http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...cut-indoctrinated-familys-daughters-cult.html
Wow
At the end of above link school says they never heard about any of this until the ls. I have a problem with that if it is true
Who is "they" and what's the "Is"? I read the article but couldn;t figure that out!
Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
Cult indoctrination can be very insidious and hard to detect by outsiders (even family members) while it's happening. It does appear that there have been pretty aggressive measures taken to alienate the kids from their parents and their parents' beliefs, and deception/fraud and secrecy has been used to accomplish this. That alone is a pretty good indicator of cult-like indoctrination. I'm not going to write the parents' allegations off as frivolous or misguided just yet.
It is too late to do anything about the two older kids - and if this turns out to be cult indoctrination, this is a typical outcome and why it's do difficult to protect against cult abuse. No one sees the big picture or knows what's really happening until it's too late.
Even if the parents are overreacting, I applaud them for filing suit and taking steps to protect their youngest child; it will at least shine a bright light on what's going on at Avon and perhaps motivate other parents to look more closely at what's going on with their own children.(unless, of course, it turns out the parents are totally nuts and their allegations are complete fiction)
ETA: I have some pretty significant experience working with cult victims and litigating against cults - so my ears perk up at allegations of cult abuse. FWIW
I'm wondering if you've read the compliant. It is illogical and irrational:
1. They are suing the school, the district and the teachers but they are also suing unrelated Wellesley college. For allowing the kids to have use of an alumni hall in which they danced like: "whirling dervishes".
2. They describe repeated instances of inappropriate behavior on the part of the staff at the high school, which the parents were made aware of at the time these things occurred, yet they do not state that they spoke to the principal, the district, or otherwise ever complained, to no avail. And the district states they never received a complain either.
3. There has not been a hint, anywhere, of any other complaints by any other students or parents or faculty of "cult" activity occurring at the school or among theses teachers, or of anything inappropriate involving any of the staff named. Why is only this family targeted? Why would no other student ever disclose to a parent or guardian occult teachings? Ever?
4. The complaint fails to name the cult or give any identifying info about it such as location, leadership, membership, etc.
5. The complaint mistakes a literary device (which I learned about here, Nova!), as a religious occult teaching. That's kind of like saying, "My kids were taught about
astronomy in class! I do not appreciate them being taught divination!!!" (Embarrassing).
6. The supposed aspects of the cult sound more like different aspects of religious practices or philosophies or pseudoscience that people may discuss when studying
literature.
7. The complaint contains many things that have nothing at all to do with any cult activity such as :
185. …E.D. [the oldest daughter] suddenly declared that her major would be philosophy, instead of political science or international relations like she originally decided.
210. E.D. behaved rudely towards her friends, often calling them “superficial” and accusing them of not following their “passions.”
The teacher “frequently gave the students busy work, or showed them movies with no educational value, during which the students would spend the entire period talking to each other.”
I'd place a money wager that there's no cult here - just incredibly crazy parents. Or, if there is any bit of truth to any of the allegations, crazy parents and one bad teacher who may have been engaging in an inappropriate sexual relationship with her student or former student.
