{"data":[{"_meta":{"is_edited":true,"removal_type":"reddit","retrieved_2nd_on":1793387546,"was_deleted_later":true},"all_awardings":[],"allow_live_comments":false,"approved_at_utc":null,"approved_by":null,"archived":false,"author":"lyingroachkiller69","author_flair_background_color":null,"author_flair_css_class":null,"author_flair_richtext":[],"author_flair_template_id":null,"author_flair_text":null,"author_flair_text_color":null,"author_flair_type":"text","author_fullname":"t2_2pxc9l3bdq","author_is_blocked":false,"author_patreon_flair":false,"author_premium":false,"awarders":[],"banned_at_utc":null,"banned_by":null,"can_gild":false,"can_mod_post":false,"category":null,"clicked":false,"content_categories":null,"contest_mode":false,"created":1793351546,"created_utc":1793351546,"discussion_type":null,"distinguished":null,"domain":"self.ideallivingcase","downs":0,"edited":false,"gilded":0,"gildings":{},"hidden":false,"hide_score":false,"id":"1xjagq3","is_created_from_ads_ui":false,"is_crosspostable":false,"is_meta":false,"is_original_content":false,"is_reddit_media_domain":false,"is_robot_indexable":true,"is_self":true,"is_video":false,"likes":null,"link_flair_background_color":"#7f949f","link_flair_css_class":null,"link_flair_richtext":[],"link_flair_template_id":"1d39e53e-a40c-11f1-9aef-3e7d4b2af388","link_flair_text":"New Info/Possible Clue","link_flair_text_color":"dark","link_flair_type":"text","locked":false,"media":null,"media_embed":{},"media_only":false,"mod_note":null,"mod_reason_by":null,"mod_reason_title":null,"mod_reports":[],"name":"t3_1xjagq3","no_follow":false,"num_comments":0,"num_crossposts":0,"num_reports":null,"over_18":false,"permalink":"/r/ideallivingcase/comments/1xjagq3/i_was_one_of_cockroach_octopuss_humans/","pinned":false,"preview":{"enabled":false,"images":[{"id":"Q-b2YDuc4LfrTW_O5hGTa_4IhOGTEzInDTAsNBHWl60","resolutions":[{"height":73,"url":"https://external-preview.redd.it/Q-b2YDuc4LfrTW_O5hGTa_4IhOGTEzInDTAsNBHWl60.jpeg?width=108&auto=webp&s=ef424d164e1982bc0a35da006f4b34f89b26db94","width":108},{"height":146,"url":"https://external-preview.redd.it/Q-b2YDuc4LfrTW_O5hGTa_4IhOGTEzInDTAsNBHWl60.jpeg?width=216&auto=webp&s=2d7220d318d1724ce7c79904e8907d1181d3ee2b","width":216},{"height":217,"url":"https://external-preview.redd.it/Q-b2YDuc4LfrTW_O5hGTa_4IhOGTEzInDTAsNBHWl60.jpeg?width=320&auto=webp&s=82fc99eca43eed46573c87e8eb14d887c9757801","width":320},{"height":434,"url":"https://external-preview.redd.it/Q-b2YDuc4LfrTW_O5hGTa_4IhOGTEzInDTAsNBHWl60.jpeg?width=640&auto=webp&s=127538b45a1fe002ba3b3c42063e843316dfd188","width":640},{"height":651,"url":"https://external-preview.redd.it/Q-b2YDuc4LfrTW_O5hGTa_4IhOGTEzInDTAsNBHWl60.jpeg?width=960&auto=webp&s=20b401cefd1aaade3cb959b0e88e0012dcaba96b","width":960},{"height":733,"url":"https://external-preview.redd.it/Q-b2YDuc4LfrTW_O5hGTa_4IhOGTEzInDTAsNBHWl60.jpeg?width=1080&auto=webp&s=3ef3a24f3bd67114c2c077f453fb5b214256158f","width":1080}],"source":{"height":869,"url":"https://external-preview.redd.it/Q-b2YDuc4LfrTW_O5hGTa_4IhOGTEzInDTAsNBHWl60.jpeg?auto=webp&s=11843fe287ce1a73e40b4b6cf3404abefa5f727a","width":1280},"variants":{}}]},"pwls":7,"quarantine":false,"removal_reason":null,"removed_by":null,"removed_by_category":null,"report_reasons":null,"retrieved_on":1793351551,"saved":false,"score":2,"secure_media":null,"secure_media_embed":{},"selftext":"**A note on anonymity:** Throwaway account, have yet to gain enough karma to post in r/RecklessBen. I am hoping this info will carry over through comments. This post was also edited with the help of AI to reduce the likelihood of my writing style being recognized by David. The experiences and opinions shared here are my own. AI was used to adjust the writing style, not to create the account.\n\nCockroach Octopus, also known as David Najar, was my HS after-school teacher. David owns and operates Global Prep Academy, now known as Prakses. Myra Nishizaki also works there as staff and David’s personal assistant.\n\nTo preface, this post is not directly related to the Ideal Living case and the actions of Peter Spiegel. Instead, this post aims to provide a new perspective on the “whistleblowers.”  \nAdditionally, I believe that instead of Reckless Ben simply taking a loss from meeting these two, there is a crazy and honestly disturbing story sitting right under his nose.\n\nNot only do I believe Reckless Ben was manipulated and was right to drop both David and Myra, I am concerned that David and Myra continue to pose risks to the underage students they work with. These are the students they call their “humans.”\n\nBefore my credibility is put into question, below is a link to the most recent Zoom recording from a Prakses class where David discusses his next plans without Reckless Ben. All private information regarding the identities of underage students has been censored and removed. I want to protect the kids while also helping clarify some of the narratives developing online.  \n[**10/27/26 Zoom Recording (No Camera)**](https://streamable.com/6azoxn)   \nAlso from when the first video dropped: [**8/27/26 pt1**](https://streamable.com/2jv17e) [**8/27/26 pt2**](https://streamable.com/2e6vb5)\n\nTo provide a little additional context without revealing my identity, the following experiences are mine, but they are not unique to me. There are other students who have had or witnessed similar experiences.  \nWhile I cannot prove or claim to know David’s or Myra’s true intentions, I hope to share my experiences and personal opinions so that future students do not experience the same things.  \nI met David after a friend invited me to Prakses, then known as GPA. GPA was an after-school program for high schoolers. While they provided typical SAT and AP exam tutoring services, the main service was college application support. Instead of just helping us write application essays, David believed in and taught a personal project-based learning philosophy. It was a process that was far more personal and emotionally driven than a typical college application process.  \nWhen I first walked in, you could tell it wasn’t your typical school environment. With bright neon walls, pillows and sofas for seating, no desks or rows, and warm lighting, it was definitely a “cool” spot. Instead of normal classrooms, there was one big room with seats arranged like a mini auditorium.\n\nDavid was teaching as I walked in. Almost immediately, he singled me out and asked me a series of questions. He tried to guess my ethnicity and hobbies and reacted to my responses as if I were the coolest person in the world. He complimented my style and looks. At the time, it did not necessarily come across as creepy. It was just David being David.  \nLooking back, it’s honestly gross. He always seemed to teeter on the line between harassment and Gen Z-style compliments. “Hot,” “slay,” “sexy.” It was so blatant and direct, yet you wouldn't expect a teacher to harass you to your face. The only way you could really interpret it was as a genuine, if slightly crazy, compliment. It was always passed off as “just David being weird lol.”  \nDavid put on the persona of a young, hip teacher who “actually understood” you. He constantly wore designer clothing and cursed out loud, which made him seem completely different from our boring high school teachers. It was the perfect way to seem cool and relatable.\n\nThe whole business model was centered around him. As the only teacher, David didn't have normal classes. Instead, he would often arrive late and begin rambling about random things he had spent the night Googling, usually mixed with his own political and social ideologies.  \nHe would constantly get involved in personal drama and high school tea as a way of becoming important in your life. He listened to our personal vents and traumatic stories, including things we wouldn't tell our parents.\n\nNot only did he act as a parental or mentor figure for many students, including myself, but he would also constantly provoke existing tension between us and our parents. He would tell us how our parents didn't understand what the world was like anymore and that they were wrong about college.\n\nAny grown adult might recognize the issues with this dynamic, but to a 15- to 18-year-old teenager, it could feel like advice from someone who genuinely understood them.  \nDavid would also harp on past trauma as part of the “process of getting to know ourselves.” Looking back, I became increasingly uncomfortable with how much personal vulnerability seemed to be encouraged and rewarded.\n\nHe also appeared to gravitate toward students he considered “vulnerable.” The female, queer, artsy, and neurodivergent students were often the favorites. He constantly attempted to bond with and relate to us, despite being a cis man in his 50s.\n\nThere was something particularly strange about watching a grown man position himself as someone who understood these identities so well. Sometimes it felt like he was trying to signal that he was an especially accepting and understanding person. Other times, his comments were completely misogynistic and completely at odds with his normal image.  \nIt was confusing. When you're a teenager, especially when you're still figuring out who you are and where you belong, having an adult make you feel understood can mean a lot. It's not always easy to recognize when that dynamic starts becoming uncomfortable.\n\nYou might be asking, “Why did so many students and parents trust him?”  \nDavid was incredibly intelligent and convincing. Even putting aside questions about his academic credentials, he had a deep knowledge of education, social sciences, and cultural theory that I personally learned a lot from. His intelligence was a hook for us kids, and even our parents seemed to trust him because of it.  \nI don't want to discredit everything I learned from him. Some of it was genuinely valuable. That's part of what makes the experience difficult to look back on. It is possible to learn from someone, admire parts of them, and still recognize that the relationship was unhealthy.  \nEven after graduating high school, I kept a friendly relationship with David and Myra, occasionally visiting GPA during breaks. It took me a while after leaving that environment to realize how toxic some of those dynamics had been.\n\nSince distancing myself from David, I really hadn't thought about him in years. But when Reckless Ben's Ideal Living video popped up on my feed, I was transported back to my 16-year-old self listening to David rant. Little did I know that the once-weird-yet-intelligent David I knew would become involved in something like this.\n\nOccasionally, I would hear about David and Myra trying to take down some cult from former peers, but I never really got invested in the details. I would occasionally see a message in the old Discord or hear about David going to court over large sums of money. Over the course of a couple of years, I heard more and more about David becoming involved in this story.  \nOnce I saw the first video, I became invested in keeping up with what happened. I honestly wanted to understand what David and Myra had spent so much time and energy pursuing. Then I opened the comments and Reddit.\n\nI saw how random strangers online perceived someone I had known in real life. While David was never exactly normal, it was surreal to see strangers identify patterns of manipulation that I had struggled to fully recognize myself. Not only were people questioning his credibility, but the internet was uncovering allegations and information about his past that I would never have imagined.\n\nWhere do I even begin with the claims involving Katie Graham and Providence High School?  \nWhile I wish I could say the allegations about David's past were completely shocking, part of me wasn't surprised. To be clear, I cannot independently verify those allegations, and I don't want to present them as established facts. But I would be lying if I said they didn't make me reconsider my own experiences.  \n[**Providence Yearbook**](https://i.postimg.cc/QNJJqqMj/Providence-Yearbook.jpg) **READ IT!!**\n\nNo student or parent I knew seemed to be aware of these claims until recently. When students tried to Google David, the results were often unhelpful or confusing. David had also discussed removing parts of his digital footprint, which he explained as a matter of privacy.  \nAt the time, I didn't think much of it. Now, given the allegations circulating online, I find myself questioning that explanation.