Captain Bret Alan Smith Part 5: Still No Trial Update: He Plead Guilty

[browngrl]

Maybe someone who is a lawyer/has experience with the law in this area can chime in to tell me if I'm off base or not but I highly doubt the Smiths put their children in public school because they wanted to. I suspect that they were forced to do so by authorities. In any case I am glad of it. At least now the children will get to see how others live. 

[fundiefan]

52 minutes ago, SMF007 said:

Gosh, they even had an audio skit they did about how terrible school was. I'm trying to remember the whole thing but I know there was talk about guns and "prom is just a party". FUNNY, I just tried to find information on The Homeschool Advantage and couldn't find anything so maybe they aren't doing homeschool things at all anymore. How weird! 

A lot of their homeschool advantage stuff disappeared from the web when Alan was arrested and families were distancing themselves from the Smiths. They inter mixed it with their biblical betrothal garbage, and the betrothal stuff was incriminating, no doubt. 

Bret still has a Youtube channel with a lot of their videos though, including many homeschool videos. And, especially entertaining, the dance videos!

[SMF007]

38 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

A lot of their homeschool advantage stuff disappeared from the web when Alan was arrested and families were distancing themselves from the Smiths. They inter mixed it with their biblical betrothal garbage, and the betrothal stuff was incriminating, no doubt. 

Bret still has a Youtube channel with a lot of their videos though, including many homeschool videos. And, especially entertaining, the dance videos!

OMG, the DANCE vidoes are HILARIOUS! Sadly, some of my siblings were involved in producing some of the Homeschool Advantage videos. My brothers were sent to live with the Smith's as teenage boys for a while actually to "straighten them out". During that time they ended up basically just working for Bret for free. 

46 minutes ago, browngrl said:

Maybe someone who is a lawyer/has experience with the law in this area can chime in to tell me if I'm off base or not but I highly doubt the Smiths put their children in public school because they wanted to. I suspect that they were forced to do so by authorities. In any case I am glad of it. At least now the children will get to see how others live. 

While no lawyer, I am actually a legal assistant! And I agree I think they must have been pushed into putting the kids in school because they were so vehemently adamant that it was evil. 

[caitrona]

3 hours ago, browngrl said:

Maybe someone who is a lawyer/has experience with the law in this area can chime in to tell me if I'm off base or not but I highly doubt the Smiths put their children in public school because they wanted to. I suspect that they were forced to do so by authorities. In any case I am glad of it. At least now the children will get to see how others live. 

With the usual caveats of we don't know the particular circumstances, etc., in my experience (20 years as a GAL/CASA, also a lawyer) with the facts we do know about the family, I would feel very comfortable saying that authorities were involved in putting these kids in school. 

[EmiGirl]

I know nothing of family law, but I wasn't aware the government could order someone to send their kids to public school.

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 hours ago, EmiGirl said:

I know nothing of family law, but I wasn't aware the government could order someone to send their kids to public school.

All kids have to be educated in some way. If you say you are homeschooling them but aren’t, you need to find a school that will teach them. It’s very likely the Smiths were not educating them properly so they had to send them to a school. It doesn’t have to be public. But that may have been their only option. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

Yerik is currently attending a 5 1/2 month residential program in GA that may help him to obtain his GED. It’s an alternative education program (not Christian based). It’s not a treatment facility. But they don’t have a lot of contact with their families during the 5 1/2 months. I hope Yerik makes long lasting friends and learns independence. Here is the program:

https://www.georgiayouthchallenge.org/admissions/faqs.cms

[fundiefan]

2 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Yerik is currently attending a 5 1/2 month residential program in GA that may help him to obtain his GED. It’s an alternative education program (not Christian based). It’s not a treatment facility. But they don’t have a lot of contact with their families during the 5 1/2 months. I hope Yerik makes long lasting friends and learns independence. Here is the program:

https://www.georgiayouthchallenge.org/admissions/faqs.cms

Their son Joshua just graduated from there as well. It's a program for academically "challenged" youth. It is very, very strict and much like military boot camp. I think, to be honest, all the Smith kids are academically challenged and need a lot of help to catch up. I thinki the Smiths are too lazy to do a damn thing themselves, and too self righteous to participate in an actual school, so they send the boys off to Youth Challenge so someone else can deal with them. 

Yerik was the only one left being "homeschooled". Guess actual education is too much for Jacquie. 

 

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

21 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

Their son Joshua just graduated from there as well. It's a program for academically "challenged" youth. It is very, very strict and much like military boot camp. I think, to be honest, all the Smith kids are academically challenged and need a lot of help to catch up. I thinki the Smiths are too lazy to do a damn thing themselves, and too self righteous to participate in an actual school, so they send the boys off to Youth Challenge so someone else can deal with them. 

Yerik was the only one left being "homeschooled". Guess actual education is too much for Jacquie. 

 

 

It makes you wonder how completely uneducated Rachel, Kressant, and Bethany are. And they homeschool their children ?

But luckily Sitara and another kid are going to a public school. 

