julrei

Don't feel bad for being angry. I have been out since 1987 and I'm still angry. I went to an ACE school for 9 years in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. You can read parts of my experience with ACE in previous posts. It upsets me that some people don't seem to understand how much crap we had to put up with. In my first year I was there, I was in the first grade (PACE numbers 1001-1012, anyway). We had to watch a documentary entitled 'Decieved.' The film told the story of the Rev. Jim Jones and how he led the Peoples Temple to South America and ordered a mass suicide. At six years of age, I was exposed to images of a multitude of dead bodies. It didn't stop there. We were taken on a trip to the funeral home. That nearly scared the warm brown feces out of me. On top of that, we were kept abreast of the current events involving Lester Roloff and his stay in jail. We had to write letters to our local authorities asking us not to put our pastors and parents in jail for attending an 'unlicenced' school. I didn't really understand it but the thought of my parents and pastors and teacher going to jail is downright disturbing. It was to me.

I know this may be a little hard to swallow right now and it's not my goal to bust your chops. So please don't take offense to this. Do not let the actions of one splinter organization that calls themselves "Christian" dictate how you feel about Christianity as a whole. Those who practice Christianity outweigh by far those involved in ACE. Christianity has been around since (aprox)A.D. 33. Ace has been around since 1970 something. The ACE procedures manual is NOT a book in the Holy Bible. It ain't even in the Apocripha! The creation of ACE is not laid out in the book of Genesis. And I gravely doubt God wears an ACE tie! My point? There are millions of Christians that distain such an education. A student should be taught by another person, backed up by a lesson plan textbooks, and other learning aids, not solely by putting a student in an ACE uniform, in an "office" in the back room of an independent Baptist church, and give him demerits for getting off tasks and making errors at the scoring station. I myself am one of them.

As Christians, look at the One whom we worship as our Lord and Saviour. As documented in Chapter 23 of The Gospel according to St. Matthew, Jesus Christ socks it to the religious leaders for leading people astray, being hypocrites, making themselves look rightous by all outward appearences but being full of sin and hate, but "...full of dead men's bones..." Jesus Christ hated the actions of these kind of people equally as much.

You may or may not agree with what I told you. But what I am telling you still doesn't erase the pain. It's ok. Time doesn't always heal. And sometimes you have to get help.

I got help. I am a member of ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics.) Even if someone doesn't grow up in an alcoholic home, it is possible that someone's parents may have. And they tend to pass down the addiction of disfunction in some shape or form. Sometimes it involves having workaholic or very ferverent parents. In caught up in religious fervor, parents will dive into whatever their church believing they are right in what they are doing. ACA is a 12-step program similar to programs such as AA and NA. I am not fully recovered. But with God's help and ACA, I have been able to make sense of what happened in ACE and what I have to do to recover.

I understand how you might be feeling. But rest assured there is a much better life outside of ACE.

databass2001

Having read through this will comment on my experience, some of which is reflected in other posts. I was quite lucky by the sounds of it.

I did four years in a church school, (elementary) which used part traditional teaching and part ACE. The school was small, and I guess this meant they could give a broad enough curriculum in a school with a Principal, one teacher and a learning centre supervisor.

So it was elementary only, we didn't just do Ace, and we did have 2 staff members who were teachers in the traditional sense. I don't know if this is common, or whether most schools just use ACE for everything.

The Learning Centre set up was just how ACE meant it to be by the sounds of things. Cubicles, flags etc etc. We probably spent half the day in 'classes' and half in the Learning Centre. The supervisor was just there to make sure you stayed in the cubicle, kept quiet, got on with the workbooks.

It was a church school and you couldn't go there unless you were part of the church, and the school values mirrored church values, and pretty much what we had at home too. Everything had the religon thread running through it. Bible study was important, and we all had to learn and recite passages.

Unsurprisingly it was strict - parents were regularly called in, and were often asked to spank us. The staff didn't give the spankings themselves.

I moved on, to another christian school, and I wasn't behind on the curriculum, and wasn't disadvantaged academically. My main complaint is that we were force fed the bible. I can see that if you only do ACE, and you do it beyond elementary grades it can't be a good thing.

