25 Question Interview for ex-WWASPS Students
Each ex-student has a story about WWASPS that can go on for days... and you can read some of these detailed experiences on Our Stories. But this 'online interview' is designed to be short and to the point, with the answers to a few questions everyone wants to know.
If you were a WWASPS student and would like to contribute your interview, please scroll to the bottom of this page to fill out our Interview Form.
Please click on each question below to see answers.
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.
2. How did you feel when you realized that the program was an involuntary, lock-down institution, not just a regular school?
3. WWASPS students are not allowed to go home unless they conform to program standards. Did you feel you genuinely ‘worked your program’ to get home, or did you ‘fake it till you made it’? Was there a sense of desperation either way?
4. How did your feelings about the program change over the course of your time there? Can you make a quick timeline of your feelings about the program – when you arrived, in the middle and end of your program, the year you got out, and today?
5. While in the program were you ever abused in a physical, sexual or verbal manner? Please give specific examples if you can.
6. Do you recall seeing others being abused in any way? Please give specific examples if you can.
7. Were you ever ‘reamed’ – singled out and humiliated in from of your peers– in the monthly seminars? Can you explain what happened and if you still feel strongly about that experience today?
8. All WWASPS programs have a ‘Student Council’, where your peers judge you and determine whether you are allowed to move up in your levels. Did you ever think there was any corruption (for example, ‘living above the law’, holding grudges, special attention to friends) on Student Council, or did you feel their dealings were always fair?
9. Describe your experience of the punishment treatments, ‘Worksheets’ and ‘R&R’ – were you ever punished with one of these methods? How were you treated? Did you feel the punishment was fair or extreme or abusive?
10. Many students were required to ‘work’ in Worksheets and R&R. How did this make you feel? Did you ever have to work there?
11. Describe your experience of quality of the education system offered at the program. Did the education you received in the program affect you later in life?
12. Describe your experience of the quality of the therapeutic and medical services offered at the program.
13. Were you ever denied contact with anyone outside the program, including your family, the U.S. Embassy, or an abuse hotline? Were you aware then or now that this is an unconstitutional deprivation of contact for a U.S. citizen?
14. Did you keep a journal in the program? If so, please read a bit of it now. What do you think of your written thoughts and feelings from that time? If you had to choose one feeling that best described your journal entries, what would it be?
15. Do you feel the program has affected or changed you/your personality/your habits/your life long term?
16. Do you suffer from PTSD or depression, have recurring nightmares or trust issues related to the program?
17. What WWASPS program did you attend, in what year?
18. How did you get to the program? Did you go voluntarily / did your parents lie to you to get you there / were you court-ordered / or were you ‘escorted’ at night by strangers? Please describe.
19. How long were you in the program? Did you graduate?
20. How much money did your parents spend on your program tuition fees? Could they afford your tuition fees, or did this put them in debt?
21. Do you have a good relationship with your family now?
22. For CBS & HI students - Did you know of an affiliation between Casa by the Sea and High Impact? Please give specific examples if you did.
23. Looking back, can you name some of your behaviours pre-program that you now realise were inappropriate or irresponsible for a young person? Do you think now that those behaviours were a ‘stage’ that you would have eventually grown out of given time or a more stable life in your family home?
24. Do you know anyone else in your life, including your parents, who engaged in these same inappropriate/irresponsible behaviours and grew out of them without being sent to a program?
25. Final question – How do you think your family/parents could have helped you instead of sending you to a program? Please be specific and name any alternative options you think would have helped you and your family.
If you were a WWASPS student and would like to contribute your interview, please scroll to the bottom of this page to fill out our Interview Form.
Please click on each question below to see answers.
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.
2. How did you feel when you realized that the program was an involuntary, lock-down institution, not just a regular school?
3. WWASPS students are not allowed to go home unless they conform to program standards. Did you feel you genuinely ‘worked your program’ to get home, or did you ‘fake it till you made it’? Was there a sense of desperation either way?
4. How did your feelings about the program change over the course of your time there? Can you make a quick timeline of your feelings about the program – when you arrived, in the middle and end of your program, the year you got out, and today?
5. While in the program were you ever abused in a physical, sexual or verbal manner? Please give specific examples if you can.
6. Do you recall seeing others being abused in any way? Please give specific examples if you can.
7. Were you ever ‘reamed’ – singled out and humiliated in from of your peers– in the monthly seminars? Can you explain what happened and if you still feel strongly about that experience today?
8. All WWASPS programs have a ‘Student Council’, where your peers judge you and determine whether you are allowed to move up in your levels. Did you ever think there was any corruption (for example, ‘living above the law’, holding grudges, special attention to friends) on Student Council, or did you feel their dealings were always fair?
9. Describe your experience of the punishment treatments, ‘Worksheets’ and ‘R&R’ – were you ever punished with one of these methods? How were you treated? Did you feel the punishment was fair or extreme or abusive?
10. Many students were required to ‘work’ in Worksheets and R&R. How did this make you feel? Did you ever have to work there?
11. Describe your experience of quality of the education system offered at the program. Did the education you received in the program affect you later in life?
12. Describe your experience of the quality of the therapeutic and medical services offered at the program.
13. Were you ever denied contact with anyone outside the program, including your family, the U.S. Embassy, or an abuse hotline? Were you aware then or now that this is an unconstitutional deprivation of contact for a U.S. citizen?
14. Did you keep a journal in the program? If so, please read a bit of it now. What do you think of your written thoughts and feelings from that time? If you had to choose one feeling that best described your journal entries, what would it be?
15. Do you feel the program has affected or changed you/your personality/your habits/your life long term?
16. Do you suffer from PTSD or depression, have recurring nightmares or trust issues related to the program?
17. What WWASPS program did you attend, in what year?
18. How did you get to the program? Did you go voluntarily / did your parents lie to you to get you there / were you court-ordered / or were you ‘escorted’ at night by strangers? Please describe.
19. How long were you in the program? Did you graduate?
20. How much money did your parents spend on your program tuition fees? Could they afford your tuition fees, or did this put them in debt?
21. Do you have a good relationship with your family now?
22. For CBS & HI students - Did you know of an affiliation between Casa by the Sea and High Impact? Please give specific examples if you did.
23. Looking back, can you name some of your behaviours pre-program that you now realise were inappropriate or irresponsible for a young person? Do you think now that those behaviours were a ‘stage’ that you would have eventually grown out of given time or a more stable life in your family home?
24. Do you know anyone else in your life, including your parents, who engaged in these same inappropriate/irresponsible behaviours and grew out of them without being sent to a program?
25. Final question – How do you think your family/parents could have helped you instead of sending you to a program? Please be specific and name any alternative options you think would have helped you and your family.