[Howl]

Interesting.  I suspect this is paramilitary; the kids are referred to as cadets and it's run through the National Guard.  As their web site notes, it's not a therapeutic environment. 

Kids are given an opportunity to learn more about joining the military as well. 

This could be great for those kids.  They will be OUT of the fundy bubble, exposed to other types of people, with discipline and structure.

Wish some of the Naug kids could participate in something like this.  However, kids who have been convicted of a crime or who have criminal issues pending are not eligible. 

[Mudgie]

Imagine if those boys joined the military and got the hell out of dodge. They could be exposed to different cultures, lifestyles, beliefs, and just people in general. They could take advantage of potential educational opportunities, have access to reliable healthcare and whole host of other things.

One can hope.

[hoipolloi]

Youth Challenge programs operate in many US states, and while they're intended for the "academically at-risk," many of the kids who end up there are on the brink relative to the juvenile justice system as well.

And yes, it is quasi-military because the National Guard manages it in participating states. Successful graduates are apparently given a faster track to enlistment if that's what they want.

The GA FAQ say that attendance is entirely voluntary on the part of the student and his/her parents -- no one can force a kid to enroll. It's hard to believe that Bret & Jackie would wholeheartedly do this unless it represented the best or better of options available to them.

 

[fundiefan]

Aaaannnnd, today, Jacquie is being a passive aggressive victim and whining about the self righteousness of "others" on her Facebook. 

Jacqueline Lea Smith

3 hrs · 

During this time of Thanksgiving, and when we all long to gather our loved ones close, I'm reminded that Satan slips in and says to some of us that we're just too good for certain people and we should push them away. How very sad, that we would pretend we were sharing the love of Christ and encouraging people to be more righteous by having nothing to do with them or forbidding them to be around us. If we want them to love the Christ we serve, we're going to just simply have to love them, and it's real hard to show love while you keep someone out of your life.

Hypocrisy and self righteousness typically go hand in hand, but these two are shown next to the definitions in the dictionary.

Also, maybe they don't want to freaking worship the Christ you serve. Just a thought.

[JermajestyDuggar]

56 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

Aaaannnnd, today, Jacquie is being a passive aggressive victim and whining about the self righteousness of "others" on her Facebook. 

Jacqueline Lea Smith

3 hrs · 

During this time of Thanksgiving, and when we all long to gather our loved ones close, I'm reminded that Satan slips in and says to some of us that we're just too good for certain people and we should push them away. How very sad, that we would pretend we were sharing the love of Christ and encouraging people to be more righteous by having nothing to do with them or forbidding them to be around us. If we want them to love the Christ we serve, we're going to just simply have to love them, and it's real hard to show love while you keep someone out of your life.

Hypocrisy and self righteousness typically go hand in hand, but these two are shown next to the definitions in the dictionary.

Also, maybe they don't want to freaking worship the Christ you serve. Just a thought.

It’s the only thing she can do. Let’s count how many grandchildren shes not allowed to see because of their choice to side with their disgusting son. Katie has 8, Bethany has 4 (and one on the way), Kressant has 8, and Rachel has 6. That’s 26 grand children, 3 children, and 4 children in law that she hasn’t seen in years. She’s lost a lot by defending a piece of shit. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by JermajestyDuggar

[Briefly]

4 hours ago, fundiefan said:

Aaaannnnd, today, Jacquie is being a passive aggressive victim and whining about the self righteousness of "others" on her Facebook. 

Jacqueline Lea Smith

3 hrs · 

During this time of Thanksgiving, and when we all long to gather our loved ones close, I'm reminded that Satan slips in and says to some of us that we're just too good for certain people and we should push them away. How very sad, that we would pretend we were sharing the love of Christ and encouraging people to be more righteous by having nothing to do with them or forbidding them to be around us. If we want them to love the Christ we serve, we're going to just simply have to love them, and it's real hard to show love while you keep someone out of your life.

Hypocrisy and self righteousness typically go hand in hand, but these two are shown next to the definitions in the dictionary.

Also, maybe they don't want to freaking worship the Christ you serve. Just a thought.

She doesn't get it because she doesn't want to get it.  It's easier to blame everybody else than it is to face the truth.  She obviously aimed that at anyone and everyone who won't overlook her son's evilness.

[Mudgie]

For someone who proclaims to love children so much she sure has a hard time recognizing the concept of protecting them.

[DangerNoodle]

Does anyone think that enrolling them in these militarized programs is an attempt to nudge them towards the actual military after they graduate? Which would relieve some of the parent's financial burden. 

That's not a judgment if they are. Not on that point alone. I know what it's like not to have anything to offer your kids after they finish high school. There can be a lot of obstacles higher education.

Even if they get grants and loans there are still other expenses for school. If you don't have a car, the logistics of going to a community college get a lot harder. You have to coordinate your schedule around the bus times. And that's if your city has half way decent public transportation.  

