To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
-- Abraham Lincoln

The past few months have been very busy for me. I've been doing a lot of research in my spare time, creating a Benchmark Parody Website, going to school full time (5 courses), preparing a portfolio, and getting ready for a senior art show next semester. Despite the insane schedule, I have uncovered a wealth of information on Benchmark which i have summarized here. I feel it is your right as Benchmark students to know these things. Hopefully, by working together, we can expose Benchmark to the world as the place it is and prevent what happened to us from happening to anybody else.

I will explain the background and psychology behind Friendship Workshop, Groups, Rap sheets, Dirt lists, and their origins at CEDU. I will explain Jayne's history and why Benchmark so closely resembles CEDU. I will explain how Benchmark lied to the state of California in order to appear accredited. I will explain the rights that we were denied as well as exactly how, and why we, and our parents were lied to. Every day, as I dig deeper into the background of Benchmark, it's affiliated organizations, and the multi-billion dollar industry it is a part of.

As this took me a long time to research and compile, please, please, take the time to read what i have Written. I promise you will not be disappointed. Included are also things you can do to help shut Benchmark down.

Some of you are lucky enough to have avoided being denied your property and dropped on the streets like trash, while others have been fortunate enough to struggle back into society. I wish there was a way i could say something to those who aren't here. Those students who didn't make it. Either way, you are survivors of that place and you have a responsibility to help prevent the kind of abuse that we had to go through from happening to others.

This is not a fanciful dream of a delusional program kid. This is reality. Many schools like Benchmark have been shut down before. It only takes people who are willing to say: "I am not going to let this happen anymore." With your help, we can do this. I, for one, will not stop until Benchmark is shut down, the parents know the truth, and my friends, who were left out in the cold, are given an opportunity to take their lives back.

Michael Crawford

If you would like to discuss your experiences openly, i invite you to the Benchmark section of Fornits Discussion Forum.