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Bay County Boot Camp - Florida

The uproar over the death of Martin Lee Anderson continues.

So far this month:

• The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was removed from the investigation.

• College students held a sit-in outside the office of Governor Jeb Bush.

• Guy Tunnel, founder of the boot camp and Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, resigned.

• Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton joined Martin's parents at a march in Tallahassee.

• Florida's Attorney General Charlie Crist called for an investigation of the coroner who tried to blame Martin's death on sickle cell anemia.

• Officials announced that Florida's remaining state-run boot camps will be closed.

I am EXTREMELY glad that Martin's brutal and tragic death is receiving this kind of attention.

But the truth is, many other children have died in programs that were supposed to cure their "behavioral" problems.

The difference is, their deaths weren't captured on videotape for the whole world to see.

No one with any clout spoke out against those responsible.

Their deaths were excused by local officials and their story wasn't sensational enough for the national news.

The ONLY people outraged were their families, and those who keep tabs on the "teen help" industry.

April 2006: Giovanni Aletriz, age 16. Died after being restrained at Summit Quest Academy in Pennsylvania. The coroner ruled Giovanni's death was due to a previously "undiagnosed heart condition."

December 2005: James White, age 17. Also died at Summit Quest Academy in Pennsylvania. The coroner also ruled James' death was due to a previously "undiagnosed heart condition."

December 2005:Christening "Mikie" Garcia, age 12. Died after being restrained at Star Ranch in Texas.

September 2005: Linda Harris, age 14. Died after being restrained at Chad Youth Enhancement Center in Tennessee. The coroner attributed Linda's death to cardiac arrest and obesity.

April 2005: Travis Parker, age 13. Died after being restrained at Appalachian Wilderness Camp in Georgia. After the coroner ruled Travis' death a homicide, 6 staff members were charged with murder. 5 of them were also fired, but they were fired for withholding Travis' asthma medication and a meal - not for killing him.

November 2004: Roberto Reyes, age 15. Died at Thayer Learning Center in Missouri. Even though Roberto was covered with "unexplained" bruises, the coroner attributed his death to a spider bite.

October 2004: Karlye Newman, age 16. Died at Spring Creek Lodge Academy, a World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS) facility in Montana. Karlye's death was ruled a suicide. Karlye had been placed at the unlicensed facility because she was suicidal, however Spring Creek Lodge Academy has NO therapists on staff.

March 2003: Orlena Parker, age 15. Died while being restrained at Devereux Cleo Wallace Center in Colorado.

August 2001: Valerie Heron, age 17. Committed suicide at Tranquility Bay, a World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS) facility in Jamaica. Valerie jumped off a balcony just one day after arriving at the facility.

July 2001: Anthony Haynes, age 14. Anthony was forced to stand for hours in the Arizona sun with no water and wearing a black sweat suit as punishment at the Buffalo Soldiers Re-Enactors Association summer boot camp. Anthony became delirious, fell into convulsions, and died. The owner of the camp was sentenced to 6 years in prison. The staff member who ignored Anthony's symptoms and accused him of "faking" was sentenced to only 4 months in jail.

February 2001: Ryan Lewis, age 14. Committed suicide at Alldredge Academy in West Virginia. Ryan had sliced his arm from elbow to wrist and told staff members he wanted to die. The staff members ignored him. Ryan hanged himself the next day.

These are just a FEW of the deaths that have occurred in U.S. owned/operated behavior modification programs.

Teen Advocates USA currently lists over 70 program-related deaths.

And there will be more, unless people take the outrage and disgust they feel when they watch Martin Lee Anderson's limp body being beaten and dragged around that boot camp and do something with it.

Something that will PREVENT another death from happening.

The system that allows these facilities to operate without qualified staff, without a license, without any concern for anything except the almighty dollar, is horribly broken.

We've got 50 different states, with 50 different sets of rules and when authorities get too curious in one state, owners simply move to another.

And in most cases, owners set up shop in states that don't even regulate these types of programs because - lucky for them - state statutes haven't kept pace with the industry!

So if you're reading this and feeling any kind of emotion at all for these kids, do something about it.

Contact your state Senators and Representatives and demand their support of H.R. 1738.

Encourage local lawmakers to enact strict regulations of "teen help" programs.

Write to the juvenile court judges in your county and tell them why they should NOT order kids to ANY boot camps or unregulated facilities.

It's too late now to say you didn't know.

Summit Quest Academy - Pennsylvania

The Lancaster County D.A. announced that no charges will be filed in the death of 16 year-old Giovanni Aletriz.

Giovanni died in February after being physically restrained at Summit Quest Academy, a juvenile psychiatric facility.

The autopsy reportedly showed that Giovanni had a previously "undiagnosed heart condition" and that's what killed him.

One issue of concern is the fact that these "undiagnosed heart conditions" aren't diagnosed until a child dies.

Summit Quest is a psychiatric facility and according to the Department of Public Welfare, the staff are permitted to use physical force to control children.

Given that fact, I believe it's safe to say that ANY child admitted to Summit Quest could be restrained at some point.

So, why doesn't Summit Quest - and every other facility that expects to "restrain" children - require children to undergo complete physical exams before being admitted?

EKG's, ultrasound, and stress tests are all routine now so there is no excuse for not making sure these kids are physically capable of surviving the "treatment" of their mental health crisis.

And of course, it would help ensure that these "undiagnosed heart conditions" are not being used to cover up what would otherwise amount to murder.

Girona - Spain

Police in Spain arrested 3 people in connection with what's being called an illegal "brat camp."

The center was unlicensed and children who were sick or refused to work were deprived of food and kept in cages meant for wild pigs.

The facility was charging 4000 Euros ($5,000 U.S.) per child per month to "treat" behavioral problems.

This isn't the first time a police raid found a "teen help" center was charging big bucks to keep kids in cages.

In late 2001, Mexican police found children in chain-link cages at High Impact, a World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools/Teen Help (WWASPS) camp near Tecate, Mexico.

The kids, described as "extremely dirty, with sunburn and blisters", were removed from the camp and sent back to the United States.

Source: Inside Edition

Mexican officials have kicked WWASPS/Teen Help programs out of their country 3 times.

However, the facilities are flourishing in the United States.