Family sues teachers over cult allegations

[doggie]

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut couple alleges in a federal lawsuit that their three daughters were "indoctrinated" into a cult by public high school staff and suffered severe personality changes, including becoming "flat and distant."

The parents, known only as Jane and John Doe in court documents, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Monday against three current and former Spanish teachers and a guidance counselor at Avon High School, the Avon school system and Wellesley College in Massachusetts, which two of their daughters now attend.

this is a strange one not a lot of details though.

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268812/conten ... d=GjbJHNDW

Officials with the school district in Avon, a wealthy Hartford suburb, did not comment on the allegations but said in a statement that they hadn't heard any similar complaints in the past.

The parents allege deprivation of civil rights and constitutional violations including failure to separate church and state, among other claims. Their daughters, ages 22, 19 and 16, also aren't named.

One of the parent's lawyers, Paul Grosswald, of Summit, New Jersey, declined to comment Friday, saying "the family has decided not to pursue any publicity at this time."

"All three girls experienced sudden and severe personality changes," the lawsuit says. "They became flat and distant, reclusive, secretive, and non-communicative. They lost their humor and their empathy."

The couple says their two older daughters were "indoctrinated into a religious cult that promotes martyrdom and celebrates death," and that has caused them to experience "fantasies of suicide ideation and martyrdom." They didn't name the cult.

[roddma]

Yet another attack on the 'ebil' public schools

[Chowder Head]

:wtf:

[Childless]

Sounds like a hereditary adult on-set mental illness more than cult indoctrination. Especially considering no one else in the school seems to be affected. Instead of suing, perhaps they should be seeking treatment and counseling for their daughters.

[SpeakNow]

Sounds like a hereditary adult on-set mental illness more than cult indoctrination. Especially considering no one else in the school seems to be affected. Instead of suing, perhaps they should be seeking treatment and counseling for their daughters.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[Caramel]

The Wonkette article/satire about this provides more facts than any of the articles I've read so far.

[Chowder Head]

The Wonkette article/satire about this provides more facts than any of the articles I've read so far.

link please

[thoughtful]

link please

http://wonkette.com/550043/are-your-tee ... assignment

Love the Dia do los Ponies illustration.

[Savoring Samsara]

http://wonkette.com/550043/are-your-tee ... assignment

Love the Dia do los Ponies illustration.

Thank you for this additional context. The thing that kills me in that article is the detail about how, after taking the allegedly cult indoctrinating Spanish class, both daughters began to speak in an unfamiliar language. You mean like, I don't know, Spanish?

[Trynn]

Thank you for this additional context. The thing that kills me in that article is the detail about how, after taking the allegedly cult indoctrinating Spanish class, both daughters began to speak in an unfamiliar language. You mean like, I don't know, Spanish?

Those must've been some damn good high school Spanish classes if the kids started speaking with any degree of fluency afterwards. Most HS Spanish classes... I hear college Spanish teachers talk about them...

[Savoring Samsara]

Those must've been some damn good high school Spanish classes if the kids started speaking with any degree of fluency afterwards. Most HS Spanish classes... I hear college Spanish teachers talk about them...

I was a college Spanish professor so I know what you're talking about. Still, to people without any knowledge, any degree of second language proficiency at all shown by others can sound pretty impressive!

[Curious]

http://wonkette.com/550043/are-your-tee ... assignment

Love the Dia do los Ponies illustration.

Sugar Skull ponies! Now if that was a cartoon, I would watch. I never got into MLP, but I'd watch Sugar Skull Ponies in a heartbeat!

(haven't read the article yet)

[louisa05]

I was a college Spanish professor so I know what you're talking about. Still, to people without any knowledge, any degree of second language proficiency at all shown by others can sound pretty impressive!

Please give the poor HS teachers a break. Half the kids have parents at home who think they should not be required to learn any foreign language and especially not Spanish. And the counselors making class schedules pull crap like having a kid take Spanish I as a freshman and Spanish II as a senior. And foreign language is not tested on state tests or on college entrance exams. I taught social studies, also not tested (the ACT is the exception but its social studies section is basically reading comprehension), and in the current climate there is pressure for teachers to (in the words of one admin I worked for) "take it easy" in those classes because of the pressure on the subject areas that are tested.

On topic: this lawsuit is so ridiculous that the press should not even be reporting it, but I expect my right wing anti-public school friends and acquaintances to jump on it as an example of all that is wrong any minute now.