Jon

First of all, the "School of Tomorrow" should be called the "School of Yesterday," as the PACES are terribly
outdated. I went to an ACE school from the mid 90's to 2000, yet my paces were from the '70's. All learning
was self-taught except for the Bible lessons and the required assistance I needed for math. The only benefit
I saw from this learning system was the great discipline it took to stay within my grade level. In the lower
grades there was no h/w for my brothers, they would get all their work done in like 2 hours. But in the higher
grades you had so much work to do, it was nearly impossible to get it done. I had about 7 subjects at a time
each year. the first hour at school was taken up by devotions and bible verse memory(which wasn't a subject).
Another hour or two taken up by math. A third hour taken up by an elective or literature(which also didn't count
as any credits.) Other time was taken up by either tests or "scoring" checking our own work for mistakes
with answer keys. Then it was lunch and gym or library or oral reports. So, I was only finishing two or three
subjects at school and coming home each night with about 4 subjects of homework to do.
ACE also had new students to placement tests to see what grade they should be in, i was in eighth grade
but i've always been bad at math, so they put me in 5th/6th grade math paces. That, ofcourse, forced me
to do summer school in math just to keep up the right pace numbers for my grade so i could graduate on time.
Many students either dropped out or got very behind and went to a different school b/c they couldn't keep up
with their studies. Some students didn't graduate high school until they were 21 b/c they didn't keep up their
paces on time. Though I managed to keep a high GPA, I was completely unprepared for college. I wasn't even
aware that I had to take notes at college, nor did I have any idea how to do so since I'd never been in a class
room setting in my entire life. I had less homework in college, however, then I did in high school. I had to guess
at how to socialize and get to know teachers and other students which is due to both homeschooling and attending small schools.

What happened to you was not from God, but people being cruel and using Christianity as a cover-up. The Bible says such people who claim to be of God but behave abusively are worse than the people that deny God. In the schools I've been to, some teachers were good and others weren't. I have some really good memories of school such as field trips and some of my friends, but I do know what you mean. I have seen especially in another ACE school abuse and manipulation toward the students.

Some of my experiences with ACE is the history teachings were very poorly done, we only read short
summaries of major historical events and wars. It was explained in such dull ways, that it was very
hard to understand or remember. There were no movies or teacher stories, just reading. And many
books and paces had their own opinions added on top of the historical facts. For example, it would
add although Abe Lincoln participated in dancing, we know this is a worldly act that Christians should never partake in. The paces were also filled with cartoons of examples of how "real christians"
live. But these cartoons are a complete joke as compared to real life. It would give the idea that once
one is a Christian their lives are from that point on perfect...and would even show Ace mowing lawns
in his suit and tie. I remember one cartoon was about dishonesty and it showed Sandi saying that she was freezing. Her mom then rebuked her and said such exagorations are lies and she should ask for forgiveness. She also implied she should be grateful that they had a warm roof over their heads lol. These were the kinds of non-sense applications shown in their attempt to brainwash students. This could make them believe most anything could send someone on a one way ticket to hell.
Fortunately, my ACE school was not as strict as another I was occasionally involved in. The other school would have rules like only one necklace could be worn, boys' hair had to be above the ears, girls had to wear dresses at all times including swimming, running and other sports. Music was seen as evil except for some old hymns. Perfection was expected in all areas of life. If we even questioned one of the rules we would be punished. So we were taught to not think, but believe and obey or else.

I noticed that sexism and blaming the victim seems to thrive in ACE as girls should wear skirts and have long hair, ect.
Not only that, but just the treatment in general. Often if female students would whisper or
talk to other students or if we had to go to the bathroom when it wasn't break we'd get into trouble.
We'd get demerits or lose breaks or other get other disciplines, while the male students were often
allowed to get away with much more such as talking during class times. Bullying was typically ignored, though
many schools are guilty of this. Not only did I have to sit in a cubicle, but I often got harassed by bullies
while trying to study and this was ignored. When I tried or other students, especially girls, tried to defend
ourselves from the bullies we were punished for not turning the other cheek or tattling or name calling, ect.
When it was the trouble makers that should have been corrected. The system teaches you to be
fearful of the real world and to not stand up for yourself or speak up for your own ideas and beliefs. But to
be a submissive victim in the sake of suffering for Christ. This way of thinking gets ingrained in your brain and I
don't know if it can ever be shaken off even when you become an adult. Not to mention, it was a breeding ground
for troubled students. Many kids that got expelled from public school would join the ACE school and also the
kids of very strict households in which brainwashing also took place. So, if students weren't brainwashed
enough at home and at sunday school, there's always more for monday through friday hours at private school.
All this to be sure the student's brain is thoroughly saturated 24/7 of strict opinion based rules and theories.

