Pennhurst "Haunted Asylum" My Thoughts

Even though the Pennhurst school and hospital closed in 1987 it is still not without controversy. This time the controversy isn't over mistreatment of patients, it's over the possibility that these former patients will be exploited.

The former institute is being renovated into a haunted attraction, this has caused quite a stir given Pennhurst's notorious past. Many fear how the scares will come and if they'll be at the expense of those with mental disabilities. But haven't we been doing that for years? Isn't anyone who murders someone being exploited for someone else personal gain? When a murder occurs in any small town what makes front page news? And every summer we flock to the big screens to watch the latest psychopath on the loose hacking everyone to bits. We find it entertaining! But do we find it to be exploiting to those with mental disabilities? A few may but I believe the majority doesn't. Point being we don't often associate Leatherface as someone with mental disabilities. I'm also not comparing the patients at Pennhurst with a fictional character such as Leatherface, but he is obviously psychologically challenged.

When a family member murders their entire family and themselves you always hear the whispers around town, " something was wrong with them" or "they weren't right in the head!" Yes, something was wrong! People don't murder each other when they have a stable mind. What I find the most horrifying is the way the system has failed those with mental disabilities the most.

I'm someone who will admit to having been a victim of the mental health care field. I can tell
you firsthand there's too much over medicating, not enough listening, and still too much prejudice against those who suffer. I often say a majority of society is closer to having a breakdown than they care to believe. Often times it just takes a traumatic circumstance in your life, or a past tragedy you still haven't properly dealt with. Mine came from a combination of both. Most of the medications prescribed to me often made me feel worse than I originally felt. I would personally rather feel depressed than to feel no emotion at all.

I'm not too sure of the intentions of the haunted attraction, though they are working with a psychiatrist  in order to remain sensitive to the disabled, I'm willing to give them a chance.
There are talks that the monies raised will be donated to charity's that care for the disabled, and will also go into helping to restore the legacy of Pennhurst.

In this day and age of instant technology, not all are too immersed in protecting or learning history. I feel if this is a way to generate interest in Pennhurst and help to preserve it for many other generations to learn from, than I'm all for it.

Though I would prefer that if instead of a guy in a hockey mask wielding a chainsaw, how about a terrifying doctor chasing victims down attempting to strap them into an adult crib, and inject them with Thorazine.

"Suffer the Little Children" of Pennhurst

I'm not the type of person who is easily offended. I've seen many of what are considered the most disturbing films of all time, most without so much as a slight grimace. I understand that the graphic images depicted in these films are not real and are strickly for entertainment, even if it's entertaining minds as twisted as mine. But none of these films would prepare me for the disturbing images I witnessed in Bill Baldini's shocking expose, "Suffer the Little Children", showing firsthand the patients at Pennhurst State School and Hospital. These children and adults were ostracized from society in order to help protect us, but who was there to help protect the children from society?

Pennhurst State School & Hospital

The Pennhurst facility in Spring City, Pennsylvania has become synonymous with an institute of fear, though the hospital's original intentions were to do help, not harm.

The institution originally opened up in 1908 and was a home and school for those with mental and physical abnormalities. Most of the patients were children, but ages ranged up past 70 years old.

From the initial opening of Pennhurst many had their doubts it would be successful. For starters the institute quickly became overcrowded, others were appalled at the methods used to control unruly patients, but most turned a blind eye to the warehousing of those with mental and physical deformities. That quietly changed in 1968 when a Philadelphia newscaster would shed much light on the atrocities that were taken place behind closed doors. Viewers witnessed disturbing images of multiple patients twitching, rocking back and forth, and pacing relentlessly, while also encountering grown adults in large cribs, limbs bound and strapped to the bars. These disturbing images embedded themselves in the viewer's mind and began to raise awareness, and lot's of questions as to how these members of our society were really being helped.

The expose helped to play a major role in the eventual closing of Pennhurst in 1987. Since than risk takers have been facing heavy fines and exposure to deadly asbestos just to get an inside look at this landmark institution, which played a key role in a civil rights movement for those with disabilities.