We remember today the one-year anniversary of the tragic death of Abbie Bartels, who was an 8th grade student at the Milton Hershey School, until late last school year, when she was told she was no longer welcome. Abbie was an honor role student and beloved by her family, friends, teachers, houseparents, and everyone else who encountered her. Tender-hearted, Abbie was kind and put others first. She was a member of an anti-bullying group and was selected as Student of the Month. She loved animals. Sadly, Abbie was also the victim of flawed thinking on adolescent depression, just as many children across America face similar misunderstanding. Instead of finding compassion, Abbie was stigmatized and pushed away. But in Abbies case, this was at the hands of the Milton Hershey School, an institution that now has $12 billion in resources, and that is obligated by law to help children like Abbie. Nonetheless, despite its vast wealth and availability of all that was needed to help Abbie complete her recovery, the Milton Hershey School administrators turned Abbie away. This came just days before Abbies 8th grade graduation, when her treatment had shown tremendous progress and she had finally turned a corner in her battle with depression. In doing so, the Hershey administrators ignored the pleas of front-line care-providers, broke Abbies houseparents hearts, saddened Abbies friends, and reduced Abbies MHS psychologist to tears. In other words, its not that no one at Hershey cared about Abbie. On the contrary, many people did care, and wanted to help her. But those in charge overrode the wishes of those who wanted to help, just as they had done with many other Hershey children, who also suffer from treatable depression. The result was that Abbie was told she could not be at Hershey. She was also barred from attending her 8th grade graduation, and made to feel like a pariah. She was even denied a chance to say goodbye to her Hershey student home friends, when her invitation to a student home picnic was rescinded by the administration. Abbie had even written goodbye notes to her housemates, in anticipation of seeing them at least once more. The picnic had been one of the few remaining bright spots for a devastated child, and not letting Abbie attend was perhaps the final blow to her fragile psyche. Overcome by these events, Abbie took her own life a few days later. This was after telling her brother that she had cried all night, and wanted only to return to Hershey, the place she viewed as home. As many of you know, Abbie was then permitted to return to Hershey, to be buried in the Hershey Cemetery, all paid for by the Milton Hershey School. In the aftermath, other Hershey children have emerged who have been similarly mistreated, all with their own painful stories. But every effort to gain change of flawed Hershey policies has failed: • Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who is in charge of oversight of such charities as Hershey, refused to take action, or even to acknowledge glaring problems in management of the Milton Hershey School Trust. • Pennsylvania media outlets, intimidated by or beholden to the powerful Hershey Trust, have refused to report Abbies case. • Pennsylvania politicians refuse to ask questions about Hershey. This is because both parties use the charity as a slush fund, including high-pay/minimum-work board seats handed to connected insiders along with distribution of other patronage, in a rare instance of bipartisan cooperation. To this day, very few people know what poor Abbie suffered, what other Hershey children have faced, or why Hershey policy change is essential. As a matter of course, Abbies family have only limited means and lack the fame or status needed to draw attention to Abbies plight and that of other children like her. But Abbies death need not be in vain. Nor must we stand by while other Hershey children are hurt. We need not be silent while child welfare funds are squandered. We are not required to compound media silence with our own. We do not have to be marginalized by a status quo that cossets the powerful and kicks the needy. Citizens who care, who believe in principle, and who put the interests of children above party allegiance, remain empowered to act, if we so choose. This is our country too, not just that of the powerful. We also have a right to be heard, whether or not the media want to acknowledge us, and whether or not that media cares about powerless children. Indeed, Hershey child victims are similar to those victimized at Penn State (the Sandusky matter), Luzerne County (Kids For Cash), or the Philadelphia Archdiocese (serial molestation). In each of these other Pennsylvania matters too, the childrens circumstances were also not reported, until far too many children had suffered. And in those cases as well, Pennsylvania elected leaders did not make waves, until it became politically expedient. However, if we act together, we can bypass the Harrisburg (and Washington) political establishments. We can demand justice for Abbie and for other Hershey child victims. We can press for Hershey improvements that will help countless other children too. We need not be straitjacketed by an immobilizing system that benefits only the status quo insiders. With this in mind, we ask you today, the one-year anniversary of Abbies death, not only to mourn the loss of this tender child, but also to join us in mobilizing. We ask you to help us honor Abbies memory, by pressing to see that no more Hershey children are harmed. We ask you to take a stand on behalf of the most powerless among us, vulnerable children and their impoverished families. And lest we be misunderstood, let us say again that it is not that the Milton Hershey School is not helping children in need. Rather, it is that Hershey is gratuitously hurting many children like Abbie, and would help vastly greater numbers of children were it properly administered. Our hearts go out today to Abbies family, whose burden over the last year has been almost too much to bear. We keep them in our thoughts and prayers; and we will continue to stand with them, until justice for Abbie is achieved. Thank you for reading this and for your continued support. Sincerely, Protect The Hersheys Children, Inc. P.S. Please be sure to sign Abbies petition, if you have not done so already: goo.gl/xS8XvC Please also share the petition link with everyone you know.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 21:03:50 +0000
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