[Mudgie]

5 hours ago, DangerNoodle said:

Does anyone think that enrolling them in these militarized programs is an attempt to nudge them towards the actual military after they graduate? Which would relieve some of the parent's financial burden. 

That's not a judgment if they are. Not on that point alone. I know what it's like not to have anything to offer your kids after they finish high school. There can be a lot of obstacles higher education.

Even if they get grants and loans there are still other expenses for school. If you don't have a car, the logistics of going to a community college get a lot harder. You have to coordinate your schedule around the bus times. And that's if your city has half way decent public transportation.  

Personally, no, I don't think so. This is pure speculation on my part as I have no idea how these things work in different states. I think it far more likely that the aftermath of the charges against their son resulted in the authorities involvement in the lives and education of the minor children living in the Smith home.

I highly doubt that any of their adopted children ever received appropriate counseling or transitional support after coming to America and into the Smith home. Their education had to be haphazard and disrupted simply due to the fact of their personal situations leading to adoption. Once in the states and with the Smith's they were then educated according to the Smith home education self published curricula.

My assumption is that when authorities became involved the Smith's were presented with various options on how to ensure the minor children became adequately educated. I think this program for the older boys is likely due to their age and what would be available educational options for them.

Based on what Jackie has written on FB, it sounds as though Yerik would require many different services in the school system. At the very least he would need an IEP. That's months of testing and meetings before anything could begin. It's far easier on them if he does this program and gets his GED.

To my knowledge none of the Smith children have pursued higher education. Am I correct in that? I don't see either Bret or Jackie encouraging higher education away from the home. Let alone figuring in any way for the children to make it financially viable for themselves. Far better to fold them into the family business and keep them around.

Don't get me wrong, I think the older boys pursuit of certifications in trade (I think it's heating and AC?) is higher education and it's a viable steady career and source of income. However, in this case, it's a family business and they're still in the Smith fold. I think any pursuit of higher education that removes them from the fold is most definitely not encouraged.

There's also never a word about what their daughter Madi is doing. So, is she stuck being the Smith family caretaker along with her Mom?

 

[fundiefan]

I think Maddy is attending community college. Or was at one point. Jacquie made a post once about her Latvian accent being peppered with Southern, and she thinks she picked it up "down at the community college". But, that's all I have to go on so I wouldn't bet on it; it's just possible. 

None of the other kids have. Alan rode his father's shirt tails in the "film" industry, then the Morton's, doing minor construction, then his father's again in the whole HVAC thing. One of the older adopted boys just got some certification, I think in the HVAC business too. The three birth daughters - married off without education or thought. 

They don't value education. It interferes with Bret's ego. 

Also, this comment was left on Jacquie's latest rant: 

And let their children change names so as not to be remembering their relatives They are still related.

I take it that means Katie not only went back to Morton, but the kids are now Mortons and not Smiths. Interesting, very interesting. And, absolutely in their own best interest, if that's the case. 

Edited November 22, 2018 by fundiefan

[JermajestyDuggar]

I would absolutely change my last name and my children’s last names back to my maiden name. No way would I want to have the name of those people attached to mine or my children’s. 

[lexiloumarie]

I'm hopeful that this was part of terminating his parental rights - he doesn't deserve to be connected to those children beyond the genetics. Considering the charges it wouldn't surprise me even slightly if they were able to convince a judge to do it especially in a rural southern district where protecting the women and children from evil would go over well. My only hope is that they never push Katie to marry again unless she wants to. 

[picklepizzas]

Seems like it’s news to the smiths if she did change the kids’ names - Jackie seemed confused in her reply to that comment. 

Idk, I’m personally not too hopeful that parental rights were terminated. One main takeaway from a family law class I once took was that it’s damn hard to lose your parental rights in this country, even if you’ve lost custody. There’s a real bias towards the parent’s rights and well being rather than the child’s, imo. 

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Bret says on facebook that he almost died during his most recent health scare-- yet he hasn't learned any lessons. It's still all about his wicked and self-righteous children. He concludes: 

Quote

I give praise to God my Father who has freed me from the trap of self-righteousness that was set for me. I do not have to worry about my loved ones whose feet are still held fast in the trap. I will continually pray for them, but Jesus loves them even more than I do! He knows just what to do to bring a sinner to repentance.

 

Edited November 25, 2018 by NachosFlandersStyle
Typo

[fundiefan]

3 hours ago, NachosFlandersStyle said:

Bret says on facebook that he almost died during his most recent health scare-- yet he hasn't learned any lessons. It's still all about his wicked and self-righteous children. He concludes: 

 

Bret is incapable of learning. 

He is the epitome of not seeing the beam in his own damn eye. 

[DangerNoodle]

They are so cringy to watch. Do they really think it's helping to publicly call their kids self-righteous, on the side of Satan and declaring they will go to hell if they don't reconcile with their brother? They are digging the hole deeper, keeping the wound open and fanning the flames right in front of us. Do they think their grandkids are going to be on their side after they talked shit about their parents on Facebook? No, they're going to grow up knowing about these crazy grandparents that sided with the rapey brother.