Kine's story

Kine is a woman from Norway now in her mid-20s.   Her story reached Tvind Alert from the Movement Against Tvind

by Kine Aune  <kinaune@sol.no>

It all started in Norway when I was accused of rape 16 years old. I was sent to Peterslyst Ridecenter in Denmark. I encountered an empty school, because all the other students were in Turkey. They gave me a room in the camp school and I stayed there without an eiderdown freezing for two weeks. I asked the teacher on guard for an eiderdown but nothing happened. There were four houses in the area one teacher lived in each house with the students. I was afraid and nervous and there was nobody I could talk to. I was not allowed to phone home to my family during the first two weeks because the teacher on guard thought my family needed some time off.

When the school returned home they all rushed at me and I had a brake down number one. I did not do it on purpose but I was punished. I had to do the dishes for a week and here I met the only normal teacher on the school. She told me stories about the school, which I almost could not believe. She warned me of continuing on the school and advised me to go home to Norway as fast as possible.

The next day I got a room in the white house - as they called it. The next day there was a meeting about me. During the meeting I was told that I could go home to Norway for a weekend and a guardian was appointed for me. I thought the guardian was a person to trust so I told her that I felt like running off. I should never have trusted her. Now I was not allowed to go home at all.

Shut off from the world I became reticent and difficult to handle. On the first day of school I saw a teacher seizing a 12 year old student by the throat and without thinking I knocked the teacher down telling him that it is not allowed for teachers to attack students. I was punished with the most severe punishment of the school: I was whipped on my hands and legs with a horsewhip. Afterwards I panicked and ran away to my room just crying all the time. I was not allowed to call my mother. I started to smoke and I tried to kill myself. Fortunately I did not succeed.

After this incident I was very exhausted and it was hard getting out of bed but I was forced to get out as the daily routines under all circumstances should be kept up no matter how sick I was. The day started at 7.00 and ended at 18.00 when I went to bed. I did not eat anything. Luckily I had a lot of weight to loose. During 6 months I went from 140 kilos to 85 kilos. I asked permission to see a psychologist but the answer was no. All my own clothes were confiscated. The rules of the school said that you were not allowed to wear your own clothes. I had to put on the clothes they decided were appropriate. During four weeks I had an inflammation in the inner ear and could not get any help until the day my eardrum burst then I was allowed to see a doctor. The only bad thing was I was not allowed to see the doctor alone - they had to accompany me - so I could not tell the doctor about my situation.

Secretly I got hold of a mobile telephone and contacted a psychologist in Silkeborg. I should never have done that because when they discovered it all the students and teachers surrounded me and shouted a lot at me for a long time. So that did not help me. I decided not to give up and to do something. Finally I got the letter I had been waiting for during two months. It said that I was found not guilty. I packed all my things and thought I could go home but no I had to stay there.

Today I believe that it had been better to spend the time in a prison in Norway than to stay at the Tvind school. I stayed at the school for two years and was beaten every other week. In the end I was afraid to do anything. I completely lost the ability to talk and do the things I used to like. I could not go to a dentist when I needed treatment.

The days went by and I was no longer a human being, but deep inside me a tremendous force started growing. On my 18^th birthday I thought: Now they can no longer do anything to me. I am a norwegian citizen and now I had come of age. I went to a meeting with them and asked for permission to leave, but they refused plainly. I went into town and talked to my psychologist who helped me. For the first time during two years I was able to call my mother and that was a very good feeling.

I have had a lot of bad experiences but something positive has also arisen. I learned to look at things differently and because of Tvinds treatment today I believe nothing can harm me any longer. I have experienced the worst things possible being a prisoner of the Tvind Movement. I travelled a lot of times to other countries with the school but without freedom it is not fun to travel.

It took 6 years before I could live again normally. I had a diploma from Tvind but it was no good in Norway. I had a lot of problems and every time somebody offers me a chance to go to school I start crying. You might say I have got a school fobia.

I have got scars in my mind and on my body because of my stay at the Tvind school. If I had known about Tvinds methods - what I later learned - I would have chosen to go to prison instead of going to Tvind. If I had been to prison I would have been released much sooner than I did. To day I sometimes get letters from the school about the so called reunions but I will never go back to Tvind again.

Two years on that school was like hell with blows and kicks from the other students and the teachers. I would not wish even for my worst enemy to have to go through what I experienced during those years. It is still difficult for me to talk about what happened at Tvind. But I try my best to tell people here in Rjukan about what happens at Tvind. I wish to thank you for trying to help the young people who are at Tvind. Maybe Tvind will come to an end at some time - one can always hope.

kineaune@sol.no