The American Field Service (AFS) is facing a possible lawsuit in a shocking case of alleged abuse and negligence. Maine teenager
Jonathan McCullum lost 60 pounds while placed with a family in Egypt. When he returned he was so weak that he had difficulty carrying his luggage and had to be hospitalized . AFS has refused to comment and referred inquiries to a lawyer who has also refused to comment. This could present some novel tort issues, but it appears that AFS has much to answer for.
When McCullum left for Eygpt, he weighed a healthy 155 pounds. He returned in skeletal shape at 97 pounds. He was in such bad shape that doctors believed that he was at risk of a heart attack.
AFS assures students and parents that the host families will feed students and that it will monitor conditions. Click here Yet, McCullum was in such bad shape that teachers wrote his parents raising alarm over his situation.
That situation appears bizarre. AFS placed him with a Coptic Christian family that follows strict religious fasting rules for more than 200 days a year. However, McCullum has said that the family was simply cruel and that the only reason he did not demand new quarters is that he was told AFS would place him in a dangerous area for Americans. As a result, he reduced at one point to stealing food.
What he did receive was meager:
McCullum said he never got breakfast and his first food of the day usually was a small piece of bread with cucumbers and cheese that he would take to school for lunch. Dinner consisted of beans, vegetables and sometimes fish.
The most implausible reaction was from the host father, Shaker Hanna, who insisted that McCullum stuffed himself despite the fact that he was less than 100 pounds upon his return. He called the allegation a “lie” and said that the Americans were after their money back: “The truth is, the boy we hosted for nearly six months was eating for an hour and a half at every meal. The amount of food he ate at each meal was equal to six people.”
It is doubtful that Hanna would face a lawsuit, which would likely have to be occur in Egypt. AFS is a different matter. The organization can be charged with both direct negligence and vicarious liability for the case. McCullum’s failure to tell his parents or seek a change would be the critical issue at trial. However, his belief that he would be placed in a dangerous neighborhood could rebut such charges. Moreover, it is astonishing that a boy could lose 90 pounds and be in such an obviously abused condition without AFS noting the problem or taking action.
For its part, AFS seems to be treating the matter as purely one for the lawyers and blissfully continuing to recruit new students. AFS lawyers could at least start by expressing some concern for the boy and note that an investigation will be carried out — rather than say that no comment is appropriate in light of possible litigation. The no comment response is a textbook mistake in such cases. Presumably, AFS wants to recruit other families. One can express concern and take public measures without losing any defenses.
For the story, click here.
Look at his legs, JT - like toothpicks! Sixty pounds (60) pounds in four months?
You are right, as usual. Just to START with, AFS better do a PR ‘180′ or an otherwise favorably viewed student exchange program becomes ‘not so much’…
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/i-lost-26kg-with-stingy-exchange-family-teen/2008/02/28/1203788518716.html
Pretty thin for a kid who supposedly ate like a horse.
I don’t want to seem callous here, but shouldn’t the host father, Shaker Hanna, consider publishing a “Shaker Hanna Quick-Loss Diet Plan” with before and after pictures of McCullum on the cover?
90 pounds in a few months seems pretty effective!
I believe the main problem here is AFS itself, whether its AFS Egypt or AFS USA. If the kid is bullimic, which I highly doubt, then AFS USA should have made sure the kid has no medical problems before sending his to Egypt.
As for AFS Egypt, didn’t they notice the weight loss? didn’t they suspect that something was wrong with him? did they do their homework in qualifying this family to become a host family? In the program, the kid should stay for a year but in this case he left after only 4 months, what were they thinking sending him to his parents in that shape??? Massive weight loss could be caused by depression, where are his counsels?
As a citizen of this country I’m embarrassed that we have tried this Egyptian family in the press, with so little information coming from their side. I’m disgusted that mention of a lawsuit by the parents accompanied the first news items. Here is a student, who is just months short of attaining adult status in the eyes of the law. What are his responsibilities for his own health, even at age 17? They are immense. We would expect him to know not to have unsafe sex, not to drive while under the influence, and to loudly ask for help if he was not getting proper nourishment. In fact, he had a Facebook and Myspace presence, and was constantly in touch with his friends back home–though not his parents obviously. Egypt is a place where one can get food from a street vendor for pennies, shop at mini-marts, or eat American-style fast foods. If you think I believe he never dined out with his friends, I do not. I’m angry we are being taken for a ride by this kid and his parents. They deleted his previously public internet journal of his Egypt experience, and now they have made his other internet presence private. I visited his myspace page before it was made private. My impressions of him and his friends lead me to believe it is ludicrous to believe he could not find “anything under the sun” in Egypt. We are being hoodwinked, misled, and preyed upon by this family. I hope responsible journalism will show eventually that there is much more to this picture that has been told so far.
Interesting points. However, I still believe that AFS has much to answer for when a kid loses so much weight that he has to be rushed to a hospital. I also do not see how the host family could be correct that he ate like a horse but came out looking like a twig.
I have both hosted a student for AFS and sent my child in the program. In both cases, there were serious issues. In my opinion, AFS will not take accountability for anything. I have watched AFS protect their international relationships, employees, and volunteers as a priority without regard to the students in the program. Host families are not properly screened or monitored. While tuition covers medical expenses, my child was denied medical care more than once. When we were able to get him to a doctor outside of the host family or AFS via a family friend, he was diagnosed with severe bronchitis and needed antibiotics. AFS responded to that with the request to kick my child out of the program for unapproved travel! I believe strongly in the concept of international exchange for youth, however, I will never advocate AFS to any parent looking to send a student or family interested in hosting. AFS stated to my child that the host families are more valuable to AFS than the students, which they now deny. From my personal experience, they continually take actions and make statements completely to the contrary of what is stated on their marketing materials. From what I understand, two international students died in the 2006-2007 in the US. I strongly believe someone of unbiased authority needs to do a serious audit on this organization.
I’m currently studying in Brazil as an AFS exchange student originally from Thailand, and I’d have to say that the blatant negligence exhibited here on their part doesn’t suprise me in the slightest. I feel for the boy, but if you want something from AFS, you need to pack on the pressure or nothing will happen. Looking back, I should’ve followed my instincts and pulled out during the application process when things began to go wrong (they returned some important documents to the wrong address, amongst other things)
I definitely would recommend another organisation for anyone wishing to go on student exchange, unfortunately AFS was the only one I learned of in time.
They have a good publicist, I’ll give ‘em that.
My children are the most precious people in the world PERIOD. I wouldn’t send my daughter to stay with Mother Teresa. I fail to understand how people can watch their pets more closely than their children. However, I have to question how a 17 year old couldn’t pick up a telephone and call his parents for help.
That being said, AFS is obviously making money off of this enterprise and should be audited. Also, I have a great idea for them to make money, obese Americans should start sending their obese kids over there and bring them back when they get down to a healthy weight, just make sure they take vitamin supplements with them. It’s probably much cheaper and more effective than Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers.