------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library and preservational electronic archive. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ===================================================================== SCIENTOLOGY'S CHILDREN St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, November 10-11, 1991. Reprinted with permission of the St. Petersburg Times by the Coalition for Concerned Citizens, P.O. Box 290402 Tampa, FL 33687 Roy seemed adrift. He was 14 and headed for trouble. But when he entered a Scientology school, the transformation was swift. Within two years, he was working alongside the Church of Scientology's most senior executives. The church reels off dozens of success stories like Roy's. But it doesn't mention a Clearwater boy named Carlo. Carlo, 15, didn't go to school. He worked from 8:30 in the morning until 10 at nightfor $30 a week. He told police that he couldn't contact his own father because his father had run afoul of the church. His mother lived in Clearwater, but not with Carlo. These are glimpses of Scientology's children. The stories in this two-day series will give you more glimpses. What they will not give you is the definitive story of Scientology's children because for the most part they exist behind a shroud. More than 200 children of Scientologists live in the Tampa Bay area. Clearwater is the church's international spiritual headquarters. It is home to 600 staff members who work with thousands of visiting Scientologists each year. Scientology is a most visible presence: The staff's uniforms give downtown Clearwater the look of a naval base. But the daily lives of Scientologistsand their childrenare kept far from view. Richard Haworth,the church spokesman, says, Scientology families are among the happiest there are. And 180 Scientologists wrote letters to the Times saying the church helped them or their children. But the Times' requests to interview children or parents on Scientology's staff were declined for months. The Times turned to former Scientologists and other sources. They remember a lifestyle quite different from what Hawor Haworth blamed a handful of disgruntled ex-members for those accounts, and accused the Times of malice toward the church. But whatever their motives, the critics' stories are consistent. And troubling. I STILL HAVENIGHTMARESby Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer When Beth Erlich was 11, she signed her first contract. A billion-year contract. Beth didn't understand it too well. But her father had explained: If she signed the contract, she would help save the world. I thought that, of course I want to save the world. The young girl had just pledged her life to Scientology. The contract is a standard document whose unusual duration is not questioned in a church that believes in reincarnation. For the next several years, she grew up in Clearwater as a loyal Scientologist. In her early teens, she said, she worked until 10:30 almost every night, including school nights. She said she didn't complain when dinner was rice and beans, or when cockroaches scampered across her room. Now, eight years have passed since Beth last saw Clearwater. She has left the church. But the nightmares haven't stopped. Even now she sees Clearwater's Fort Harrison Hotel in a recurring dream. Her former guardians appear. A sensation of pressure stifles her. I can't get out, Beth said recently, I can't leave the Fort Harrison building. It's still making I'm still not over it, she said, I'm still not. I still have nightmares. Beth and her sister, Kristi, grew up in the Church of Scientology. It was a shattering experience that, in ways big and small, forced them apart from their parents and each other. Critics of Scientology say their story is not unusual. In a church that demands total devotion, they say, family life and children often come in second. So the story of Beth and Kristi is the story of many of Scientology 's children. The church labels its critics disgruntled former members and hate vendors. Actually, said church spokesman Richard Haworth, Scientology helps parents and children to improve their relationships with each other. The two sisters shared a bedroom at their home in Los Angeles and rode their bikes to school together. They called each other Gold and Silver'' because they were alike, but slightly different. Beth was brunette, Kristi blond. Beth was 9, Kristi 8. Even their Christmas gifts were alike, but slightly different. They usually got the same gift in different colors. People, when they talked about Beth, they talked about me, too, and vice versa, Kristi remembers. We were kind of one person in a way: Beth-and-Kris. But not for long. Beth and Kristi's parents, both Scientologists, had divorced in the early 1970s. The girls lived in California with their mother, who snapped a photo of Beth and Kristi staring at each other in a church training routine. Their father, Dennis Erlich, had left to join the staff at the church's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater. He was the chief cramming officer, a position he now describes as the quality control engineer at the brainwashing plant. At the time, the job seemed crucial. But Erlich missed his daughters. On visits to Los Angeles, he urged the girls to move to Clearwater with him. Eventually, Beth agreed. Beth moved to Clearwater in 1978, and missed Kristi immediately. The two girls, 9 and 10, became instant pen pals. Beth learned quickly that her life had changed dramatically. She lived with her father and his new wife in a room the size of a closet'' at the Fort Harrison Hotel, the biggest Scientology-owned building in Clearwater. That didn't last. Soon she moved in with about 20 women church workers in a different room in the hotel. The room was bigger, but stuffed with bunks and dressers. Next she moved across town, to the QI, a former Quality Inn the Scientologists had bought on U.S. 19, near East Bay Drive. Dennis Erlich said it was not unusual for parents and children to live in different rooms at the QI. That's just the way Sometimes Beth would return to discover she had been moved out of her room with no warning. We're talking, at like, 10:30 at night I would come home and my stuff would be someplace else. She guesses she eventually was moved as many as 20 times During the day, Beth attended a Scientology-affiliated school. She described it as a go-at-your-own pace, choose-your-own-courses system. One year, in eighth grade, she went to Oak Grove Middle School, a public school in Clearwater. We were such poor students, she said. That's all I can remember, was how backward, how awful I felt. Beth did love one thing about public school: the food. At the time, I was used to eating main dishes which were rice with something or beans with something. Compared to the food served up at the QI for the Scientology staff, lunches and breakfasts at school were wonderful, she said. Oh wow, it was heaven, she said. It was incredible. A square meal. Why would someone allow their child to live as Beth did? Scientologists, particularly staff Scientologists, firmly believe they are saving the world, former members say. Next to that grand purpose everything else is secondary. Scientology comes first, and everything else is off-purpose, said Vicki Aznaran, a former high-ranking Scientology official who is suing the church. Parents who want to spend time with their children are looked down on. lt's not socially Haworth responded: True, parents (on the church staff) do work longer hours because of their commitment to the goals of the church, but they also have fashioned a system that provides for families to live in a healthy environment despite the demands Dennis Erlich was happy to have Beth by his side. And proud. He considered himself a superior parent. He had brought Beth to Clearwater, where she could accomplish something truly important. Here, she was helping church staff members who gave people Scientology counseling and training. The thought of preparing her for college and a career never crossed his mind. I didn't want my daughter to be part of just normal society, he said. I wanted her to grow up to be, you know, like me. An auditor or a cramming officer, or something worthwhile. Beth accepted the role. She took Scientology courses and after turning 11, signed the billion-year contract to join the Sea Org. The Sea Organization is a group of highly committed staff members who do the church's business and spiritual work. Members generally work 12-hour days, six or seven days a week and currently are paid about $30 per week. The church gives them room and board. Beth still went to