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'{{Infobox school | name = CEDU Educational Services Inc | image = CEDU_Logo.jpg | imagesize = 125px | country = United States | type = [[Private school|Private]] [[therapeutic boarding schools]] | opened = 1967 | closed = 2005 | motto = "See Yourself As You Are and Do Something About It" }} '''CEDU Educational Services, Inc.''', known simply as CEDU (pronounced see-doo), was founded in 1967 by [[Mel Wasserman]] and his wife Brigitta. The company owned and operated several [[therapeutic boarding school]]s and [[behavior modification]] programs in [[California]] and [[Idaho]]. The company's schools have faced numerous allegations of abuse. == Origins == CEDU origins go back to [[Synanon]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.paulmorantz.com/cult/the-history-of-synanon-and-charles-dederich/|title=The History of Synanon and Charles Dederich|website=www.paulmorantz.com|access-date=2016-03-17}}</ref> a cult founded in Santa Monica, California in 1958 by [[Charles Dederich]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/04/us/charles-dederich-83-synanon-founder-dies.html|title=Charles Dederich, 83, Synanon Founder, Dies|last=Gelder|first=Lawrence Van|date=1997-03-04|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-03-17}}</ref> According to [[Paul Morantz|Paul Morantz, JD]],{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} Synanon ..."went from the first ever no doctor involved self help drug rehab (Synanon I), to a building of a new society in Synanon cities to lead the world into the 21st Century (Synanon II), to becoming a self-claimed religion (Synanon III)."<ref name=":0" /> The troubled teen industry<ref name="motherjones.com">[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/08/cult-spawned-tough-love-teen-industry/ The Cult That Spawned the Tough-Love Teen Industry]</ref> today largely consists of [[Synanon]] and CEDU offshoots. ==History== ===Original CEDU period (1967–1985)=== The average time a student spent at a CEDU school was 2½ years. The school year was year-round. The original CEDU program did not believe in use of medicine. Three times a week for four hours students would attend Raps, pseudo-psychology group sessions led by untrained staff. Students and staff were incentivized to "indict" students for minor rule infractions in the name of emotional growth. Yelling was appropriate and expected {{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}. ===Expansion (1982–1990)=== In 1982, a small group of students and staff, including founding headmaster Dan Earle,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.accessidaho.org/public/sos/corp/search.html|title=IDSOS Search Results; ( R.M.A., INC. ... ROCKY MOUNTAIN ACADEMY, INC. )|last=|first=|date=March 14, 2016|website=Idaho Secretary of State|publisher=Idaho Secretary of State|access-date=March 14, 2016}}</ref> left the Running Springs campus for [[Bonners Ferry, Idaho]] to open '''Rocky Mountain Academy''' (RMA). RMA's curriculum and philosophy were identical to the original school, CEDU Running Springs. On rare occasions staff and students were transferred between schools. The staff generally transferred campuses for promotions, students were transferred because the staff felt a "fresh start" was the best (and usually last) option for the student.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/publish/TributeToMelWassermanES_020501.shtml|title=Tribute To Mel Wasserman - Essays|publisher=}}</ref><ref name=dreams/><ref name=properties/> Rocky Mountain Academy was one of the largest employers in Boundary County during the period, diversifying its timber and agriculture economy.<ref>http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=61576{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> ===CEDU Education - Brown Schools (1998–2005)=== CEDU Education was sold to Brown Schools in 1998. {| class="wikitable" width=80% border="1" style="text-align:left" !Started!!Name<ref name=dreams>Ditz, Liz. [http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2005/04/cedu_a_timeline.html CEDU timeline], ''I Speak of Dreams'' blog</ref> !!Location!!Closed!!Fate |- |1967||CEDU High School||Running Springs, California||2005||Campus sold to [[Bnei Akiva of Los Angeles]]<ref name=properties>{{cite web|url=http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2005/08/cedu_properties.html|title=CEDU Properties Sold|publisher=}}</ref> |- |1982||Rocky Mountain Academy||Bonner's Ferry, Idaho||2005||Property purchased by [[Universal Health Services]]<ref name=properties/> |- |1984||Hilltop for Young Adults||Running Springs, California||?|| |- |1992||CEDU Middle School||Running Springs, California||2005||Campus sold to Bnei Akiva of Los Angeles<ref name=properties/> |- |1992||Ascent Wilderness Program|| Naples, Idaho ||2005||Re-opened by Universal Health Services<ref name=uhs/> |- |1993||Boulder Creek Academy||Bonner's Ferry, Idaho||2005||Re-opened by Universal Health Services<ref name=uhs>{{Cite web |url=http://www.uhsinc.com/hospitals.php?type=behavioral |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313013105/http://www.uhsinc.com/hospitals.php?type=behavioral |archive-date=2010-03-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |1994||Northwest Academy||Naples, Idaho ||2005||Re-opened by Universal Health Services<ref name=uhs/> |- |1999||Milestones Transitional Program ||Coeur d’Alene, Idaho||2005||property in litigation<ref name=properties/> |} ===Closure=== Brown Schools operated 11 boarding schools and educational facilities in California, Idaho, Texas, Vermont, and Florida. Facilities in Austin, Texas and San Marcos, Texas were sold to Psychiatric Solutions Inc. in 2003.