Sunday, May 18, 2014
The State Boys Rebellion describes the experience of boys who lived at the Fernald School in Waltham, Massachusetts. Here is a video of the place.
Fernald School Video (12 minutes)
Harvard, MIT, and the Quaker Oats company used to boys as subjects, inviting them to be part of the "Science Club." The purpose of the research was to examine the effects of irradiated oatmeal on the kids.
This research was done without the kids' knowledge or permission, or their parents' permission. Additionally, sexual and physical abuse of the boys was common at Fernald.
Please comment on each of the following questions by Saturday, May 24, and reply to at least three of the comments by Sunday May 25 at Midnight. Include the number of the question and reword the question in your comments.
1. What purposes did Fernald School serve for the state of Massachusetts? For families?
2. Which character did you most connect with, and why?
3. If you were to talk to one of the abusive orderlies, what question would you ask him/her and why?
4. What events precipitated the rebellion and what was the fallout of it?
5. What are your personal feelings and observations about both the historical content of the book?
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Fernald State School
ReplyDelete1. The Fernald School was set up as an institute for the “feebleminded”. It gave the state of Massachusetts, as well as, the families a place they believed would help those with the label of “Mental Retardation” (which was what was used at the time; not my own terminology). The state also benefited from the radioactive research preformed on the patients by MIT and the Quaker Oats Company.
2. Honestly, I feel like I connected with all of the characters who were patients at Fernald. They did not belong there and it was by circumstances that they could not control that they were placed in the institution. No one deserves the abuse, mistreatment, neglect, and science experiments that were performed at Fernald.
3. I do not know that I would be able to speak to them nor would I want to. It would be hard to understand any reasoning that they would give as to why they treated the patients so terribly. I suppose if I had to I would want to know the following answers: Why? Did it make you feel better/more superior? Would training in proper care and treatment have helped? How would you feel if you were in their shoes and you in theirs? Do you regret your actions? Do your decisions haunt you today? Has anyone you cared about or loved suffered the same type of treatment since your employment at Fernald and if so how did it make you feel? Are you proud or do you wish you could go back and change? If you could go back what would you change?
4. The events that precipitated the rebellion were the mistreatment and abuse of the boys. They rebelled by overtaking Ward 22 and causing a riot. They destroyed property and set fires in an attempt to get the attention of the public and of those responsible for their care. They resisted rules and authority and challenged the facility in the hopes of receiving better treatment and care. Because of the events that took place in Ward 22 the administration and community were shocked and some of the boys were permanently sent to prison at Bridgewater State Hospital. On the plus side the actions of the boys did not go unnoticed and the policies and procedures at Fernald were reassessed.
5. I was very angered by this book, but glad I had the opportunity to read it and get a better understanding of what it was like during the time these treatments were going on. Of course I was happy to know that in the end most of the men who were state boys had married and had children, that they had overcome their past. It was sad to know that some hadn’t and had never truly moved on or had committed suicide. I think that it was a wonderful read and an eye opening experience, but since treatment for individuals with disabilities has changed so extensively it is hard for me not to get extremely angry with the way things were done in the past. I feel this way for all people, those with disabilities and those without and to know that these boys were placed in this facility on the basis of inadequate testing and pretty much the fact that they had nowhere else to go is incredibly sad.
Sabrina, in #3 I would love to know their answers to all your questions, in particular the one where you ask " If you could go back what would you change?" .. Hopefully it would be a lot of things.. It would of been interesting to see some interviews of the abusive orderlies when all this was happening, then to re-interview them years later to compare.
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DeleteIn regards to an interview I think so too. I don't have one for the administration at Fernald, but I do have a link of one that was done with a physician about the treatment he bestowed on patients from the state hospital I did my Bedlam paper on.He had absolutely no remorse and it was sickening. I honestly do not feel like he would have felt any different years later. So sad. Here's the link if you are interested (look at 4:45-10:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG33HvIKOgQ
DeleteSabrina, your reaction to the book was very similar to mine. It made me angry to read all of the horrible things the children had to endure, but looking at how far the mental health system has come is reassuring. It' s just unfortunate that it started out so bad.
DeleteI like how you said in your response to question 3 that you don't know if you'd be able to talk to them. I'm totally with you on that. If you read my response, it might be better if I didn't talk to them anyway. :) I think those people were probably shocked at the way other attendants were treating the patients when they first got there, but then after awhile, you just start doing what everyone around you does, so you don't look weak or like you aren't in control. I'm not making excuses. What they did was horrifying. I'm just trying to understand them I guess.
Delete1.What purpose did Fernald School serve for the state of Mass? For Families?