\n\nIf the allegations are true, I can understand why people would look more closely at his professional history and the circumstances under which he started GPA. I cannot claim to know whether he lost a teaching license or whether avoiding the traditional school system was ever his intention. But I do think these are questions worth investigating rather than dismissing.  \nAll those experiences of borderline harassment immediately started to click into place. Things I had previously brushed off as weird, awkward, or simply part of David's personality suddenly felt different. It took me a couple of days to process everything while continuing to follow the online conversation.\n\nI felt anger and disgust, but I also felt victimized myself. Even if David disputes the allegations, the behavior I experienced and the questions raised by the recent controversy have made it difficult to reconcile the person I once admired with the person I see now.  \nThe image of David as someone I once trusted came crashing down. I agreed with many of the concerns being raised online, but I also felt a more personal fear because I know people connected to families who still have children enrolled at Prakses.\n\nLuckily, a current student was able to share my concerns and help me collect some of the more recent material involving David and Myra. Because this student is still enrolled and attending, they were able to provide recent messages from both of them regarding Reckless Ben and the Ideal Living controversy. They also shared their observations of the behavior and the extent to which David and Myra appeared to be consumed by this effort.\n\nBefore even reaching out to Reckless Ben, David and Myra would constantly talk about their attempts to contact journalists and tease a big story coming soon. The details weren't always shared with every student, but over time, David seemed increasingly unable to resist sharing the emails and developments with students. From my perspective, there seemed to be a growing need to validate his mission to take down the cult and change the world. I cannot know his internal motivations, but the amount of attention the effort received raised questions about whether it had become more important than the students themselves.\n\nGPA had started to feel like its own version of the very thing it claimed to oppose. Everyone used to joke that it was kind of like a cult. Maybe we didn't fully understand what we meant at the time.  \nA cult about taking down a cult.\n\nAs David and Myra became more invested in exposing Peter Spiegel, their focus on supporting students seemed to waver. I became concerned that they were involving students in their personal mission rather than maintaining clear boundaries between their work and their responsibilities as educators.   \nThey would constantly rant about Peter Spiegel and the cult during class. I also know that a fellow peer of mine was sent into the JKP Ashram in Los Angeles as an insider spy for Reckless Ben and Myra. You can see the acquired footage at 18:58 in the first Ideal Living video posted by Ben. Students were also reportedly recruited to edit content and post on social media. Many of the comments in recent Ideal Living threads may have come from a coordinated strategy developed by David and Myra. \n\nMessages in the Prakses Discord also appear to show separate channels created for working with Reckless Ben and developing the Cockroach Octopus idea as a student project. Myra and David also require participation, asking for students to share screenshots of sharing Myra’s Instagram post on their personal stories.