“He had a belt that had holes in it, and every time he would hit me it ..."
“He had a belt that had holes in it, and every time he would hit me it would suck the skin from my behind.”
Reconstructing what happened at Dozier School for Boys - site photos, video and article.
At least 96 children died at Dozier between 1914 and 1973, according to school records, and while state officials say there’s no proof, former students insist that some of the deaths were the result of foul play. Boys of all races were routinely, brutally, and even fatally beaten by staff, they allege; some were raped, and “runners” were fired upon—at least seven kids were reported dead after trying to escape.
Tens of thousands of boys passed through Dozier’s gates between its founding in 1900 and 2011, when Florida officials shut it down (citing budgetary reasons) amid a Justice Department investigation that found ongoing “systemic, egregious, and dangerous practices” at the school.
At a state hearing last August, after years of agitating by former Dozier boys, researchers from the University of South Florida got permission to unearth bodies from the grounds and run tests to determine who those boys were—and how they died. Last month, the scientists came out with an announcement that was disturbing, if not surprising. They had excavated 55 sets of remains at Dozier’s Boot Hill cemetery, 5 more than they’d originally identified, and 24 more than were indicated in the school’s official records. Other campus locations remain to be searched....
And here is an opportunity to add a bit of a grin to a disturbingly sad story - a random connection to our esteemed Admin's handle.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/returning-to-dozier-florida-school-for-boys
= new reply since forum marked as read
emotionally from it. 
and get anywhere, eh? If one doesn't deal with it, and then move on, they can get stuck. I've met people like that throughout my life, and it's a tough rut to get out of.
But thank you for the hug 
Worse, most people in an abusive situation think they are alone, which is the biggest reason it continues like it does, I think. Even reaching out is a risk, and the abuser of males often puts it into your head early that such a thing is a sign of weakness, and society reinforces a lot of it. Mind control.
If we could make ourselves into a union we could show each other we really aren't alone. Ironically, however, we are all broken to some extent, and most really have no intervention that is worth a shit, so hanging together becomes really problematic. 
But we go on, yes? And if a few just try to do a little better than they did, it will be better than it could have been. And if we get more than that, great.