school during the day. But at night, she worked as a file clerk and at other jobs, often alongside her father at the Fort Harrison. At her request, she sometimes studied Scientology during work hours. The Scientology school never assigned homework, she said. It was just understood that when we left school, we left it and went to work. She described a typical schedule: Sunday: From 8 in the morning until 10:30 at night. Monday through Friday: From after school until 10:30 p.m. Saturday: Noon to 10:30 p.m. one week, off the next. That works out to about 50 hours of work a week, during school. In the summer, Beth said she worked full time. Other children worked similar hours, she said. I never got a chance to just sit around. On her fortnightly days off, she liked to spend time with her dad. They would sleep late, eat at a favorite deli, go to the beach and see a movie. Beth also got Scientology auditing, in which she was hooked up to a device called an E-meter, similar to a lie detector, and asked about things that troubled her. The future looked clear. I grew up thinking that I was going to become something in the church, Beth said. I wasn't going to college, I wasn't going to learn a trade. Despite his pride, Dennis Erlich was a little worried. He knew the Church of Scien-tology's environment was a harsh onepeople always screamed at each other, and important people got demoted and shamed at a moment's notice. So he decided to toughen her up. Once, when she did something that irked him, he simply stopped talking to her for several weeks. He didn't say a wordnot even on her birthday. The ideal Scientology parent does not pamper a child. In fact, several former members said Scientologists believe children are adults in small bodies who shouldn't be ordered around. In order to be a good Scientologist, says former member Adeline Dodd-Bova, you're allowing your child to be responsible for themselves. I don't have to tell my 5-year-old son if he's hungry or not, he knows. I don't have to make him dinn Scientology literature on children, like much of Hubbard's other writings, is subject to several interpretations. The following passage, for instance, from Hubbard's How to Live With Children, could have come from Dr. Spock: A good, stable adult with love and tolerance in his heart is about the best therapy a child can have. Other passages sound more like what Dodd-Bova was talking about: Any law, which applies to the behavior of men and women applies to children. Or, When you give a child something, it's his....So he tears up a shirt, wrecks his bed, breaks h As Beth worked in the cloistered world of Scientology, Kristi's letters from California provided a link to the outside. They told Beth which bands were hot, what slang was in vogue. But Kristi's letters weren't enough. Beth suffered bouts of depression because she missed her sister and mother. This created a conflict. I felt like I needed to be in the church because that was the right thing to do, she said. But then the little girl inside of me was saying, `I need to be with my mom.' She wished her mother would have told her to stay home in Los Angeles. That would have made it easier to leave. But her mother never said a thing. It wouldn't have been proper, family members said. That just wasn't part of Scientology, Kristi said. Part of my mom was saying `Beth is a being unto herself and she must make her decisions and do her thing.' And the other half of her was saying `wait a second, you're her mom, you love her, you want her to be with you.' And in a way, I think that's Beth didn't learn until years later how her mother really felt. She was crying really the entire time that (Beth) was gone, Kristi said. Kristi said her mother did not want to comment for this article. Beth was allowed to visit her family in Los Angeles a couple of times a year. Every time Beth returned, it was like lovers reuniting, Kristi recalls. I mean we practically, all of us kind of clung to each other the entire time she was there. Then depression would sink in. After the first couple days, I would just be totally just scared about the fact that I had to leave, Beth said. I can remember them telling me, you know, `You're here right now. You're not leaving. There's no reason to feel like you're losing us, because you're here, right here.' And it didn't mean anything. I was a basket case. Then one summer, things looked up. When Beth was 13 and Kristi was 12, plans were made for Kristi to visit Clearwater. Beth was ecstatic. So was Kristiuntil she saw the room she was going to share with Beth at the former Quality Inn. Oh my god, I couldn't even believe that Beth lived in a place like that, Kristi said. There were bugs everywhere. We were always scared of having bugs run across our feet and face and stuff while we were sleeping. One night, while Beth was working, Kristi and some other young people went to Clearwater Beach. An officer stopped them, said they were out too late and called Scientology officials. The decision was swift. Kristi's summer vacation was cut short. She immediately would be sent back to California. Beth found her sister crying in the Fort Harrison Hotel. Once again, Beth was torn. She anguished over Kristi. But if she went to the airport to see her sister off, it would look as if she condoned Kristi's mistake. So she didn't go. For me to g Kristi was flown home without even a kiss from her father. I cried the whole way home, Kristi said. Basically, I just felt like dirt. I felt like I had committed the biggest sin in my whole life, and there was no way that I could possibly make amends. It was real, real hard. As Beth neared 15, she got tougher. She had suffered so many heart-wrenching emotions that she grew numb to them. So she was surprisingly calm upon hearing some unexpected news: Her father was in trouble. He had been declared a suppressive personan enemy of Scientologyafter pushing for improvements in staff conditions and for refusing to be demoted. I was confused, she said. The organization that my dad had wanted me to be a part of was now telling him to leave. But even though he was leaving, Dennis Erlich still believed Scientology doctrine. Like his ex-wife, he would not urge his 14-year-old daughter to leave Clearwater. He told Beth she should make her own decision. She stayed. She had more allegiance to the cult than she did to me, Dennis Erlich said. And I can only say that that's my doing. Because I was less a father than I was a cult leader to her. Beth said the church designated a man and woman as her guardians, and she remained in Clearwater, thousands of miles from her mother, father, and sister. Ray Emmons is a former Clearwater Police lieutenant who specialized in Scientology affairs and sometimes interviewed people who wanted to leave the church. He said he was surprised at the number of Scientologists who wanted to leave family mem Most cases it was the parents that got disenchanted with Scientology, and the child was not. So the parents would leave, and the child would not. Within a year, Beth had decided she wanted to leave. She was confused. She told her superiors, and herself, that she wanted to move back to California. She requested a leave, which her Scientology superiors approved in 1983. Her flight to her father's home in Colorado was arranged. But on the day of the flight, she was called to the Fort Harrison to talk to the ethics officer, who deals with people who break Scientology rules. Her guardian was there. He accused her of wanting to leave without coming back. It was so Three hours before the flight, they were still debating the point. I started feeling like, well, they're trying to pressure me to not go. Finally, she told her guardian, Look, I'm leaving. I'm going now. Goodbye. She caught a Scientology bus from the Fort Harrison to the QI and picked up her things. There, a Scientology shuttle bus was going to take her to Tampa International Airport. She stood outside the QI, waiting. Rain started to fall. An hour before her flight, no bus had shown up. I was frantic. I didn't know what to do. Some other Scientologists came by and mentioned they were going to the airport. She asked for a ride. In the car, one of them turned around and asked: You do have clearance to leave, don't you? She said yes. It was true, but the ethics officer had made her feel as if it wasn't. I felt as if I were escaping. I was escaping the pressure. I was escaping these people who were trying to guilt me into staying. And I didn't have anybody. There was no one there who was trying to help me. From Tampa, she flew to Colorado. She later returned to her mother and sister in Los