<ref name="CEDU Closing">{{cite web|url=http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2005/04/cedu_closing_re.html|title=CEDU Closing: Reaction from Running Springs Area|publisher=}}</ref> CEDU closed in early 2005 due to financial problems.<ref name="CEDU Closing" /><ref>[http://www.strugglingteens.com/news/cedu-rma-closure050210.html CEDU Education Announces Closure of Rocky Mountain Academy], Press Release brought on strugglingteens.com, the homepage of the industry marketing firm</ref> Several CEDU employees reported to Lake Arrowhead ''Mountain News'', however, that pending litigation against CEDU for abuse and violation of rights as well as citations against the schools contributed to the downfall.<ref>[http://www.mountain-news.com/articles/2005/03/31/news/news1.txt CEDU School Declares Bankruptcy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429202954/http://www.mountain-news.com/articles/2005/03/31/news/news1.txt |date=2009-04-29 }}, ''Lake Arrowhead Mountain News'', 31 March 2005.</ref> In March, 2005 Brown Schools declared bankruptcy, in part because of legal costs related to lawsuits filed by the families of several former students. The same year, Universal Health Services bid $13.5 million for the Brown School properties in bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/business/17teen.html|title=A Business Built On the Troubles Of Teenagers; Schools Are Popping Up to Deal With Drug and Behavior Issues|date=17 August 2005|work=The New York Times}}</ref> ===Idaho Educational Services=== [[Universal Health Services Inc.]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/topic/company/universal-health-services-inc|title=Universal Health Services Inc.|publisher=}}</ref> a public company focused on hospitals and behavioral health centers, subsequently reopened three of the former CEDU facilities: Ascent, Boulder Creek (located on the former Rocky Mountain Academy property) and Northwest Academy. These operate under the new name of Idaho Educational Services. Each program is overseen by individual directors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strugglingteens.com/artman/publish/article_5203.shtml|title=ASCENT PREPS FOR GRAND-OPENING|publisher=}}</ref> == CEDU Offshoots == A number of [[Behavior modification facility|behavior modification]] facilities/CEDU offshoots were opened by former CEDU staff and students, including * [[Mount Bachelor Academy]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bendbulletin.com/csp/mediapool/sites/BendBulletin/News/story.csp?cid=1548417&sid=497&fid=151|title=Ever unconventional, long controversial|website=The Bulletin|access-date=2016-03-17}}</ref> * [[Monarch School, Montana|Monarch School]],{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} founded by [[Monarch School, Montana|Patrick McKenna]],{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} the first Rocky Mountain Academy Alumni and Daniel Earle's son, Timothy Earle, a former staff member and team leader at Rocky Mountain Academy. * [[The Cascade School]], [[Whitmore, CA]], {{citation needed|date=September 2017}} founded in 1984 by Michael and Michelle Allgood, Eric Von Meltzer, Gayle and Art Tilles, Paula Rudy, and Craig and Barbara Cass {{citation needed|date=September 2017}} closed 2003 * [[INNERCEPT LLC]], [[CDA, Idaho]] ==Celebrity and CEDU== The first facility was located in California — not far from [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood]]. The busy life of the persons in the entertainment industry meant that some of the known celebrities had less time for their children and outsourced the upbringing to CEDU. As [[The_Spokesman-Review | The Spokesman-Review]] reported in connection with the closure of CEDU<ref name="SpokeRevClose"> {{ cite web | url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/mar/26/cedu-shutting-down/ | url-status=live | title=CEDU shutting down | last=Drumheller  | first=Susan | last2=Hansen  | first2=Dan | date=2005-03-26 | website=[[The_Spokesman-Review | The Spokesman-Review]] | archive-url=https://archive.is/eyX7A | archive-date=2021-06-16 | access-date=2021-06-16 }} </ref> {{quote|Tuition at CEDU schools was about $5,700 a month. Actress [[Roseanne Barr]] and broadcaster [[Barbara Walters]] are among the rich and famous who have sent their children to the academies, according to a Spokesman-Review report in 1998.}} == Incidents == '''January 16, 1993''': 17-year-old John Christopher Inman disappeared from CEDU School's campus in Running Springs, California. He was never found.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://charleyproject.org/case/john-christopher-inman|title=The Charley Project: John Christopher Inman|first=Meaghan Elizabeth|last=Good|publisher=}}</ref> '''June 26, 1994''': 14-year-old Blake Wade Pursley disappeared from CEDU School's campus in Running Springs, California. The family believes that he was abducted. He has not been found.