ReplyDeleteIt was the first state institution for the feebleminded. The school was created for good intentions by Howe to place children there for a certain amount of time to then be able to leave. Children were placed into Fernald based on their IQ score.
2.Which character did you most connect with? Why?
As I was reading the book, I really seemed to connect with the character Freddie. I admired his strength and determination throughout the book. He started off as being a little boy who did not talk and was labeled as feeble-minded and sent to the Fernald School. As he grew older he began to sprout – his personality formed. His character made me get into the book. He came from nothing as a child; tossed around to many foster homes as a young child and never ever knew what it was like to feel loved.
3.If you were to talk to one of the abusive orderlies, what question would you ask him/her and why?
What type of satisfaction would you feel after physically and mentally abusing the children? (McGinn). Clearly knowing/acknowledging what they are doing is wrong…yet they continue to treat people so badly? Why?
4.What events precipitated the rebellion and what was the fallout of it? The children were able to do way more than what people thought they were capable of. The conditions of the Fernald School were and horrible and so bad that things needed to be reviewed. Given the events that lead up to the rebellion may not have been the smartest but it caught the attention of others.
5.What are your personal feeling and observations about both the historical content of the book? It is amazing to me to see how far we have come as a society. It was not too long ago that intuitions like Fernald were acceptable and thought to be the only option for the “feebleminded”. It is sickening to read about how these people were treated and to know how long this went on for.
Hi Erin!
DeleteI completely agree with your opinion of Freddie. I feel like the empathy I had for him is what drew me into the book. Not to mention his treatment right away pulled at my heart strings. I love that he, as well as, many of the other "State Boys" came out of Fernald strong and were able to build lives and families. You are definitely right in saying that it is amazing to think that institutions such as this were the norm not so long ago but yet we have made leaps and bounds since that time. I think it is important to remember where society has been so that we can be better individuals in the future.
Thank you for sharing:)
Erin, Freddie definitely got me into the book as well. It was nice to see how strong he was from the very beginning, despite being bounced around from between 7 houses in just 6 years. I couldn't imagine how hard that must of been, and I was definitely routing for him throughout the whole book!
DeleteWhen I was a kid, my family took in a foster kid for a few years. Reading about Freddie made me think of Chad, the kid that lived with us. He was in and out of the youth center/jail, randomly allowed to go back to his mom, and just generally bounced all over the place. Makes me wonder if that's how it is for all of the kids that are taken away from their parents. Freddie kind of hit home for me too, I guess.
Delete1) The intended purpose Fernald School served for Massachusetts was to house people with development disabilities, although it quickly turned into a human pound/ dumping grounds for orphaned children or children from troubled backgrounds. As for families who had a “Mentally Retarded” child Fernald was thought to be a better environment where staff were trained on how to properly suit the needs of the “Mentally Retarded”. But, again Fernald School did not go as according.
ReplyDelete2) Out of all the characters in the book I would say I felt more of a connection with the main character Freddie. Throughout the chapters he talks about his day dreaming during work and what his future has in stored for him. He’s so optimistic and curious which I can strongly connect with!
3) My question I would ask to one of the abusive orderlies is whether or not they feared the children. It would seem to me the abusive orderlies knew if all the children were to rebel against what was asked of them the attendants would have no control and would take out all their anger from being stuck in this state school on the attendant. So in this case I would want to know if their reason of abuse was because they felt fear of the children.
4) Fernald boys were angry when the talk of bettering the schools for the “Feebleminded” failed to mention that normal boys were being forced to live in state schools. Attention only focused on the care of the “Mentally Retarded” no one else, so rebellious acts such as breaking windows lighting fires and stealing eventually catching the eyes of others.
5) I really enjoyed reading this book, I was truly clueless on what took place at state schools and experienced plenty of emotions while reading it. I couldn’t believe such unethical studies were being conducted on these children. Every child was basically looked at and treated as an animal..
I really like #3 Bridgette. I can bet that they did. Especially as the children got older. It would be interesting to hear their response, but I wonder if they would even admit to it if that were the situation.
DeleteBridgette, you made a really good point in #3. The thought never even crossed my mind that they could have been scared by the children. I bet a part of them definitely was.
DeleteWhether they were afraid of the children or just didn't know how to behave around them, there's some kind of sickness when a person forces another person to do sexual things to them as a form of dominance. There are always exceptions.
DeleteIn response to your #5, experimentation wasn't just going on at Fernald. I just wrote my paper about Willowbrook State School on Staten Island, and for *decades* the doctors there deliberately infected the "feebleminded" children with hepatitis just to study how it affected their bodies. To really show you how sick some of these doctors were -- while some of the kids were injected with hepatitis, others were deliberately fed the feces of children who were already infected. There's a special room in Hell for people who abuse their power like that.