Angeles. Before long, all the Erlichs had left Scientology. For Kristi and her mom, the break centered on a dispute between her school, which catered to Scientologists, and the Church, Kristi said. Kristi entered a public school in Glendale. It was such a shock to me...my grades started going down, I became uninterested in school. I actually left high school in the 11th grade because I was really having a hard time adjusting. After leaving, I didn't have those stable things anymore. One of those was the church's insistence on a drug-free environment. I really kind of ended up on the streets for a while, Kristi said. She did a lot of drugs when I first left. It was the only way that I kind of felt okay about myself. She said she realized she was in a rut, got some counseling and got herself together. Now 23, Kristi is a college student. Dennis Erlich, 44, regrets bringing his family into Scientology. He now manages a small business in Los Angeles. On the side, he publishes a newsletter for former Scientologists called the inFormer. He recently wrote: I don't know if anyone can comprehend the remorse I feel for subjecting my children to this alienating, warped, repressive environment. I pray our story serves as a warning: SCIENTOLOGY IS DANGEROUS TO THE HEALTH AND SANITY OF YOUR CHI He's very remorseful, Beth said. He's always saying how sorry he is. Now 24, Beth is married and lives in California. She said she recently graduated from college with honors in graphic design. When she left Clearwater in 1983, she realized quickly she was never going back to Scientology. But some of the doctrines are hard to shake. Scientologists abhor psychiatry, for example, and it took Beth until this summer to seek therapy, to deal with the pain of her unusual childhood. She said it has been hard to build a meaningful relationship with her father, but she is trying. It's not like life is normal. I really don't think it ever will be. That was a really powerful time. CHURCH RESPONDS TO ERLICHS' CLAIMSby Curtis Krueger Times Staff Writer The Church of Scientology says that Dennis Erlich cannot be considered a reliable source of information about the church. Erlich, wrote church of Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth, is nothing more than a disgruntled former member who blames the church for his troubled life. Ten years ago he was asked to leave the church following complaints from his wife that he was physically abusing her; Erlich was also violent and abusive to other staff. Haworth labeled Erlich a hate vendor and a member of the Cult Awareness Network, which he said harbors deprogrammers and encourages individuals to pay thousands of dollars to kidnap family members...and mentally and physically har Erlich admitted he once slapped his wife and went to a Scientology counseling session to discuss it but denied other allegations of violence. He denied he is a deprogrammer or a member of the Cult Awareness Network. He said he does support the group and warns people about what he considers to be the dangers of Scientology. A spokeswoman for the Cult Awareness Network says the organization provides information and emotional support to cult victims and their families but does not advocate involuntary deprogramming. On some specific points raised in the Erlich story, Haworth said: - On Beth's long work hours Children of this age are not allowed by the church to work late. - On forcing Beth to change rooms often at the former Quality Inn where she lived This is certainly not the case in present time nor have I found it to be true. - On how an 11-year-old could understand the concept of a billion-year contract Many children spontaneously originate a desire to sign the contract. Children work only if their parents agree. - On the quality of food served to the Sea Org staff and family members There were periods in the past when conditions were not optimum regarding crew welfare. However, church executives conducted an investigation and the reasons why were loc - On the church as a factor in the separation of the Erlich family It is not church policy to separate children from families. - On the general criticism that some Scientologists spend little time with their children Church staff families spend three or four hours a day with their children and this is time actually spent with the children not just time when they could WHAT ARE THE CHURCH'S BELIEFS?by Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer L Ron Hubbard was a writer who conjured up tales of time travel and rocket ships to Mars. But science fiction was not all that sprang from Hubbard's pen. He also wrote the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. In it, Hubbard described a new kind of counseling, which he said could help people increase heir IQs, cure them The book was published in 1950 and eventually was incorporated into a religion that Hubbard named Scientology. From the start, Scientology has been controversial. Scientologists believe that by using their methods, people will learn to know themselves better and become more able to accomplish their goals. But critics say Scientology relies on deception to lure members and keep them loyal. Some call it a cult. Others say it's a scam. Dianetics holds that people have an analytic mind, which is infallible, like a computer. But people also have a reactive mind, which contains the source of irrational behavior. The reactive mind is made up of engrams, which are the legacies of painful experiences from the past. People free themselves of their engrams by recalling the experiences that caused them. This occurs in a Scientology counseling process called A person who is audited generally is hooked up to a device called an E-meter, similar to a lie detector. The auditor reads the meter on the device to evaluate the subject's responses to questions. Scientologists also believe that man is an immortal being called a thetan. One of the unusual aspects of Scientology is that it keeps many of its teachings secret, even from its members. Students proceed from one level to the next, and learning the higher levels too early is forbidden. One of these secret, higher levels is called OT III, for operating thetan three. In OT III, Scientologists learn that Xemu, the ruler of the galactic confederation, flew selected beings to volcanoes on a planet called Teegeeach, now k Another unusual aspect is the price. Auditing can cost $800 an hour. One couple, Tom and Carol Hutchinson of Marietta, Ga., said they purchased an auditing package that cost $35,000. Some Scientologists report that they can leave their bodies and influence events miles away. Scientologists also may join the Sea Org (Sea Organization), a group of full-time staff members. Those in the Sea Org work 12-hour days and earn $30 a week. Scientologists believe in reincarnation, and those who join the Sea Org sign billion- They also wear blue and white naval-style uniforms. A common misconception is that all Scientologists wear uniforms. They don't. Non-staff Scientologists dress as they wish and hold non-Scientology jobs. THIS STORY INCLUDES INFORMATION FROM PREVIOUS TIMES STORIES AND A COURT FILE. SAVING THE WORLD Scientologists believe they are saving the world from insanity, war and crime. Saving the world is an understatement, said former member Kenneth Wasserman. Saving the universe is more like it, he said. This intense sense of purpose explains why some Scientologists are willing to work 12-hour days for $30 a week Critics say this sense of mission has another consequence: Next to saving the world, caring for children may not seem so important. Scientology comes first and everything else is off-purpose, said former Scientologist Vicki Aznaran, who is su In fact, former members say Scientologists view children as adults in small bodies, who don't need much attention. Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth denies that the adults in small bodies concept exists. He said the children who live in Scientology-owned staff apartments have a healthy environment. It is a joy for me to see (staff) families together, Haworth said. Scientologists who aren't on the staff receive counseling and training that enha Given the church's penchant for secrecy, and the strong opinions on both sides, the truth is hard to pin down. According to the critics, here is the truth: Devotion to Scientology sometimes means... Little Time For Children... Eva Kleinberg moved from Germany to Clearwater with her 9-year-old son, Mark, in 1986. She had joined a group of Scientology staff members called the Sea Org. Eva was told she would have two hours a day for family time. But with travel time from work, she said she actually had only one hour with her son. Because of the 12-hour workdays, she couldn't always stay awake for the full hour. I would compromise with my son, she said. After eating, she and her son would divide the remaining half-hour of their family time. I would play a game with him for 15 minutes, and I would get to lay down for 15 minutes and sleep. While Eva worked, Mark cleaned up around the motel or played with friends. About a year later, Eva and Mark left the church. Asked what he thinks of Scientology, Mark, now 14, said, I don't think it's too good 'cause the people ... they don't get to spend any time with their family and it's real expensive. Church spokesman Richard Haworth said staff Scientologists actually spend three or four hours a day with their children, which he said is more than the average family. Adeline Dodd-Bova also left Scientology. She said she got disillusioned after working at Los Angeles schools that catered to Scientology children: I started seeing just really blatant neglect... terrible cases of children that were not getting any food, they were being sent to school with no food for the entire day. She was surprised at how strictly people followed the notion that children are adults in small bodies, capable of caring for themselves. What they ultimately sometimes end up creating are these children that turn out to be absolute, arrogant spoiled brats because no one can tell them what to do with their body under any circumstances because that's what they have been led to believe<1 Parents Leave Children... Ken Rose was in the midst of a Scientology counseling session in the mid-1980s when he realized: I could never be fully free unless I abandoned my kids, divorced my wife and joined the Sea Org (a group of staff Scientologists). Rose said he did divorce his wife and sign the standard billion-year contract to join the Sea Org. Rose eventually moved from Los Angeles to a Scientology complex at Gilman Hot Springs, Calif., and was allowed to drive back to Los Angeles once a week to visit his two sons. Then he was told regular family leaves would be canceled, he said. So he quit the church. In the end, it was the children who brought me to my senses, he said. Had it not been for the vulnerability of these two kids, I don't know if I would have been brave enough to get myself out. When Bobby Horne was about 7, he went to visit his father and noticed something strange. His father wasn't there. Bobby's parents had divorced years before, and he lived with his mother near Atlanta. He normally visited his father every other weekend. But more and more often, Bobby went to his father for a visit and found himself with a babysitter. Bobby's father had started spending his time at a Scientology center. He became interested after attending a seminar for dentists, sponsored by a consultant with ties to Scientology. Eventually, he sold his practice and joined the Sea Org in Clearwater. As a result, he would see Bobby once or twice a year, instead of every two weeks. When his father left, he looked at me one day in tears and he said, `Mom, how could a dad leave a son like me?' said his mother, Suzi Horne McPherson. And I couldn't answer because here is a straight-A, gifted child who had never been in Bobby still loves his father and has visited him in Clearwater and California, Mrs. McPherson said. Told of her account, Haworth said, You have been provided with a half-truth in an attempt to falsely portray a situation in a negative light. ...and Children Leave Parents Former Scientologist Nan Herst Bowers got this letter from her 21-year-old son, Todd, in April: Dear Mom: I am sending you this letter to let you know that I have to disconnect from you. I feel that disconnecting from you is the right thing to do....I can 't see you, the babies or Jim until this is all over and handled. In another letter, she said her 16-year-old son, Ryan, wrote: ...don 't call me, I don 't want to talk to you until you ...(settle your problems with the church). What had Mrs. Bowers' done? The Church of Scientology thought she had told a gossip tabloid that actor Tom Cruise was studying Scientology, she said. The church also thought she had spoken to the Los Angeles Times. So Mrs. Rowers was slapped with a harsh punishment. She was declared a suppressive personin other words, an enemy of Scientology. She would be shunned by other Scientologists. Scientologists think they won't advance spiritually if they continue to associate with suppressive persons.<1 To protect their pathway to spiritual achievement and to obey the organization, Scientologists may disconnect from suppressive personseven if that person happens to be their own mother, Mrs. Bowers said. Ryan, now 17, acknowledged in a Clearwater court hearing in September that he told his mother he wanted nothing to do with her. Asked about Mrs. Bowers' case, Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth said she used her children to collect information about celebrities and sold it to sensational tabloid newspapers to line her own pockets with money at their expense. She deni In a letter to the St. Petersburg Times signed by Ryan and his father, Ben Kugler, both of Clearwater, Ryan said he tried to improve his relationship with his mother, who lives in California. Mrs. Bowers complicated the effort by trying to use violent criminal deprogrammers to get him out of Scientology, he wrote. Asked about the letter, Mrs. Bowers acknowledged that she did hire two people to try to talk to Ryan about the dangers of Scientology. But the meeting never happened. Mrs. Bowers said the men had agreed that Ryan's presence at the meeting was to be purely voluntary<197>Ryan would be allowed to leave the session at any time. And Mrs. Bowers denied that the incident was what hurt her relationship with her son. The would-be meeting was two months after Ryan disconnected. She said she still has not been able to establish normal relations with her sons. Kenneth Wasserman, a Los Angeles lawyer, often received Scientology counseling in Clearwater. He said he had a close relationship with his daughters, who were raised in the church. But then, in 1989, he told them he was no longer a Scientologist. Afterward, daughters Jaime and Kelly, then 15 and 13, lived with his ex-wife, visited him only rarely and avoided serious conversation, he said. Wasserman thinks his daughters were told to disconnect from him. He said he hasn't heard from them since February. Father's Day and a birthday passed without even a telephone call. Now, his favorite photo of Jaime and Kelly brings him only pain. I'm tired of looking at it because it makes me cry, said Wasserman, who recently settled a lawsuit with the Scientologists about fees he paid to the church. Haworth called Wasserman's claims outrageous. Children Work Long Hours... Someone at the Church of Scientology called Clearwater police this March to complain about a trespasser. An officer found Carlo D'Aubrey, 15. Carlo, crying, told the officer he didn't go to school. He had just quit his job as a maintenance worker for Scientologya job in which he worked from 8:30 in the morning to 10 at night for $30 a week. He was having trouble getting his last three paychecks. Carlo's mother, Beverly D'Aubrey, lived in Clearwater, but not with him. He indicated she worked for the church. His father lived in England and had been accused of a high crime within Scientology. Therefore, Mrs. D'Aubrey had to divorce him. Carlo said his father would have to get permission from Scientology's international justice chief before the two could see each other again. After a call from police, Carlo's mother, who was ill, arranged for a Scientology official to pick up Carlo at the police station. Asked if the boy's work schedule would violate child labor laws, Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth said, I would think so, if he actually worked such hours. Francisco Rivera, a senior attorney with the Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security, agrees. State law generally prevents 15-year-olds from working more than four hours a day when school is in session. Haworth said Carlo has returned to England and that his story is as far from a true picture of Scientology children in Clearwater as you can get. A Clearwater police officer was surprised to see a 10-year-old boy walking downtownat nearly midnight. The boy, Mark Martin, said he had gotten off work about 10:30 p.m. Mark said he worked six days a week for the Church of Scientology. He was supposed to earn $12 a week but hadn't gotten paid since starting four weeks earlier. His mother