Hi everyone,
I am an ACE alumnus, and I want to do something about the abuse that goes on there. My own story is similar to those here. I went to a school where theere was ruthless discipline, a lot of it needless. In a drama class (a rare break from PACEs), on one occasion a supervisor made all the student snap their fingers until some of the students had blisters. Another time she made everyone hold their arms out, fully extended, at face height, and made everyone hold it there until some of the children were crying from the pain.
The PACEs themselves were oppressive. I tried to graduate early by doing them as fast as possible. I managed 101 in a year, but I was suicidal by the end. Academically, they are useless. It's possible to learn everything by rote, so what evidence do the tests provide that learning, by which I mean understanding, has actually taken place?
Important bit: I run a blog about ACE at
leavingfundamentalism.wordpress.com.
I would love to hear from other ACE survivors, whatever their views. I want to get the word out about what is happening. If you would like to share your story on my blog, consider this an open invitation to write anything you like. If you have copies of your old PACEs that I can use to expose what's taught in the curriculum, that would be useful too. I don't just want to complain. I want to stop other children going through what we went through.