DeleteI completely agree with you, Bridgette and your answer to number 5. Throughout the some of the classes I have taken I became aware of some of state institutions and schools but it was always at surface level. Like you, I am so glad I was able to read in detail what these places were like. To think it really was not that long ago is crazy and baffling to me.
ReplyDeleteSo, I was just wondering how people felt when they connected with the characters? It seems that everyone who answered this question connected with Freddie, but I had a problem connecting with any of the characters. I felt sympathy for all of them, the conditions and treatment they got was obviously awful, but not a real connection.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm just wondering why you all connected with Freddie in particular and if it was because you thought he was the most "normal" of the boys?
In my response I said that I connected with all the characters...not just Freddie. And in connection I do not mean that I felt that I could relate or understand how they felt but rather that I had empathy for their situation.
DeleteI agree with what you said Sabrina- I think it is impossible to be able to really connect with any of these characters. I felt for them all but the strongest empathy I felt was toward Freddie.
DeleteIt wasn't so much because Freddie was the most "normal" - maybe it was about the literary device used… The book starts off in Freddie's perspective, and in Chapter 1 we get an awful lot of information about him that really makes us, as adults, feel protective and empathetic. Maybe we connect with Freddie because we start off with him.
Delete1. What purposes did Fernald School serve for the state of Massachusetts? For families?
ReplyDeleteThe Fernald School provided a safe/closed environment for the state and families to send their less than intelligent children. The state would send children there to remove them from society. As we read in State Boys, some of the children weren't even actually handicapped, but the state put them in Fernald anyway. In the cases of children with mental or physical handicaps and still had a family, they were put there for their benefit, assuming that Fernald school was a place where people were trained to care for those types of children.
2. Which character did you most connect with, and why?
I'm not really a connector kind of person. I have read many nonfiction accounts of inhumane treatments, and while I can be shocked or surprised that it happened, I personally am not affected and find it difficult to put myself in their shoes. That being said, I'm not a monster who is completely insensitive to their situation.
3. If you were to talk to one of the abusive orderlies, what question would you ask him/her and why?
Honestly, I would ask them what's wrong with them. I dont tend to sugar-coat things, especially when I feel strongly about something. I've been in the medical field for over 14 years, and I've seen all kinds of different illnesses/diseases. In all of those situations, the patient always remained a human being in my mind. In order to do the things that they did to those children, they could not have seen them as human beings, that or the attendant wasn't a human being.
4. What events precipitated the rebellion and what was the fallout of it?
The children at the Fernald school were not all mentally handicapped, making them have abilities or smarts that the attendants didn't necessarily realize they had. This caused the children to rebel against the unsuspecting attendants. Their rebellious acts brought attention on the school that otherwise would not have necessarily been noticed.
5. What are your personal feelings and observations about both the historical content of the book?
Historically, I was not surprised by the content of the book. As I said earlier, I've had to read many nonfiction accounts like this. I do believe that this type of behavior still goes on, to some degree, today. People do all kinds of horrible things without others noticing. It's just a matter of someone seeing it.
I find your answer to #3 really interesting. By what criteria do we classify someone as a human being? By denying the orderly their humanity, aren't we doing to them the same thing they did to the children? An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.
DeleteBear in mind, this is coming from the woman who answered it by implying she'd go to jail for attacking the orderly. Sometimes it's awful hard to practice what you preach...
I tend to connect with the boys from Fernald. I have met one, Al Gagne, who lives in Lewiston. What I connect with is the fear, the helplessness, and also the incredible resilience of these kids. How is it that these kids were so easy to "throw away" into an institution?
ReplyDelete1. What purposes did Fernald School serve for the state of Massachusetts? For families?
ReplyDeleteFernald School was supposed to be an institution for the "mentally ill". Although Freddie's IQ did increase, the school did more harm than good. The school was just a facility to put unwanted children, and it didn't matter if they were really "feeble minded" or not.
2. Which character did you most connect with, and why?
The character that I connected with most was Freddie. Although he was a small boy who appeared to be timid he was brave when need be. He defended those he cared about, and was a loyal friend despite being bounced around from home to homes starting at just eight months old. To be traumatized for years and still grow up to be a caring person is admirable, and I had a soft spot in my heart for Freddie throughout the whole book.
3. If you were to talk to one of the abusive orderlies, what question would you ask him/her and why?
If I was to talk to one of the abusive orderlies, my question would be directed toward McGinn. I would ask him why he would take a job at a mental institution if he lacked patience and clearly didn't care for anyone in there. I would also ask why he felt the need to be so violent toward the children. I'm curious to know if he was violent at home as well.
