JOHN WOOD wants to tell your children the truth about drugs. He is the UK president of an organisation which claims it has been educating young people about the dangers of addiction for 25 years. It claims that message had been successful, and it claims it can also help those who have already fallen to drugs and drink. In fact, Narconon makes rather a lot of claims, and the group has targeted Sussex with literature and glowing tributes from grateful "clients". ...

IT IS portrayed as a typical private school. But the glossy Greenfields brochure, which boasts of academic success and a happy environment for children, does not tell the whole story. One important word is missing from the booklet - Scientology. It is also missing from: * The handbook issued by the Independent Schools Information Service, which describes Greenfields as inter-denominational. * The Independent Schools Yearbook, which it is listed as non-denominational. * The school's 27-page constitution lodged with the Charity Commission. ...

A GROUP which runs a national drug rehabilitation programme and gives regular lectures to schools is closely linked to the controversial Church of Scientology. Narconon, which bases its methods on the teachings of the Church's founder L Ron Hubbard, currently treats a small number of private-paying addicts each year. But it is has recently launched a major expansion programme, and Narconon claims that Tower Hamlet's social services department has paid the £500 per week fee for the three month treatment of ...

A pervert teacher at the Scientologists Greenfield School in Forest Row who sexually assaulted young boys has been jailed for five years. Mark Kent, 32, of Lewes Road, Forest Row, molested six teenage schoolboys over a period of seven years and took filthy videos of himself in sex acts with his young victims. Hove Crown Court heard Kent was found to have a videotape shooting scenes from the cult school's fete, interspersed with sickening footage of himself and young boys, and ...

Is L. Ron Hubbard's morals text harmless? When Carol Burgeson received a copy of "The Way to Happiness" in the mail 18 months ago, she read it through and decided it was the perfect non-religious vehicle for teaching moral values to her senior students at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill. So Burgeson ordered more free copies of the book by L. Ron Hubbard and used them to stimulate discussions in her classes. "It seemed so harmless," she says. "Brush ...

When Carol Burgeson received a copy of "The Way to Happiness" in the mail 18 months ago, she read it through and decided it was the perfect non-religious vehicle for teaching moral values to her senior students at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill. So Burgeson ordered more free copies of the book by L. Ron Hubbard and used them to stimulate discussions in her classes. "It seemed so harmless," she says. "Brush your teeth, do your work, don't be ...

Your article April 14 regarding the Church of Scientology boarding school gave a slightly false picture. The Church has owned the property on Bouquet Canyon Road, which is at least six miles southeast of Green Valley, for almost two years. Church representatives approached the Green Valley Town Council about 10 times since August of 1991 to present the plans for the school as a matter of courtesy to the community. However . . . we are not located in Green ...

Green Valley: Under the proposal, 250 students would board at the campus. A county spokesman says approval of a permit would be based on land-use issues. The Church of Scientology is seeking permission from Los Angeles County to open a boarding school for 250 students on the site of a former juvenile detention camp near Green Valley. The proposal has worried some of the 1,200 residents in the rural community, who voiced concerns about it at a public meeting Monday night. ...

And now, the next Walt Disney Studios— the Church of Scientology! That is, if entrepreneurs connected with the Hollywood based cult can muscle into the film business with their proposal to homogenize films by tailoring them to the tastes of the unwashed masses. It all began last July, when Future Films, a new, eccentric studio, began running ads in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter touting its revolutionary ideas. No one knew what to make of it all. The grand concept, to ...

The True School and the Jefferson Academy, two Clearwater schools that use educational methods devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, declined to allow the St. Petersburg Times to interview students, graduates, teachers, administrators or parents. But the True School did provide what it said were testimonials from some of the school's students and staff members. In addition, Church of Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth arranged for Scientologists to write letters and send them to the Times. Here are excerpts from the ...

