. I was sent to R&R once because of something I wrote in a letter to my parents, and our family rep said I lied and I would have to rewrite that weeks letter. I told her I would not rewrite the letter and bam! - on my face for three days." - Anon, Casa by the Sea
"Your joking right? I was held hostage till I was almost 18 by my (also abusive) parents. They didn’t give us phone calls and you couldn’t “manipulate” about the program - I was put in worksheets for telling the truth. Violation of my Constitutional Right FREEDOM OF SPEECH!" - D.G., Casa by the Sea & Ivy Ridge
"I never knew to ask for the U.S. embassy. As far as my mom no I wasn’t aloud to call her whenever I wanted." - C.L., Casa by the Sea
"Yes, everyday till I got to level 3 and then i had a 15 minute monitored phone call with my parents once a month. I was allowed to talk to my parents only. I didn't know that then nor would it have mattered." - B.B., Ivy Ridge & Tranquility Bay
"I was never denied my "one-letter-a-week" home to my parents, but I knew as soon as I arrived that my freedom of speech had been stolen from me. Sometimes they would even let letters to other people sneak through if you were savvy enough. I was able to send a letter home to my sister and friend's mother at the time. They still censored your letters, and once they implemented the computer system to write letters, I'm sure they just deleted whatever they didn't approve of. But, no, you had no outside communication with the world besides parents. I attempted to send my parents my journal entries hoping they would read between the lines and see my cry for help. I'm not sure how much they actually received though. My case manager, as well as other "students" made sure that I couldn't communicate with anyone but my parents, and if I tried I'd be sent to Worksheets or R&R, depending on how bad the letter was. So I never even tried. I had just given up hope at that point." - C.A., Casa by the Sea
"I was denied contact with anyone outside the program. I was only able to write to my mother and my mail was always screened and blacked out. I did not know that we could contact the U.S. Embassy for anything if we wanted to. We were under the impression that our parents signed us over to the program and the program became our “guardian”. Had I known I could have called a U.S. embassy, I would have done that the day I finished my schooling instead of sitting in worksheet for almost two weeks everyday." - A.T., Casa by the Sea
"We were only allowed to write letters to immediate family and denied phone calls until our appropriate level I was not aware that it was unconstitutional deprivation though." - G.A., Casa by the Sea
"If being told as a lower level you are not allowed to get letters from parents or speak to parents until a certain level then yes. But I was not allowed to get letters from ANYONE other than my mother and father. An approved friend from home had sent me letters packages.... and never once did I receive anything." - N.R., Casa by the Sea
"I had no idea at that time. I was a child and knew nothing about this certain rights. I think I was denied to call my parents in the beginning of the program." - J.K., Casa by the Sea