4. What events precipitated the rebellion and what was the fallout of it?
The number one problem with the Fernald School from the beginning was the fact that a lot of the children didn't need to be in there at all. They threw a bunch of capable young boys in a facility and treated them like they were incapable of living a normal life. The boys needed structure and schooling, but they also needed to feel safe and loved, which is something that most of them never got the luxury of feeling. If you beat a boy who is angry and scared, they will eventually fight back.
5. What are your personal feelings and observations about both the historical content of the book?
I currently work in the mental health field, and have heard many horror stories from my clients who stayed at AMHI in Augusta, Maine. I knew that many institutions did a lot of harm, but I never realized how bad it was until reading this book. It opened my eyes, and made me feel hopeful to see how far the mental health field has gone thus far. This book was full of useful information and I'm glad that I read it.
I apologize for posting this late. Because our weekly schedule sheet said the modules were due Sunday before midnight, I assumed it applied to the blog posts as well.
ReplyDelete1. For the state purposes, the Fernald School served as a warehouse to segregate the ‘feebleminded’ and thereby protect society. For the parents’ purposes, I imagine that they were able to alleviate a little parental guilt with the government’s assurances that their children would get proper care and training. Because the ‘feebleminded’ could be rejected from schools until the 1970’s, I’m sure many families struggled to find childcare, or to pay the bills when one parent had to stay home with the child. The Fernald School would have facilitated the parents’ ability to work more and make more money, which means more tax money for the state.
2. I most connected with Freddie, probably because the book starts off giving us so much of his back story. I’m the mother of an 11-year-old boy myself, and reading about his early “musical chairs”-like string of foster home placements just broke my heart.
3. I’m not sure I could actually form words to speak to an abusive orderly. My son has autism, and I automatically reframe abuse against children (especially those with disabilities) as abuse against my child. That being said – if given the opportunity to speak to an abusive orderly, I’m betting I’d be calling my boyfriend to bail me out of jail.
4. The rebellion was a backlash against the deplorable treatment and conditions those boys had to endure. I think that the “feebleminded” label led to the staff dehumanizing the boys – and if they weren’t human then it was okay to heap any amount of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse on them. As for the fallout, punishments for them got much worse and some of them got sent to Bridgewater Sate Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
5. My personal feelings about what I’ve read didn’t come as a surprise to me – they made me furious and depressed. When you read these stories and watch this kind of documentary (I also watched one on Willowbrook State School for my paper), it becomes really hard to see any of the good things. It’s hard for me not to become nihilistic when I see how little things have changed from the 1800’s and even earlier.
Furious and Depressed my feelings exactly! it makes you sick to your stomach.
Delete1. What purposes did Fernald School serve for the state of Massachusetts? For families?
ReplyDeleteThe Fernald school was a state run institution that was meant for the “feeble-minded”, mentally defective, or physically disabled. This institution like hundreds around the country, were created as part of Eugenics. The idea was basically weeding out the less desirable traits in order to keep them from reproducing more “feeble-minded” citizens. Children and adults were segregated from society. The reliance of IQ testing determined if a child was suited for a public institution. For families it gave a place for members of the family that were severely mentally handicapped, but also it caused much pain for many families. Children labeled as moron or borderline feeble-minded were also taken away to these institutions like Fernald.
2. Which character did you most connect with, and why?
I most connect to Freddie as he is talked about the most. Is childhood is horrific and I cannot feel anything must sympathy for this individuals dreadful life at the Fernald school. As I’m reading I get so angry wondering how they could have kept a person as intelligent as Freddie in such a place, and wonder why he isn’t and hasn’t been released yet.
3. If you were to talk to one of the abusive orderlies, what question would you ask him/her and why?
What right do you have to treat these patients like this? How would you feel if you were labeled as a feeble-minded person and force to obey and live such a meaningless life? What gives you the right to play god? How do you sleep at night?
4. What events precipitated the rebellion and what was the fallout of it?
The boys were treated so poorly for so long anger just build and built. They started to become less compliant and began testing the attendants. They were angry and understood the treatment was wrong and they didn’t disserve it. They found the ventilation ducks and began to sneak all around the school, always planning for when they would escape. They’re rebellious acts acts were then noticed by the community, and this lead to the information of Fernald’s procedures.
5. What are your personal feelings and observations about both the historical content of the book?
My feeling are that of shock! How could we have treated people this poorly in history. I’m shocked at the idea of eugenics and how the Nazi took this idea and ran with it, which ultimately caused the beginning of the slaughter of millions of Jews. Also I have never even heard of the word eugenics or knew about the hundreds of state institutions across America during this time. My thoughts before was that a small amount of crazy unethical mental institutions practiced the torturous treatments, and I am horrified to learn otherwise. It also crazy that they would do only one IQ test and if you failed that it into the mental ward you go!