lived in California and was supposed to be moving to Clearwater soon, he said. In the meantime, Mark lived with two brothers, 13 and 16, in a Scientology-owned motel. An investigation by state officials into the 1983 incident ended after two months, when Mark apparently returned to California. ...and Live In Crowded Quarters Church staff members, who administer counseling sessions that can cost as much as $800 an hour, live simply. So do their children. Eva Kleinberg said she lived in a one-bedroom motel unit with her 9-year-old son and another mother and child. She said she knew of a family of seven that lived in a single room. Home was the former Quality Inn, 16432 U.S. 19 N near Largo. When I came here (in 1986) it was such a disaster, she said. Michael Pilkenton said he used to live in a two-bedroom apartment with seven roommates, including a boy of about 10 whose parents were in California. Pilkenton, 27, is a former staff Scientologist. He lived in Hacienda Gardens, a Scientology-owned apartment complex, in 1989. Asked about cases of overcrowding, Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth said the organization has complied with fire codes that regulate how many people can live in buildings. MEMBERS LAUD SCHOOLING, CHURCH'S NO-DRUG STANCE Marie C. Gale is raising her children the same way her parents raised her: using the principles of Scientology. Considering my parents and grandmother, my children are fourth-generation Scientologists, Mrs. Gale, 36, said in a letter. Mrs. Gale, of Clearwater, is one of many local Scientologists who say their religion offers benefits to their families, their children in particular. Members say Scientology benefits their children because: - It offers educational methods that they say are superior to those used in public schools. - It steers parents away from psychiatry, which they view as evil. - It stresses a drug-free environment. - It teaches them procedures called touch assists, which are designed to help them recover from bumps and bruises. Mrs. Gale said she decided to become an active member of the Church of Scientology when she was 12. I attribute much of the success and happiness in my life to my upbringing in a sane and happy family and my ensuing Scientology pastoral counseling and auditing. Auditing is a Scientology counseling process that involves the use of an E-meter, a device similar to a lie detector. Both of the Gales' children, Philip, 12, and Elizabeth, 8, attend the Delphian School in Oregon, a boarding school highly regarded by Scientologists that uses methods devised by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction writer who founded Scientology. Elizabeth started attending this year, and Philip started when he was 8, she said. Both children are involved in a variety of school activities and are studying at advanced levels, according to her letter. Mrs. Gale said neither she nor her husband has pushed them into Scientology training or auditing. But this summer, Elizabeth completed the purification rundown. This is a process that purports to cleanse the body of various drugs and toxins. Philip has completed auditing sessions designed to help him educationally, she said. In response to an inquiry from the Times, Mrs. Gale wrote a letter to the newspaper and also wrote answers to follow-up questions. The Times was able to find only a couple of Scientology parents willing to talk about raising children in the church. Edward Best, a father of four, said in a telephone interview that Scientologist children are strongly warned of the dangers of drugs, and he thinks they get involved in drugs and crime less often. Richard Washburn of Tampa agreed. I think the big advantage in Scientology for children is the awareness of the danger of drugs, Washburn said. That's why my kids are in a private school. Washburn said two of his children attend the True school, 1835 Drew St. in Clearwater, and his wife works there. The school uses Hubbard educational methods. In an effort to get more firsthand information, the St. Petersburg Times repeatedly asked Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth for permission to interview staff Scientologists and their children. The requests were declined for months. Haworth did arrange for Scientologists to write letters to the Times. The newspaper received more than 180 letters. More than 150 arrived in a single day. It was impossible to verify most of the letters. Several letters had illegible signatures and no return addresses. Reprinted below are verbatim excerpts from some of the letters. The handwriting on some is difficult to read and the spellings of the signatures may not be correct. Haworth declined to confirm the spellings. I am 15 years old. I was born into a Scientology family and have been raised with Scientology technology. It has helped me tremendously. When I was very small I got in many accidents. My mother did a Scientology handling for those who get sick often, and it helped me to a point where I was rarely sick anymore. I was raised with the principles covered by Ron Hubbard on exchange, manners, how to have good relations, etc. I have turned out wellI am a very sane girl (not to brag) but I can tell right from wrongI am not promiscuous, don't smoke, do d Elyssa Alexander My daughter is five years old and is almost in the second grade! She and I have a beautiful relationship we communicate we laugh and we cry together. I not only have a daughter but a friend who is five going on forever. She is drug free and knows drugs are bad. She sees people drunk and doped up and tells them to stop it. I could go on and on but the best was I came home one night and my five year old was teaching her 13-year-old babysitter how to use a dictionary! That says it for me! Kate Ryan My daughter was raised in Scientology. She is now 14 years old. My daughter even though is only 14, she knows how to communicate with people without being reactive. She has learned how to treat people and she makes friends very easy. She has never even tasted a medicine therefore she is 100% drug freeexcept for the school vaccines. Of course if she were sick we obviously would have given her whatever the doctor said, however my daughter never had any sickness that required Bolivar Quinomis I am 20 years old and am the daughter of two people who were Scientologists since before I was born. I grew up moving all around the United States and have gone to many different types of public, private schools. When I started 9th grade I got into drugs and hardly ever went to school. Most of the time I spent ditching class and hanging out with my friends. No person in the school ever noticed or did anything to handle the situation when I walked off the gr In the Hubbard based schools I learned. At the others I sat in class like a zombie trying to learn and eventually just left giving up on learning. I am now the owner of my own business and married very happily with a child on the way. I am a Scientologist as well as my husband. Shelly P. Scientology vs. psychiatry The reader will find scattered in this series various references to Scientology's deep distrust of psychiatry. Church founder L. Ron Hubbard, according to the Wall Street Journal, harbored a profound and obsessive hatred Both the Journal and, more recently, CBS' 60 Minutes program have done pieces on the newest manifestation of Scientolgy's anti-psychiatry stance. The church, they suggested, is a major force in the attacks on the drug Prozac, used to PART TWO THEY TOOK OUR LIVES Scientology may alter radically a family's life. Beth Erlich, whose story appeared Sunday, has nightmares about growing up on the church staff in Clearwater. But the effect also can be traumatic for a family, like the Hutchinsons, that is not o By Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer Eleven-year-old Laura Hutchinson went to Girl Scout camp scared. Not scared of camp. Camp would be fine. Laura was scared that when she returned, Mom and Dad might be divorced. Tom and Carol Hutchinson, self-employed commercial artists in the Atlanta area, had been having marital problems. When Tom started getting counseling at Atlanta's Dianetics center, affiliated with the Church of Scientology, Carol objected. The parents fought as Laura left. But when Laura came back, her parents were together. By then, both were getting Scientology counseling. Before long, both considered themselves Scientologists. Soon Laura and her 8-year-old sister, Molly, did too. But Tom and Carol did more than switch religions. They switched focus. Scientology, rather than Laura and Molly, consumed them. Within two years, Tom and Carol spent $80,000 on the church, according to a lawsuit. They traveled to Clearwater for Scientology counseling and spent virtually all of their free time on the church. They signed billion-year contracts and prepared to move the family to Los Angeles. Their experience is not unusual. When parents plunge into Scientology, critics say, children often are swept along and family life takes a back seat. I mean, they took our lives away, said Laura, now 17. And then, one brief remark changed everything. The Hutchinsons' story begins in the summer of 1985. Tom confided to a client that he was having marital problems. The client referred Tom to Atlanta's Dianetics center. During a weekend auditing session, he spent 12 hours telling his problems to a Scientology counselor, or auditor. You come out of it, of course, feeling like you've dumped your troubles, Tom said. You get real high off the whole thing. And of course you want some more of that feeling. After Laura went to camp, Carol went to the Dianetics center, too, despite reservations. Like Tom, she went back for more. But Tom and Carol did not discuss their counseling sessions with each other. They had learned an important rule of Scientology: You can't discuss your case with anyone elseeven your spouse. One thing troubled Tom. Could he be a Christian and a Scientologist too? No problem, Scientologists said. They kept saying, `Well, you can be a Christian and a Scientologist at the same time,' Tom said. Eventually the lifestyle takes over and the Christianity kind of just goes by the wayside, Carol said. Laura was put off by the first Scientologists she met. They seemed pushy and phony. Both girls were enrolled in a Scientology study course and found it boring. But within a couple of months, Tom and Carol were spending seven days a week at the Atlanta Dianetics center for auditing or Scientology courses. The staff encouraged them to bring Laura and Molly. While their parents sat for hours in auditing sessions, the girls went to the basement and stuffed envelopes with Scientology literature. Mom and Dad were happy. We thought, well, this is good, you know, Carol said. They're staying busy doing something that's of benefit rather than just wasting their time playing or watching TV. Molly was audited only once, but Laura was audited several times. Like her parents, she was hooked to an E-metera device similar to a lie-detector. She held two metal cans while the auditor asked her questions and evaluated her responses. She, too, found that auditing made her feel good. I just felt like I was floating. Eventually, the girls went along. Molly told her friends she belonged to the Church of Scientology, which she thought was a new denomination of Christianity. At Christmas, Laura gave her friends books by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Laura was awed by some of the other Scientologists, especially the ones called OTsfor operating thetans. She knew OTs supposedly could remember past lives, and that fascinated her. I used to ask them if they had met God at any time, you know! And like, what was God like? I never got an answer. The auditing sessions soon got expensive, but Tom and Carol wanted more. Scientology staff members told the Hutchinsons they were lucky because they could afford to get enough auditing to attain the state of clear, an important goal within Scientology. Scientologists believe that by going clear, they can i Many people could not have afforded the $35,000 price tag to go clear. But the Hutchinsons could. A Scientology official explained how: all they had to do was get a second mortgage. For later counseling and training, they also cashed in their individual retirement accounts, charged up to the limit on their Visa card and sold a collection of antique, sterling-silver mint-julep cups. Tom and Carol eventually were told to go to Los Angeles to be evaluated and certified as clears. Thrilled, Tom and Carol flew to California. But Laura was not thrilled. This Los Angeles trip meant Mom and Dad would miss her 13th birthday. Laura's birthday just didn't seem so important, Carol said. We felt that the most important thing was to do the (clearing process), and that Laura would have other birthdays and she would get over it and, you know, no big deal. That's the way we felt, she said. As a Scientologist, Carol said she was taught that children sometimes manipulate their parents in order to get attention. So she said she learned not to give her children much sympathy. The normal, mothering, motherly feelings that you have, where you want to nurture and care for your children is taken away from you. Laura remembers that We'd be sick or we'd hurt ourselves or there was something we were upset about and Mom would just say, `I have no sympathy.' I was always sick because I needed her attention so bad. The news in Los Angeles was shattering. Although Carol successfully became clear, the Scientologists told Tom he failed. He wasn't clear. And it was his responsibility to get clear by buying more auditing, even though he and Carol already had spent $35,000. I thought my whole world had fallen apart, Tom said. I sat there and wept. I had done everything that I could do to get what they had promised me. And then coming up empty-handed...just seemed to me to be the ultimate rip-off. Returning to Atlanta, Tom and Carol soured on the church and found themselves swamped in debt, working extra hours to keep their business afloat. Out of the blue, a Scientologist called from Clearwater to offer free auditing. Clearwater, known among Scientologists as Flag Land Base, is considered the spiritual headquarters of Scientology. We had always been told that Flag (Clearwater) was the Mecca of Scientology, that at Flag you could get the world's best auditing, Carol said. And so I thought, this is fantastic. Free auditing at Flag! It was in Clearwater, at the Fort Harrison Hotel in 1987, that Carol had her last auditing session. In the auditing room, Carol said she sat in the chair and relaxed, settling into something like a hypnotic trance. She picked up the two metal cylinders connected to the E-meter. Closing her eyes, she started feeling uncomfortable. Carol could see something; she wasn't sure what. I could see a lot of fog, and it was like the fog didn't want to clear, because there was something in the fog, or behind the Fog. And I felt my back was hurting...and I didn't understand why. And finally...I started to get an image of what was in the fog. And it was Christ on the cross. The auditor peppered her with questions. She kept pushing me for more and more information...and that's the way you do it with an auditing session. And the more I described it, the clearer the picture got. And finally I heard a voice speaking to m But the auditor pushed, and eventually she explained. I knew that what he was saying was, `Don't be afraid, I'll always be with you.' And I burst into tears, and I felt this immediate, incredible relief, and this understanding and knowledge that that was true. She wasn't sure what it meant. But she was exhilarated. Carol went back to Atlanta ecstatic. She comes home from Clearwater, and it's like her feet don't touch the floor, Tom said. He wondered what had happened, but, under the rules, she couldn't tell him. Before long, Tom was off to Clearwater. While they chased that dream, their debts were catching up to them. At about this time, a recruiter visited them from the Sea Org, short for Sea Organization. Sea Org members are full-time Scientologists who work 12-hour days, and wear naval-style uniforms. Tom and Carol were told they would earn $35 a week. It was a way out. They could sell the house, leave their debts behind and move to Los Angeles with the girls. Tom and Carol joined and signed the Sea Org's standard billion-year contract. Tom, Carol and the girls told their friends they were leaving. I was really scared, Laura said. I felt like I didn't have anywhere to go. There was no home for me, there was nothing. As he prepared to leave, Tom ran an errand to a typesetter. He told a woman there that he was moving to Los Angeles. She asked why. Ever heard of the Church of Scientology? he asked. She says, `I was an auditor in Los Angeles 15 years ago,' Tom recalled. And she says, `Now I'm a Christian, and I don't believe in anything that they were doing, and it's a cult.' The words hit Tom like a lightning bolt. Thunderstruck, he went home and told Carol. Neither of them had read any material critical of Scientology or run across former Scientologists. Oh my God, Carol said. We sat there, Tom recalled, and said, could it possibly be that we are making a huge mistake? They took the telephone off the hook. Tom and Carol told their daughters to turn away anyone who came to the door. The children stood guard while the parents holed up in the bedroom. Tom and Carol each had doubts, but, in accordance with church rules, they had never discussed them. Now they talked heart-to-heart. After two days of talking virtually nonstop, they realized that there was no way they could go back to Scientology. Tom and Carol were exhausted from their marathon discussion. They needed an excuse to get out of the house. Molly said her girlfriend had invited her to a church play. The whole family went along. Carol said she walked into the Peachtree Christian Church and stared at a stained-glass window depicting the baptism of Jesus. "I looked up at that and I just burst into tears, because I was just overcome, knowing that this was where we were led." A memory came to her. Don't be afraid, I'll always be with you. After the play, a crowd of churchgoers surrounded the family and welcomed them. Tom met the minister. I remember distinctly tears welling up in his eyes, the Rev. James L. Collins said. Collins told him Scientology was a counterfeit religion that had caused turmoil in many lives. Today, Tom and Carol still are working as commercial artists in the Atlanta area. They say they cannot think of a single benefit from their two years in Scientology. The Hutchinsons have sued the Church of Scientology in Georgia, seeking unspecified damages for their unhappy experience in the church and seeking to prevent Scientology from using what the suit says is a policy of harassing former members who speak out. A countersuit says the Hutchinsons' action is frivolous. The family still attends Peachtree Christian Church. At first, Laura said, she had reservations about getting involved in another religious organization. But now, Molly and Laura both said their Christian faith is strong. For Laura, it's stronger than before. I know what it's like, you know, what life is like without it, she said. It's a very greedy cult, said Molly, now 15. They don't leave you any room for anything else, said Tom. It's total control. And when they're through with you, there's nothing else in your life. Carol said she still feels a sense of guilt. To admit that you have done something so traumatic to your children...is just real hard to deal with afterward. CHURCH OFFICIALS RESPOND TO THE HUTCHISONS' STORY Asked to comment on the Hutchinsons' story, Richard Haworth, spokesman for the Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, said he had not seen their lawsuit. When a reporter offered to give him a copy, he declined to accept it. In general, he said, Scientology helps parents and children to improve their relationships with each other. He denied that Scientologists are taught not to have sympathy for their children. A child that is sick or hurt will get compassion, love and understanding to help him get well, he said. On the matter of Scientologists not discussing their auditing experiences with each other, Haworth said someone who talks about the experience might upset others, without helping himself or herself advance spiritually. The Church of Scientology in Georgia did not return phone calls from the Times. ON EDUCATION Like the church he founded, the teaching methods espoused by L. Ron Hubbard create controversy. And they are spreading, across the United States and around the world. By Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer LRon Hubbard wrote science fiction stories and founded a religionbut he didn't stop there. He went on, according to his followers, to achieve tremendous breakthroughs in education. There are now more than 150 Hubbard-method schools around the world. They achieve superior results, according to supporters, and are free of drugs and drug-related violence. Some bay area parents give high marks to schools using the Hubbard method. I have two children that are in a school where Scientology study tech is being applied ... (and) both of them are really doing great, wrote Linda Hilton. Schools in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom use Hubbard's methods, according to Applied Scholastics, a corporation that licenses the techniques. Critics say the schools are fronts for Scientology, that their hidden purpose is to lure the unwitting into a cult with designs on their money. Some students who have had instruction under the Hubbard system and at public schools say they learned more in public schools. Even nations disagree on the matter. In Germany, government authorities strictly regulate the schools. Strict regulations and grass-roots movements by citizens forced Scientologists to close one school near Munich and abandon plans for another near Hamburg. Authorities believe the methods cause psychological damage, said Monika Schipmann, an official with the Berlin Education Department, which is responsible for sects. They teach authoritarian, hierarchal thought patterns, said Ralf Mucha, an official of Action Psychocult Threat, a state-supported private agency in Dusseldorf. He said word clearinga Hubbard method that focuses on the meanings o Advocates of the method have shifted focus to the area that was East Germany, where the collapse of communism has left many young people in search of a new value system. But in South Africa, the schools reportedly have had considerable success, especially among poor black families, and are backed by some South African corporations. Three schools in Clearwater employ Hubbard's educational ideas, but there is no public record to gauge their effectiveness. Florida, unlike some other states, has virtually no regulation of teaching methods or curriculum at private schools. Like many other private schools, the Clearwater schools using the Hubbard method are unaccredited. The Times asked a professor of education at the University of South Florida to analyze the Basic Study Manual, which outlines the fundamentals of Hubbard's methods. I don't see any harm in the techniques, said Evelyn Searls. Neither do I think they are a panacea for literacy problems. Hubbard uncovered the basic reason for failures of a student to grasp any subject, according to Scientology advertisements. The only reason a person becomes unable to learn, according to Hubbard, is that the person went past a word he or she didn't understand. Most schools tell children to look up words in dictionaries. But it is pre-eminent in the Hubbard technique. His methods are designed to help people learn to learn and can be applied to traditional school subjects. Hubbard's followers say his methods enable anyone to learn anything. Failure to grasp the meaning of a word can lead to more than bad grades, according to Hubbard. It can make students appear tired or disinterested. Lilly Dodd, 16, is a former student of the Delphi Academy in Los Angeles, which uses Hubbard's methods. So if you're sitting there reading a book and you yawn, she said, then they will call you over to a place where they will try and look for misunderstood words.... They'll sit there and ask you what does the word `the' mean? If you don't a Illness might cause the same reaction. Once, she recalls, I actually had a fever, and then they said, `Well, before you call your mom to want to go home, I suggest you go down to the word-clearer (the person who helps students understand words) and find out if you have any problems in you Lilly said she later enrolled in public school in Los Angeles and found she had fallen far behind. Old enough to enroll in ninth grade, she chose eighth instead. "It was quite a shock for her to find out where she really stood," said her mother, former Scientologist and teacher Adeline Dodd-Bova. She said the staff at Delphi told students their education was far superior to what they would get in a public school. Despite repeated attempts, Delphi Academy representatives could not be reached for comment. Many Scientologists say they care deeply about their children's education, and they say Hubbard-method schools provide the best environment. But former members said the church actually placed a low priority on giving its children a formal education. Former Scientologist Michael Pilkenton used to talk to children at Hacienda Gardens, a Clearwater apartment complex that houses Scientology's staff members. Pilkenton in 1989 was a member of the Sea Org, or Sea Organization, the full-time Scientologists who work 12-hour days. He would ask the children whether they planned to go to college and choose a career. He said the children told him: You can do anything you want in college right here in the study room. Former members