Lucid,
"...but I'm starting back tomorrow and I'm very excited."

That's great! My best time in college was after I left Scientology and went back to college. Are you considering transfering to a university after junior college? What is your major?

Best regards,
Larry

In the SO, the education the kids get runs the gamut from A to B. It depends on which org they are with and the financial situation. It is not uncommon for kids to spend the weekend in a room by themselves "studying" on their own, no supervision, no checksheets, nothing. They might be reading a Harry Potter novel or some might be looking through a textbook. But you can imagine without any guidance or supervision just how effective an education they are getting. Now if there is some care and funding a tutor might be brought in while the funding is available. But still this is a long way from any sort of structured, planned out education. I think the mindset is studying LRH is the only education you need, everything else is for PR and to pass the GED.

Now for the kids who are still in the cadet org, I don't have any direct knowledge of what the program is they are on. But one would expect that with the study tech and ethics and the whole nine yards that you are going to have just some real shining examples of uber-kids. Like wow, look at these shining examples of intelligence, knowledge, perhaps bordering on a genius level, after all they have been given the tech nearly from birth with no contamination from outside sources. Well you could think that, but you'd be wrong. So many examples I saw of unmotivated, immature, illiterate, kids having come out of the cadet org. I was shocked, saddened, and disgusted. Of course I had it explained that there were SP's in charge of these kids so that is why you're seeing this. This is the standard answer to any problem. And to be fair there are some kids who are bright, motivated and literate, but then in the "wog" world you find the same mix and they haven't had the benefit of the tech since birth.

Okay - I went to one of the Apple schools (about a hundred years ago) - and I felt I had a reasonably good education and still keep some good study habits from my experience there.

I'm not a Scientologist - many of the other kids there were not Scientologists, either.

When I attended, they weren't accredited, so I had to take the GED test, and did very well. I understand they were accredited a few years later. (I think this branch is defunct now, though.)

There's really nothing WRONG with the study tech. Most of the techniques really do improve understanding of a subject. Understanding all the terms, being able to demonstrate their application, etc. It's actually a pretty good way to learn a subject. My particular school was a bit weak on maths, too - well - *I* was weak on maths. The school was run by trained teachers and educators (not just in "tech", but by the State). I received an excellent Science education, and did well in college. I often still USE the study tech (20+ years later), and sometimes use it with my kids when they are having trouble keeping up in a subject.

The biggest problem with the Scientology schools is that because vaguely understood courses need to be repeated, and because there is such an emphasis on complete understanding of every subject, perhaps some things that could have been glossed over become real time wasters. (Do you REALLY need to completely understand and retain all the details of the history of western civilization? Probably not.)

Just a couple thoughts on the subject. The tech itself, when used FAR AWAY from the Church, is actually great methodology and for very important subjects can improve practical knowledge of them.

marie42, glad you had a good experience.

Most situations are not like yours, I'm sorry to say.

Thanks for sharing.

It seems that the Cadet Org - or anything to do with Sea Org is nasty and suspicious.

I was very lucky - it was an "Apple" school and not really part of the Church. Only about 1/2 the staff were Scientologists, many were degreed professional school teachers, or experienced parents and child-care givers.

This was a long time ago, but I recall being pretty impressed with Delphi's circulum and have considered buying it to home-school my own if it is still as good as it was then.

Delphi also had a pretty good reputation back then, and one of my contemporaries there received a Rhodes scholarship.

I don't think I'd let my kids anywhere near the actual church though.

However, one of the actual benefits of my situation is that there were no drugs, no violence, no high school bullshit. No athletics, but no hierarchy of the cool and the uncool. No high school bullshit. We had one or two of every type and we all socialized together somewhat. I think what might have been missed in "high school b.s." (proms, football, etc) was made up by the fact that I don't think one of us was traumatized by being a teenager, being ostracized, peaked before our lives began, got pregnant before our time, ended up in jail, etc. SO.... there was a LOT to be said for it. The group I went through high school all turned out to be pretty well adjusted people, living our lives in our chosen fields, and not still living under the usual traumas of going through a public high school. No prom queens, no football heros, no nerds, etc - just people.