[Geechee Girl]

This cautionary tale should spread like wildfire through the fundie homeschool convention circuit as a prime example of what happens when girls leave the umbrella of protection and attend public schools & universities. Seriously, I still don't get what Wellesley has to do with it other than allowing the oldest daughter to change her major.

[ViolaSebastian]

This cautionary tale should spread like wildfire through the fundie homeschool convention circuit as a prime example of what happens when girls leave the umbrella of protection and attend public schools & universities. Seriously, I still don't get what Wellesley has to do with it other than allowing the oldest daughter to change her major.

Probably because it's where the ebil and no doubt future anti-christ Hillary Rodham Clinton went to school.

[Mama Mia]

Probably because it's where the ebil and no doubt future anti-christ Hillary Rodham Clinton went to school.

I was sleepy when reading the article, so maybe I got it wrong, but the impression I got was that the parents are upset because the kids are becoming religious, not because they are losing their religion. It didn't read as right-wing to me, just as plain old crazy.

[Caramel]

It's a thoroughly amusing lawsuit, but my favorite part is the part about how Wellesley didn't protect the adult daughters from ideas and influences against their (daughters') will.

[bea]

I still wanna know what cult they joined!!!

[dairyfreelife]

:cracking-up:

stop, this thing is making my incision hurt from laughing. :lol:

[Curious]

I'm back, having now read the actually article rather than just looking at Sugar Skull Ponies (I won't discuss how much time I sat there thinking about a cartoon filled with those ponies).

It sounds to me like the girls went to college and became pretty normal :shifty-kitty:

[Rebelwife]

MAGICAL REALISM :lol:

[Trynn]

Please give the poor HS teachers a break. Half the kids have parents at home who think they should not be required to learn any foreign language and especially not Spanish. And the counselors making class schedules pull crap like having a kid take Spanish I as a freshman and Spanish II as a senior. And foreign language is not tested on state tests or on college entrance exams. I taught social studies, also not tested (the ACT is the exception but its social studies section is basically reading comprehension), and in the current climate there is pressure for teachers to (in the words of one admin I worked for) "take it easy" in those classes because of the pressure on the subject areas that are tested.

On topic: this lawsuit is so ridiculous that the press should not even be reporting it, but I expect my right wing anti-public school friends and acquaintances to jump on it as an example of all that is wrong any minute now.

I was stating a fact, not assigning blame.

[Arete]

I'm not exactly getting the impression that these parents are fundy Christians fighting the Satanic public school system for Jesus. They sound like a lot of obnoxious helicopter parents who can't accept their kids grow up and develop interests that are not going to be another notch on their perfect resumes or c.vs. Don't like your kid's interest in spirituality? Must be a cult, and someone at school needs to be sued!

I'll give them this, it is just as inappropriate for a teacher to be waxing lyrical about New Age Spirituality in class as it would be for them to be waxing poetic about Christianity. If that part is true, those teachers deserve to get hand slapped by the administration, not sued for cult indoctrination. As for Wellesley, talk about the innocent bystander. Your kid came back from college thinking they are the first to discover deep thought and a little sullen? No kidding, you think your little snowflake contracted some rare cult/college disease based on this? Get a clue.

[RosyDaisy]

Almost sounds like a modern day "The Crucible"...LOL!! Seriously, the girls were probably just going through mood swings. That happens to a lot of college kids.

[louisa05]

I'm not exactly getting the impression that these parents are fundy Christians fighting the Satanic public school system for Jesus. They sound like a lot of obnoxious helicopter parents who can't accept their kids grow up and develop interests that are not going to be another notch on their perfect resumes or c.vs. Don't like your kid's interest in spirituality? Must be a cult, and someone at school needs to be sued!

I'll give them this, it is just as inappropriate for a teacher to be waxing lyrical about New Age Spirituality in class as it would be for them to be waxing poetic about Christianity. If that part is true, those teachers deserve to get hand slapped by the administration, not sued for cult indoctrination. As for Wellesley, talk about the innocent bystander. Your kid came back from college thinking they are the first to discover deep thought and a little sullen? No kidding, you think your little snowflake contracted some rare cult/college disease based on this? Get a clue.

If they are crazy helicopter parents, which I also think they may be, the daughters may have withdrawn in an attempt to control their own lives, too.