Like the church he founded, the teaching methods espoused by L. Ron Hubbard create controversy. And they are spreading, across the United States and around the world. L. Ron Hubbard wrote science fiction stories and founded a religion — but he didn't stop there. He went on, according to his followers, to achieve tremendous breakthroughs in education. There are now more than 150 Hubbard-method schools around the world. They achieve superior results, according to supporters, and are free of drugs and ...

[Picture / Caption: Kristi, left, and Beth Erlich grew up in the Church of Scientology, but eventually left. In the top photo, taken by their mother when Kristi and Beth were children, the two girls perform TR-Zero, Scientology drill that calls for two people to stare at each other "without any compulsions todo anything." The routine is designed to improve communication skills.] When Beth Erlich was 11, she signed her first contract. A billion-year contract. Beth didn't understand it too well. ...

Roy seemed adrift. He was 14 and headed for trouble. But when he entered a Scientology school, the transformation was swift. Within two years, he was working alongside the Church of Scientology's most senior executives. The church reels off dozens of success stories like Roy's. But it doesn't mention a Clearwater boy named Carlo. Carlo, 15, didn't go to school. He worked from 8:30 in the morning until 10 at night for $30 a week. He told police that he couldn't ...

[Picture / Caption: Happy Scientologists: Marie C. Gale poses with her husband, David, son Philip and daughter Elizabeth.] Marie C. Gale is raising her children the same way her parents raised her: using the principles of Scientology. "Considering my parents and grandmother, my children are fourth- generation Scientologists," Mrs. Gale, 36, said in a letter. Mrs. Gale, of Clearwater, is one of many local Scientologists who say their religion offers benefits to their families, their children in particular. Members say Scientology ...

Scientologists believe they are saving the world from insanity, war and crime. "Saving the world is an understatement," said former member Kenneth Wasserman. "Saving the universe" is more like it, he said. This intense sense of purpose explains why some Scientologists are willing to work 12-hour days for $30 a week. Others pay up to $800 for an hour of counseling, and one couple brought a $35,000 counseling package. Critics say this sense of mission has another consequence: Next to saving ...

Two local teenagers who raised money for Narconon — a drug rehabilitation program linked to the Church of Scientology — say they were told they'd make more money fund-raising than going to school this fall. Adam Blackburn and Dale Fairfax, who are no longer fund-raising for Narconon, said their supervisor told them they likely wouldn't want to go back to school if they continued to work as salesmen. "He said 'You won't be going back to school after you see the ...

The principal of a Sherman Oaks elementary school has canceled an assembly by an environmental group because of fears that parents would object to the organization's connection with the Church of Scientology. The Sherman Oaks School's 927 students were scheduled to watch skits and hear songs Monday performed by Cry Out, an environmental group affiliated with Scientology. The event, which was to include an appearance by child actor Vonni Ribisi, was to kick off a yearlong study of environmental issues such ...

Emerging from years of internal strife and public scandal, the Scientology movement has embarked on a sweeping and sophisticated campaign to gain new influence in America. The goal is to refurbish the tarnished image of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and elevate him to the ranks of history's great humanitarians and thinkers. By so doing, the church hopes to broaden the acceptability of Hubbard's Scientology teachings and attract millions of new members. The campaign relies on official church programs and a ...

The Scientology movement's Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education has befriended one of America's most celebrated teachers, Jaime Escalante of Garfield High School. Escalante is the East Los Angeles teacher profiled in the hit 1988 film "Stand and Deliver," which chronicled his success in teaching advanced calculus to barrio students. During the last few years, the foundation has provided Escalante with tens of thousands of dollars for computers, audiovisual aids, tutors and scholarships. In addition, the foundation has solicited contributions ...

We must: A) stop the killing in El Salvador, B) stop censorship of the arts, C) reform the Internal Revenue Service, and D) provide housing for AIDS victims. It was all of the above yesterday at the Federal Office Building, where the first day of spring was greeted by more than 100 people rallying for various causes. It made for a curious melange of symbolism and rhetoric. There were the crude wooden crosses to symbolize the victims of Salvadoran death squads, ...