\n\n**Evidence Links: The Najar Files**  \n[**1**](https://i.postimg.cc/TwpqY86q/6-4-26-1.jpg)  [**2**](https://i.postimg.cc/JnDZCbNq/6-4-26-2.jpg)  [**3**](https://i.postimg.cc/rs54KMY5/6-5-26.jpg)  [**4**](https://i.postimg.cc/BnSFnW5T/6-11-26.jpg)  [**5**](https://i.postimg.cc/SRH9Kjr0/7-3-26.jpg)  [**6**](https://i.postimg.cc/LXL5VvBd/7-15-26.jpg)  [**7**](https://i.postimg.cc/y6hWgQ8p/7-17-26.jpg)  [**8**](https://i.postimg.cc/bvfKtTJ3/8-24-26.jpg)  [**9**](https://i.postimg.cc/zD26j5vy/8-27-26.jpg)  [**10**](https://i.postimg.cc/NFZNws21/8-31-26.jpg)  [**11**](https://i.postimg.cc/K8S9qYy0/8-31-26-2.jpg)  [**12**](https://i.postimg.cc/3NQ4MzJx/9-3-26.jpg)  [**13**](https://i.postimg.cc/Sj0GvgHt/10-11-26.jpg)  [**14**](https://i.postimg.cc/qB9Vr4rr/10-12-26.jpg)  [**15**](https://i.postimg.cc/yYq55jmy/10-12-26-1.jpg)  [**16**](https://i.postimg.cc/BnBd2F1z/10-18-26.jpg)  [**17**](https://i.postimg.cc/9FtxkhFq/10-21-26-1.jpg)  [**18**](https://i.postimg.cc/fy59xBDV/10-21-26-2.jpg)  [**19**](https://i.postimg.cc/jSBJQW06/10-22-26-00.jpg)  [**20**](https://i.postimg.cc/FzPYfzVN/10-22-26-01.jpg)  [**21**](https://i.postimg.cc/dt17bRJ5/10-22-26-02.jpg)  [**22**](https://i.postimg.cc/CxnR1FB4/10-22-26-03.jpg)  [**23**](https://i.postimg.cc/4dsyBV8c/10-22-26-04.jpg)  [**24**](https://i.postimg.cc/5ykt4GfK/10-22-26-05.jpg)  [**25**](https://i.postimg.cc/yYkdQVTt/10-22-26-06.jpg)  [**26**](https://i.postimg.cc/QxwMvR4K/10-22-26-07.jpg)  [**27**](https://i.postimg.cc/5tqNYjxF/10-22-26-schedule1.jpg)  [**28**](https://i.postimg.cc/VsHsbxcG/10-22-26-schedule2.jpg)  [**29**](https://i.postimg.cc/vmMGsMWQ/10-22-26-schedule3.jpg)  [**30**](https://i.postimg.cc/7ZRQ3NZ9/11-25-25.jpg)  [**31**](https://i.postimg.cc/gjvnD4pN/8-21-25.jpg) \n\nThese students are likely underage, and I have serious questions about whether their parents know the extent of their involvement or whether they are being compensated for their work.  \nParents may assume their children are receiving personal support with college applications, only to find that students are also being drawn into an online campaign involving their teacher's personal grievances and public controversies.\n\nMeanwhile, students are reportedly receiving occasional one-on-one meetings with David and support from a new Prakses AI tool.   \n[**Prakses AI**](https://i.postimg.cc/VvkgtSng/10-27-26.jpg)  \n I cannot speak to the quality of that tool, but the shift in focus is concerning. David built his program around the idea of personal mentorship and understanding students as individuals. If that was ever the central mission, it seems to have taken a back seat.\n\nFurthermore, with the recent creation of a GoFundMe, they may publicly disclose that the donations are for their legal fees, but in my own opinion, I believe they are using this money for personal expenses and non-related costs.  At one point in the spring, an eviction notice at GPA was put on the door.  \n[**Eviction1**](https://i.postimg.cc/RhgPp14y/2-20-26-GPA-Eviction-Notice.jpg) [**Eviction2**](https://i.postimg.cc/SNtTWGZs/2-20-26.jpg) \n\n  \nThis was sent into the student Discord, where it quickly was spread amongst students. Somehow, with even months of rent going unpaid, the doors for GPA are still open.  \nNot only have David and Myra recruited students into their mission to take down a cult, in financial desperation, they’re asking their own students for money. I know from the list that a fellow peer of mine donated $500, money no college student has to just give away.\n\nWhile GPA was once a treasured community space, it now appears to be increasingly consumed by a campaign against another group. David is at the center of that effort, and Myra appears to be deeply involved as well. I think their influence over students deserves independent scrutiny, regardless of what either of them intended. Even the way David emphasizes active participation passes off as communal support, but when scrutinized, it looks like cult-like indoctrination. David “isn’t watching, he’s paying attention.”  \n[**Message1**](https://i.postimg.cc/BnbvzJcR/7-24-26.jpg)  \n[**Message2**](https://i.postimg.cc/wMPsf3Rv/8-5-26.jpg)  \n[**Message3**](https://i.postimg.cc/c4rzrjsn/9-13-26.jpg)\n\nThe romantic and professional relationship between Myra and David was never entirely clear to students, although there were rumors. Some came from students who had visited the apartment they shared. More recently, as tensions surrounding the controversy have increased, their interactions in public videos have raised additional questions about the dynamic between them.  \nI cannot speak to the private details of their relationship, and I don't want to treat rumors as facts. But I do wonder whether Myra's own experiences and relationship with David have complicated her role in all of this.