African Students Call Oprah's New School a "Prison"
THE RULES
Per the school, the girls are only allowed to call their families on the weekends. Additionally, cell phones and e-mail correspondence is off limits all throughout the week.
Foster mother, Frances Mans indicated that she was made to wait at the security gate for thirty minutes, while she was approved by school officials for a visit with her child.
"We had only two hours to see my child. Surely this isn't a prison or an institution?", Mans remarked about her experience.
There are also some other restrictions. For example, all visitors' names must be cleared by the security guard's list prior to any guests being permitted inside. Currently, the maximum number of visitors a child may have is four. But even these visits must be approved---and even then, the approval must be obtained a minimum of two weeks in advance.
According to the school's head master, John Samuels, only one visit per month will be allowed per student in the future. In essence, the students may visit with their family members only one at a time. Under this plan, families with multiple siblings could eventually spend up to three months just spreading out the allowed number of visits.
SCHOOL OR PRISON
The children also have had some complaints about the school. One student, Michelle Conradie has called her mother in tears regarding the stringent visiting conditions. Other complaints center around the lack of "treats" provided to the girls. No parent is allowed to smuggle in junk food. If a child is caught with the snacks, the girls lose points in the system. However, they do earn points for their good behavior. These points can be exchanged for goods (often clothing) at the school's shop.
Officials claim that they have good reason for the school's tight reins. Per Samuels, the childrens' security is their primary concern. He further mentions that too much activity on the weekends "disturbs the school spirit"; Samuels sees no problem with the rules which have been imposed.
Oprah Winfrey opened the school in January of 2007, in an effort to give underprivileged South African girls the opportunity to receive a top-notch education. The school, has been rumored to be one of the most luxurious in the world, but has recently come under fire due to multiple parental complaints. Their grievances were set to be aired during a satellite link with The Oprah Winfrey Show. But that airing was cancelled at the last minute by the school's officials.
Published by Ayanna Guyhto - Featured Contributor in Arts & Entertainment
Transplanted New Yawwwker (Bronx, NY), now living in fabulous Atlanta - plunged into the music industry several years ago; Indie Flick Junkie, lover of all things paranormal--who has a penchant for mindless... View profile
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64 Comments
Post a CommentHonora,
You state Oprah does not know the first thing about the community, or the culture of the people there?..are you crazy or something?...you really think that a business woman, the stature of Oprah Winfrey, would just open a school blindly, without any knowledge of the community,and you forget, we are AFrican Americans, and we know more about AFrica than you think. Firt rule of opening a new business to know your customer, and their habits. That remark was uncalled for, and you have no way of explaining it. She is running a boarding school, non profit, free, no charge to the parents and you say she does not know the people she is helping or their community or needs".. I submit to you that she does, and that is the reason for the strict rules...and the education offered at no cost...and by the way, she has a home there, as well as others like Will Smith and his family, Spike Lee, Mariah Carey...and others...
You are obviously another jealous white person, and if you are not w
White poeple are quick to put Oprah down, it is pure jealousy, that is it. What she does in AFrican is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS ANYWAY! This type of story would never have made the news, it is not even worthy of press, some parents at a stritc school are upset becasue they cannot get in whenever they want. Boarding schools are ALL THIS WAY@ ALL of them and some are even more strcit than Oprahs school.
Whomever it was that said who does she think she is, SHE IS THE BLACK BILLIONAIRE THAT BUILT IT. She makes the rules in her world. Just like any other philanthropist, she is giving this education away to poor AFricans; it is because of the raping and depleting of the continent of AFrica that these chilren are poor to begin with. Lets not go there...
Africa is none of your business, what Oprah does at her school,is none of your business, and you know you dont' care if these African girls get visitors, or junk food anyway, what you are obsessed with is this POWERBUL BLACK WOMAN, WHO IS A
STOP HATE'N ON OPRAH!!!SHE DON'T HAVE KIDS OF HER OWN SO WHY NOT HELP SOME PEOPLE THAT DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO FOODSTAMPS,WELFARE,PELL GRANTS,AND OTHER FEDERAL FUNDED RESOURCES!!
Oprah Winfrey clearly does not know the first thing about the cultural sensitivity and community involvement necessary to make this kind of venture a success. If she did she would not be exporting a first world lust for luxury to the majority world and she would understand that the amount of money spent on this academy could provide high quality education for so many more S.A. girls that this borders on the obscene.
I am also taken aback by the way she calls them her "daughters". This combined with an effort to limit contact with their actual parents reveals an emotional agenda which will not serve the needs of the girls involved.
She simply does not understand the needs of the community, the girls or the culture she wishes to assist.
Most the people complaining probably have never been to a boarding school before. Regardless of your age, if you live at school and school is your life, then between studies and after school activities you probably arent going to have time to see your parents every week. So seeing them every other week (which even then may be a stretch) is no where near as strict as people are trying to "hype it up" as. Oprahs visiting rules are right on average with most boarding schools. Even some colleges (usually the private or the christian ones) have almost as strict visiting rules. Before you bad mouth her, do your RESEARCH. People are jumping on the bandwagon because shes famous and its fun to expose weaknesses in these people. Just my 2 cents.. but seriously look up some other schools..I dare you.
dahlia jones,
The point is to educate BLACK intelligent young women so that they can run their country.
I am sure there are incidents that are common in Africa that, as Americans, we are not aware of. And, I can't help but think that Oprah and school officials have restricted visitors because maybe parents and family (poor parents and poor family members) members were constantly trying to visit their children in hopes of getting something to eat or even shelter for a day or two. Again, we are not aware of incidents that may have occurred. Remember, here is a rich and powerful school, opened by a rich and powerful woman, in an immensely poor country. I'm sure Oprah has set those strict rules for a reason.
Wow, there've been many more comments since I was here last. I still have to agree with what I said the first time, although some of you did make interesting points. By the way, my article on Oprah published a week or so ago.
I think Oprah has that right, but I do belive that some rules are little far.
Good points. I think that Oprah probably feels as if the recipients are slightly ungrateful. They are receiving a free education. And she has adamantly said that there will be NO junk food. Here in this country, we are facing an obesity pandemic with our children. I don't see the problem with eliminating junk food, and only supplying good, healthy food. I do understand that the crux of the complaints stem from the visiting restrictions. Again, in this case--beggars can't be choosy. I don't recall any other celebrities attempting to educate that nation's poorest children in such a fashion.