<ref>[http://charleyproject.org/case/blake-wade-pursley Blake Wade Pursley] at The Charley Project</ref> '''July 16, 1994''' - Jon Avila of Richardson, Texas hanged himself with a belt from a pipe of an overhead sprinkler system in one of the dormitories of lower Camelot at Rocky Mountain Academy in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teenliberty.org/RMA.htm|title=''Spokesman-Review'' excerpt|access-date=2008-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916083620/http://www.teenliberty.org/RMA.htm|archive-date=2008-09-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> '''January 1997''' - Five persons were injured in a riot at Northwest Academy in Naples, Idaho.<ref name=isacorp>[http://www.isaccorp.org/cedu/ceduabuse.pdf CEDU Sued for Abuse and Fraud]{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, International Survivors Action Committee</ref> '''2002''' - CEDU Educational Services, Inc. pays settlement to former client on charges of abuse.<ref name=isacorp /> '''February 8, 2004''' - Parents search for their son Daniel Yuen who disappeared from CEDU School in Running Springs, California.<ref>[http://www.isaccorp.org/cedu/cedu.05.01.04.html Father endures 2-month search for missing son]{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, International Survivors Action Committee</ref> '''2009''' - A police investigation is conducted into the unsupervised presence of the convicted killer [[James Lee Crummel]] on the CEDU Running Springs Campus in connection with the two disappearances in 1990s.<ref>Wyatt, Chuck. [http://www.alpenhornnews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=388&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2750&hn=alpenhornnews&he=.com "Death Row Serial Molester Connected to CEDU"], ''[[Apenhorn News]]'', 13 November 2009.</ref> '''2012''' - The first book about CEDU is published by Waxlight Press. ''The Discarded Ones: A Novel Based on a True Story'' by James Tipper marks the first detailed account of life at the school in literature.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Discarded Ones: A Novel Based on a True Story|first=James|last=Tipper|date=18 September 2012|publisher=Waxlight Press|via=Amazon|isbn = 978-0988243309}}</ref> '''2015 -''' ''Dead, Insane Or In Jail, a CEDU Memoir''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deadinsaneorinjail.com/|title=Dead, Insane or in Jail : A CEDU Memoir This is the right place for you, you are special!|website=www.deadinsaneorinjail.com|access-date=2016-03-17}}</ref> written by Zack Bonnie was published '''2018''' - ''Whiteout,'' a memoir about the time Lathrop Lybrook spent at Rocky Mountain Academy, Ascent, and North Idaho Behavioral Health is posted online. <ref>{{Cite book|title=Whiteout|first=Lathrop|last=Lybrook|date=13 May 2018|publisher=Lathrop Lybrook|via=https://lathroplybrook.com}}</ref> '''2019 -''' Three students in Boulder Creek Academy assaulted another student, invoking severe head injuries, stole two vehicles, and got arrested on a highway after being caught stealing from a convenience store. Three of them went to juvenile detention for a few months, but only two of them returned, both failing rehabilitation to the program.{{cn|date=June 2021}} '''2020 -''' Adam Eget, an actor and comedian known for his work with Norm MacDonald, talked about his experiences with CEDU on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAv3p5vv5cs</ref> Adam described CEDU as an abusive cult, and talks about multiple examples of child endangerment he saw first hand as a child sent to CEDU School. He also says in the interview that a night janitor was arrested for murdering several of the children. The counselor had made it look like the children had simply run away. ==See also== {{Col-begin}} {{Col-break}} ;Related topics *[[Teenage rebellion]] *[[Continuation high school]] *[[Residential education]] *[[Residential treatment center]] *[[Youth rights]] {{Col-break}} ;Techniques *[[Therapeutic community]] *[[Operant conditioning]] *[[Behavior modification]] {{Col-break}} ;Therapies *[[Group psychotherapy]] *[[Behavior therapy]] *[[Attack therapy]] {{col-end}} ==Notes and references== {{Reflist}} == External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110925115322/http://liamscheff.com/surviving-cedu/?page_id=418 Surviving Cedu], a 2008 documentary by Liam Scheff, featuring a closing segment with cult expert [[Paul Morantz]]. *[http://jamestipper.com/novels-albums The Discarded Ones:A Novel Based on a True Story], the definitive 2012 book about life at CEDU. The story is set in 1983 and told through the eyes of a new student. *[https://lathroplybrook.com/whiteout Whiteout], a memoir written in 2018 by Lathrop Lybrook about her experience at Rocky Mountain Academy, Ascent, and North Idaho Behavioral Health from 9/30/1998 to 12/13/1999. *[https://medium.com/@1527176167818/legacy-of-the-cedu-cult-7e2dcb8f30e4 Running My Anger: The Legacy of the CEDU Cult], an anonymous account of what it was like to live through CEDU in Idaho and California. Medium Anonymous discuses the current documentaries on CEDU, Rocky Mountain Academy, and articles on trauma and how they relate to them as a survivor of CEDU. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cedu}} [[Category:Therapeutic community]] [[Category:Education companies of the United States]] [[Category:Defunct schools in Idaho]] [[Category:Defunct schools in California]] [[Category:Educational institutions established in 1967]] [[Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 2005]] [[Category:Therapeutic boarding schools in the United States]] [[Category:1967 establishments in the United States]] [[Category:2005 disestablishments in Idaho]]'