4,537 Comments for Pennhurst State School

And this will be the forth comment in a row that ends with an exclamation point!

Looks like Medieval torture chamber!

WELCOME TO THE NAPKIN ROOM. PLEASE ENJOY YOUR STAY.

Wow. Yeah, I totally believe in the "leave only footprints" kind of thing but it would have been so tempting to sack a couple of those .. maybe just flip through one and put it back?

Forget that fake haunted house crap. I know the place is haunted and want to see the real deal!

i really want to find out all these weird things. is it posiible to go even today ?

wow you can delete that i didnt realize it was so long sorry

How could someone help with a problem no one truly understood these ppl wernt treated badly out of hate they were not understood how can a care giver teach a child with a disability when their caregiver them self didnt understand the the problem these people who worked there did what they could with what they had they were not funded properly so yes they were fed but not properly because they didnt have the funds yes they were bathed but not as much as the proberly should have been with lack of staff the world gave up on the people of pennhurst because they were not understood parents didnt have the understanding and suport that we have today parents thought they were helping their child by putting them there but what i dont understand everyone says the parents prob didnt know what the conditions were like in the ward i understand that but how come most of these parents just left their kids there they never visted them they abandoned them so all in all the parents were more then likely ashamed back then not understanding and the way the rest of the world looked at a problem it was better to hide it away and forget about it so i dont just blame pennhurst because pennhurst was not built to be a problem it was built to help and understand but no one had the education about disabilities that we have today i blame the parents for giving up on their children and forgetting them i blame the state for not funding if they had the funding and the parents and communities help would they have suffered probably not even though they may not have understood the problem they would have been able to feed them and aducate them as well as possible and with the parents help but back then no one wanted to learn or spend money it was easier to forget and throw the key away.. i am drawn to pennhurts i watched my nana die from her disabilities that know one understood we took great care of her but if we would have known then what we know now im not saying she'd still be alive but i do believe she wouldnt have passed so soon i understand the probelm with them not having the funding but why wouldnt know one fund i understand being scared of something you dont understand but why wouldnt a parent take the time to learn about it instead of ignoring it there are so many things i dont understand and so many people i would love to talk to. we were tough people with retardations were no diffrenet then us back then they were tought its not normal its not right we need to get rid of them we might not understand it today but then thats the way it was so yes its not right these people should not have been treated the way they were but back then thats how they understood things and took care of things i am happy that we know where these disabilites come from how to help them and work with them i am happy we dont hide them in shame i have three kids non with any problems but as a parent i am always ready for what may come i would never be ashamed of my children my daughter is adhd but i will not medicate her i have all the time in the world and patiants to deal with her and teach her what she needs to learn yes she does act un exceptable at times but i would never hide her from the world how will she ever learn how to act if shes not seeing it with her own eyes its just so hard to believe that a person could be ashamed of their child enough where they give up on them i dont understand that that is your baby your child your life how could you do such a thing i dunno i guess i have issues and i am going to post this it probably doesnt make any sense but this is how i feel
!!

i read somewhere, that before they made seperate buildings for boys, and girls, girls WERE getting knocked up. fyi.

this is one of the most horrifying/beautiful photos/places i could ever imagine. the horror behind all of it is horrifying. but these photoes are beautiful

Reminds me of the walls at Belchertown, I've signed my name there.
:)

The reasoning behind the raised walkways are not only for the reasoning of the boxed in courtyard that mikeymisery posted, but directly underneath the raised platforms are where the underground tunnels are located that lead from the basement of almost each building. These tunnels were used by staff and patients to travel between the administration buildings and the housing buildings, and I also have heard that the tunnels were also used to transport the deceased out of the campus in an attempt to keep morale high (mainly because staff didn't want patients to see the dead bodies being wheeled through the outdoor public areas)

how sad

Yep. I went back and looked for it. Sure enough, there it was. I love it. =8-o

This picture was made by WPA workers when building the administration building. They were comparing the work that the patients did for no money (along with the terrible conditions they were kept in) to slaves.