Marie,

You must have been at Apple School in the early years, or you were at a small satillite campus.

I can tell you first-hand that in the later years, as Apple School grew, the high school group at the main Los Felez campus DID develop football, proms and a social hierchy with the same kinds of social cliques you'd have found in a public high school.

Well, with an exception... No stoners or gangs. Anyone who did drugs at Apple kept it very secret, and there was no social pressure to smoke pot or other dope. But the high school social BS did develop.

I don't think that was Scientology's fault or Bonnie Bishop's fault - just human social dynamics. The social dynamics of a group of teenagers change dramatically when you grow from less than 20 to more than 50.

But that's an enitrely different subject.

Mike,

I went to (now) Bonnie Woods Apple - there was no scientology being taught there - just study tech. (And since one of my parents was a scn, I certainly knew what it looked like.)

I've JUST found out what happened with her and am kind of stunned. Just read some of her "book".

I guess I shouldn't be surprised she became a "born again" christian. Hmmm....

marie42, are you saying Bonnie Bishop is now Bonnie Wood or Woods? I know that there is a Bonnie Woods who moved to England and became a born-again Christian and was harassed by the COS, but that isn't Bonnie Bishop of Apple School.(What was the 'book' you read?)

I actually found this thread because I was wondering whatever happened to Bonnie and Bruce Bishop. Does anyone know?

No - different Bonnie - ran a different Apple UNDER Bonnie Bishop. I knew Bonnie Woods when she had a different last name and ran another Apple School in another city. Like I said, I read her book. And I have a lot of mixed emotions about it.

I heard Bonnie Bishop moved to Spain and is no longer associated with the church.

Bruce and Bonnie Bishop did move to an island off of Spain following the closure of Apple School, and lived full-time at a vacation property they had owned for several years prior.

I've learned from a couple of sources that they moved back to the USA during the 1990s and are doing well. I have not spoken to them since the Apple School days but I would like to.

Someone asked me if anything was heard about Janice from the LA school - didn't have any info.

Anyone?

Does LA school mean West LA, Los Felez, or Louisiana?

Last name?

Chapman or Chaplain, I think - I barely remember her - and it was probably before your time, anyway.

Sorry, don't know the name, but I do have a staff & student directory from a reunion in 1993 I can check later.

(Message edited by mikedewolf on December 14, 2004)

"What is even worse than that is the almost total lack of discussion that goes on in "Regular" schools. Quite a few Scientologists I knew agreed this was really the worst problem in Scientology schools."

Well, at Delphi, we not only studied on checksheets, but we also had current events seminars, literature seminars, foreign language seminars, and business seminars, and there was plenty of discussion that went on in these.

"Also, they for the most part, are VERY bad in Math, and Science. Lastly, often they have little or no athletics."

Delphi has soccer teams, volleyball teams, basketball teams, baseball teams, but no football teams or hockey teams.

I can't comment on whether they're good in Science. I recently visited Delphi's Alumni Weekend, and one gradate, a student at NYU, said, "I won't say the subjects I learned at Delphi are up to par with other people's education, for example, there are people who took lots of calculus in high school."

I will say that Delphi, Oregon, is a VERY TOUGH school. You really have to be organized and disciplined and be in control of your life if you want to survive. I'd say that no more than 40% of all the students actually finish the graduation program. The thing about Delphi that other schools don't have, besides the study tech, is it's emphasis on leadership and responsibility and ethics.

Although I'm out of Scientology, I still visit Delphi every year at Alumni Weekend, and despite its ties with the Church, Delphi stands for something very special, and although I didn't graduate from there, I'm still proud that I went there. It was a wonderful group of people to be part of. You're never going to find a school with so much student spirit and pride for their school.