Mick Wenlock
Admin Emeritus (retired)
Re: New! 1981 PAC CADET ORG/CADET ESTATES ORG ESTABLISHMENT EVAL- How kids were treat
The situation at FOLO/CLO EU was better - it certainly seems better in retrospect. When I got to FOLO EU in September 1978 the AG FOLO was actually running the Estates area - there had been some sort of major flap in the summer and that was why the AG was running it. The Nursery/Cadet area actually ended up with some awesome staff. And, in addition the Danish state is very protective about checking up on infants (new borns were regularly visited by nurses to check weight, health etc) The authorities in Denmark were vigilant in child welfare.
Everyone I knew who had kids in FOLO took their family time - as the org and the berthing were in the same building it was fairly easy to do. But form the top down it was usual for parents to take the family time. Of course the SO schedule with missions etc made sure there were any times it got missed. But for the most part it was there.
It is clear to see that there was no-one there to represent the rights of the children. If anyone could have stood up and said something, it could have made a difference. The sad thing is that those parents that tried got in big ethics trouble and either got reformed or they took off with their kids. Those were the lucky kids. I remember when kids and their parents would disappear and I would think how lucky they were that they had parents who would stick up for them. For the rest of us, we had to fend for ourselves and raise ourselves.
Reading this eval (which I did) brings up a lot of old memories. I know most of the names of the people that were posted in the Cadet Org and the adults assigned to oversee it. Some of them were ok, some not. But they got very tough on the kids trying to get them all in line and ready for the Sea Org, like it or not, kind of thing.
But this eval did not fix things very well, that I know for sure, because the kids were still running rampant and off the rails until about 1985 when things got REALLY hot and heavy. I think there must have been another eval or something, because they really got down to getting the kids under control then. I think right after the Portland and LA legal losses, they were clamping down and trying to get the whole Scn scene under control.
Well they have always been trying to do that and never successful, because their system is terribly flawed (as well as the tech being terribly flawed, and the founder being a complete lunatic).
But the eval essentially says "hey, kids are off the rails, lets separate them even further from their parents and not let the children be raised or loved by parents and lets groom them into becoming Sea Org robots". I guess it worked somehow because lots of those kids ended up in the Sea Org. Some stayed, some did not.
The situation at FOLO/CLO EU was better - it certainly seems better in retrospect. When I got to FOLO EU in September 1978 the AG FOLO was actually running the Estates area - there had been some sort of major flap in the summer and that was why the AG was running it. The Nursery/Cadet area actually ended up with some awesome staff. And, in addition the Danish state is very protective about checking up on infants (new borns were regularly visited by nurses to check weight, health etc) The authorities in Denmark were vigilant in child welfare.
Everyone I knew who had kids in FOLO took their family time - as the org and the berthing were in the same building it was fairly easy to do. But form the top down it was usual for parents to take the family time. Of course the SO schedule with missions etc made sure there were any times it got missed. But for the most part it was there.