\n\nIt is possible for someone to have legitimate grievances of their own while also participating in behavior that harms others. One does not automatically cancel out the other.  \nMyra's experiences with Ideal Living deserve to be taken seriously on their own merits. At the same time, I question whether David has turned the situation into a personal mission of his own, potentially using it to pursue ambitions that extend beyond helping the people who may have been harmed.\n\nI cannot know what either of them privately believes, and I cannot establish whether manipulation is occurring in their relationship. What I can say is that their responsibilities toward students should not be overlooked simply because they are involved in a public controversy.  \nHere are some other unrelated ethical concerns about GPA and David Najar. I'm tired of writing about him, so I'll keep these brief:\n\n* David has reportedly provided select or favorite students with keys to Prakses because he is often late or not physically present.\n* Students sometimes remain at Prakses late into the night, raising questions about supervision when adults have left and underage students still have access to the space.\n* David spends substantial time with students in private meetings that are often highly personal and connected to the college application process. There should be clear boundaries around these interactions.\n* There does not appear to be an obvious independent person for students to report concerns to. Myra?\n* Students are regularly exposed to David's personal political and social ideologies, raising questions about how independent thinking and disagreement are handled.\n* Students who question David may risk being ostracized from the community.\n* I have questions about David's academic credentials, including his claimed PhD, that deserve verification rather than speculation.\n\nWhile I personally believe the actions of Ideal Living and Peter Spiegel raise serious questions and deserve proper investigation, David and Myra are not automatically the people best positioned to tell that story.  \nTheir involvement should not distract from the experiences of the people who have actually come forward, including Karen Johnson. If the goal is to take victims seriously, then everyone involved should be held to the same standards of accountability.  \nReckless Ben initially helped bring attention to Ideal Living and Peter Spiegel, but from the outside, it doesn't seem like the story has progressed in the way David and Myra envisioned. Regardless, they seem unlikely to stop pursuing it, putting more kids in danger.\n\nWhat concerns me is that the same patterns I remember from GPA may continue to affect students who are still there. I worry that David's influence over students remains largely unchecked and that Myra, whatever her own circumstances may be, continues to participate in a dynamic that deserves closer examination.\n\nWithout independent scrutiny of David and Myra's conduct, the concerns raised by former and current students may continue to go unaddressed. There are people with years of experiences to share, and there are students who may still be affected by the environment today.  \nSince Reckless Ben gave David and Myra their 15 seconds of fame, I hope he considers looking more closely at the people and environment behind the story. Not simply because it would make for a compelling plot twist, but because the students involved deserve to have their experiences taken seriously.\n\nOther than that, fuck you david.","send_replies":true,"spoiler":false,"stickied":false,"subreddit":"ideallivingcase","subreddit_id":"t5_jpetta","subreddit_name_prefixed":"r/ideallivingcase","subreddit_subscribers":269,"subreddit_type":"public","suggested_sort":null,"thumbnail":"self","thumbnail_height":null,"thumbnail_width":null,"title":"I Was One of Cockroach Octopus’s “Humans”","top_awarded_type":null,"total_awards_received":0,"treatment_tags":[],"ups":2,"upvote_ratio":1,"url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ideallivingcase/comments/1xjagq3/i_was_one_of_cockroach_octopuss_humans/","user_reports":[],"view_count":null,"visited":false,"wls":7}]}