Quote
anotherbrainwashed
I noticed that sexism and blaming the victim seems to thrive in ACE as girls should wear skirts and have long hair, ect.
Not only that, but just the treatment in general. Often if female students would whisper or
talk to other students or if we had to go to the bathroom when it wasn't break we'd get into trouble.
We'd get demerits or lose breaks or other get other disciplines, while the male students were often
allowed to get away with much more such as talking during class times. Bullying was typically ignored, though
many schools are guilty of this. Not only did I have to sit in a cubicle, but I often got harassed by bullies
while trying to study and this was ignored. When I tried or other students, especially girls, tried to defend
ourselves from the bullies we were punished for not turning the other cheek or tattling or name calling, ect.
When it was the trouble makers that should have been corrected. The system teaches you to be
fearful of the real world and to not stand up for yourself or speak up for your own ideas and beliefs. But to
be a submissive victim in the sake of suffering for Christ. This way of thinking gets ingrained in your brain and I
don't know if it can ever be shaken off even when you become an adult. Not to mention, it was a breeding ground
for troubled students. Many kids that got expelled from public school would join the ACE school and also the
kids of very strict households in which brainwashing also took place. So, if students weren't brainwashed
enough at home and at sunday school, there's always more for monday through friday hours at private school.
All this to be sure the student's brain is thoroughly saturated 24/7 of strict opinion based rules and theories.

anotherbrainwashed, how long were you in an ACE school? Just wondering....

Rumor has it Pudge Meekway fell off the wagon...

6 years. i liked some of the things about my school itself just not the pace system. and i didn't like how the other school i was involved with functioned at all. it was so bizarrely strict, i hate to think how those kids turned out or how they struggle mentally/emotionally today. nothing was ever good enough, no matter how hard they tried they were still "evil and worldly" lol.

I am currently working the "Twelve Steps" of Adult Children of Alcoholics and Other Dysfunctions, otherwise known as ACA. Although I did not come from an alcoholic home, much of my own personal dysfunction, most of which is the direct result of nine years of ACE, show up in the "Laundry List" traits identified by ACA. Celebrating a major ACA milestone by completing Step Five, I showed up to a meeting almost on top of the world. Last night's topic discussed Step Eleven, when involves drawing closer to God through prayer and meditation. Under Step Eleven, the ACA Text, (AKA: "The Big Book") discusses a guided meditation. It involves walking on the beach with your "inner child." As the meditation was read, it made me sad. Because the concept for caring for my inner child is so foreign to me. Looking back I never saw myself as a child that needed to be loved and cared for. I never saw myself as a child lost in a failure of an system. All I could see myself as that little shit with the ACE tie.

As a six-year-old in YEAR ONE of ACE I learned I had to grow up fast. I can think of three events that did something to me. They all happened in YEAR ONE: 1978-1979.

1. We took a field trip to the funeral home. And I saw at least two bodies.

2. " Decieved." We were required to watch a movie about Rev. Jim Jones and the People's Temple Cult that migrated down a commune in Guyana. What still burns in my mind is seeing this man standing in the pulpit preaching, just like my own pastor did. And then I see footage of 900+ bodies spread out on the ground. Is this a pastor who did this? And in my fragile little mind tossed around the possibility that the same thing could happen to us.

3. A letter writing campaign was announced where we would have to write to our government to ask us not to put us all in jail because the school's refusal to purchase some kind of non-existent "license" to have a Christian school. This was in the wake of Lester Roloff homes being held accountable. To make a long story short, I was scared shitless of going to jail for going to a Christian school. (See [en.wikipedia.org].)

Those three events, in conjunction with the stress of learning the correct behaviours in ACE, destroyed my inner child. With that said, I had eight more years to go -- eight more years to totally destroy my inner child, leaving nothing but the little shit with the ACE tie!

That link to Lester Roloff didn't make the last entry. Sorry bout that. Here it is:

[en.wikipedia.org]