say Scientology staff members believe they are saving the world, and other pursuitssuch as collegeoften seem unimportant. Really for them there's no purpose for someone to be going to college anyway because what you really should be doing if you're a good Scientologist is joining that army of Sea Org people to clear the planet, Dodd-Bova said. Clear [as a verb] is a term that means to deliver Scientology counseling. Clearwater, the international spiritual headquarters for the Church of Scientology, is home to the True School, which uses the Hubbard methods. It denies being a Scientology front or teaching the religion. The school is not in any way connected to the Church of Scientology, they do not fund us or have any management over us, Christine Collbran, the school's vice president, said in a letter to the Times. But it does have ties to Scientology. School officers are listed in a local directory of Scientologists. The last executive director, Sheri Payson, left the school to work for a Scientology church in Tampa, according to a newsletter. Child auditing, a Scientology counseling proces The True School is licensed by Applied Scholastics, Collbran said in a letter. According to a brochure, Applied Scholastics' trademark is owned by a group called ABLE International. The brochure says: ABLE creates recognizable changes in society<1 Asked about charges that the schools are Scientology fronts, Church of Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth said: Some people's claims don't happen to reflect reality. He said Applied Scholastics merely was exporting Hubbard's study methods<1 The True School has more than 100 students and advertises that it offers instruction for children ages 2 through high school. But state records indicate that during the past six years, it has not graduated a single student, said Patterson Lamb, who handles private school matters for the Florida Department of Education. The True School is not accredited, which means that someone who wants to go on to college probably would have to take the GED high school equivalency test. That is not uncommon among private schools. Asked why the school is not accredited, Collbran wrote that accreditation might force the staff to undergo psychological or psychiatric training. She added: Psychologists and psychiatrists ARE the ones responsible for the drop in SAT scores and increase in rape, crime, RITALIN use and drugs in general. To us the idea of being `accredited' by these people is totally undesirable. Scientologists also denounce psychiatry. The Jefferson Academy, another Clearwater school marketed toward Scientologists, also is not accredited. Officials at the school declined to grant interviews. Much less is known about the Scientology staff school, known as the Cadet School. It is at a former Quality Inn, 16432 U.S. 19 N near Largo, that the Scientologists also use to house members who have small children. The old motel also is home to a day-care center. The Scientologists turned down a Times request to visit the school or interview pupils. Haworth said the school has about 135 students who study in six course rooms. They learn reading, writing, arithmetic and other subjects and go on a variety of field trips, he said. The Cadet School is far superior to a public school as there are NO drugs nor any of the drug-related violence unfortunately found in many of our public schools, he said in a written statement. Hubbard-method schools deny they promote Scientology, but Michael Burns disagrees. In 1988 at the age of 21, he enrolled in the Recording Institute of Detroit, a school for record producers. Soon he was learning Hubbard educational methods and being encouraged to visit a Dianetics center affiliated with Scientology. Eventually, Burns said, he became a Sea Org member in Clearwater. He said he worked long hours, got five or six hours of sleep each night and lived in a two-bedroom apartment with 10 roommates. He left last year and is suing Scientology. The Recording Institute could not be reached, but Haworth denied it is a front for Scientology. It was a dreadful, scary, horrifying experience I am ashamed to admit to, Burns said recently. I'd like to be able to forget it. THIS STORY INCLUDES INFORMATION FROM CORRESPONDENTSIAN JOHNSON IN GERMANY AND ARLENE GETZ IN SOUTH AFRICA. CHILDREN, ADULTS WRITE TO THE TIMES The True School and the Jefferson Academy, two Clearwater schools that use educational methods devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, declined to allow the St. Petersburg Times to interview students, graduates, teachers, admini But the True School did provide what it said were testimonials from some of the school's students and staff members. In addition, Church of Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth arranged for Scientologists to write letters and send them to the Times. Here are excerpts from the testimonials and letters. Their accuracy could not be confirmed independently, nor could the spelling of the signatures, which in some cases were hard to read. True School testimonials The data that L. Ron Hubbard has put together is so effective that students are happy and wanting to go to school. Just like me!! Some of the successes I have had I couldn't of had if I was in a school that did not use these methods. I can study without any problems and I get all the information. This school has changed the way I study, and that's good. Becky Minkoff, 11 This is the best day at school I've ever had. It is a lot better than sitting and listening to those headache makers. All the math I did was good! Ryan Ellenberg, 10 I am extremely happy about passing the Basic Study Manual Course and the test. It feels good to complete a task and then discover thatIT'S TRUE!!you did understand everything you read. This gives me extra desire to continue with my next t Anne Owens, 24 Letters from Scientologists I have two children that are in a school where Scientology study tech is being applied. With this study tech, both of them are really doing great. Their math levels have increased because they really know it; as well as their reading levels. As a mother, I very pleased and proud of what they have gotten with the Scientology study tech being applied at their school. Linda Hilton When my son was in elementary school, he started to have problems in learning and he was very slow in understanding what the teacher was saying and I was very concerned. I heard about Scientology and its educational programs and took him to see if something could be done. Miraculously, he started to ask me if he could go to study on the weekends and on vacations too!! There was nothing that could stop him since the I don't know how to thank L. Ron Hubbard for this technology of his that gave me a happy family. Ayako Balfour I have been in Scientology for the last 14 years. I came into Scientology when I was 12 years of age. Before I started doing Scientology, I was an illiterate kid. I could not read well or write well. In using the study technology that I learned, I was able to catch up and do better in school. I am now 26 years old and I believe that if I had not learned Scientology, I would have left school not really knowing how to read and write. Due to my Scientology education I am leading a very happy and productive life. Christina Sheehy First, let me say that Scientologists children are not involved in drugs, even though they are smack dab in the middle of a `drug culture.' Study Technology is the only workable system of education today. (Wish I had been brought up with it, how much easier life would have been!) The public school system today is infiltrated with `psychology hog wash' which is responsible for the ever declining education level. Hubbard's study tech is the only hope, right now, for our future. Leigh Oriel There are many wonderful teachers around in our schools however there are also systems of the schools the teachers have to abide to. Some of the rules that exist can send children to psychologists or psychiatrists who orders them on Ritalin, a very Lisbeth EDITOR'S NOTE: Some of the letters reflect Scientology's longstanding war on psychiatry. Church founder L. Ron Hubbard, according to the April 19 issue of the Wall Street Journal, harbored a profound and obsessive hat The article notes that the church is leading the campaign against the anti-depression drug Prozac and Ritalin, a drug used to treat hyperactive children. Ralph Bailey, who supervises psychological services for the Pinellas County School System, said school psychologists do not order children to take Ritalin. 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