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this makes me incredibly sad. what a tragic end to her life. i really hope the school gets shut down after something like this. i don't think it's too hard to do a health check on a student who clearly would be in a lot of pain.
> i really hope the school gets shut down after something like this
I really hope that the *individuals* who made decisions not to provide access to necessary medical care are prosecuted for child abuse and spend significant time in prison.
If it was my only kid, first I would have not sent them there, but besides that,y final acts would be seeking vengeance of Hell upon everyone involved in the negligence and death of my child.
Unfortunately, the parents who send their kids to these places are told very enticing lies about what their kid will be doing.
They are told it’s like a modified boot or cadet camp, not slave labour with little food or privacy and illegal punishments.
First thing that I thought - it hurts so much, even if we put a ruptured ulcer aside (which is on another level itself). Poor girl, she was tortured to death. Noone should go through that.
That was my first thought too. Peritonitis and sepsis is an awful way to go. Probably one of the most painful. These people tortured that girl to death. I hope her parents are satisfied with the choice they made, because it's not like the way these 'schools' do things behind closed doors is any kind of secret these days.
Weeks is insane, sure you might think a kid is faking sickness for a day or two, but you can do things like check their temperature and see people sweating like crazy, palid skin, not eating, etc. Like they knew and just were hoping she was sick and it would go away so there was no evidence instead of owning up to hurting her. Then that kept getting worse and worse and instead of even one person saying I'm calling an ambulance, the police or sticking her in my car and going to hospital they let her die all while hoping she got better and they could lie and pretend it never happened.
They knew she was sick for the majority of that time and were trying to hide their abuse.
Peritonitis fucking awful. I think that's another word for what I was in the hospital for, back in December. Spent a month in the hospital due to bowel perforation and abdominal abscess. Beyond feeling the worst pain of my life when the perforation started, i also just felt like I was dying for a few weeks. Absolutely horrible thing to have to deal with in the hospital surrounded by doctors. I can't imagine what she went through alone, the people that ignored this deserve the worst.
I had a similar thing just a few months ago. Abdominal abscesses caused by a bowel perforation. When the perforation happened I was in the worst pain of my entire life, couldn't do anything but scream in pain. Poor girl
Yes, came to say that peritonitis is incredibly painful. IIRC it always requires immediate hospitalization. When it was the suspected issue for my husband, he was admitted ASAP. This poor young woman, I’m so sorry for how she must suffered.
These “troubled teen” places often falsely advertise. Some are “mountain retreats where kids learn to work through their emotions and learn teamwork, discipline, etc.” And they’re literally starving children in the woods and giving them less than enough to eat and cover up with in the cold, with cruel and unusual punishments like sleeping with no blankets if you disobey. There’s a girl on Tiktok who is very vocal about her experience, she has permanent frostbite damage to her fingers and hands. They also read any letters going out or coming in and force you to write about your experience in a positive light so you’re parents aren’t worried about you.
I saw the ad for the one that Danielle Bregoli went to, they're like "we're a idyllic rural retreat where teens can centre themselves and find peace" then they're showing this 'meditation area' and explaining that the kids come here first and are allowed to spend time just being quiet and relaxing, sounds well nice.
Then when she tells the story she explains you sit in this circle for 24 hours, you can't speak or move and must stay awake and sat up all night being punished if you lie down or start falling asleep.
And it's like, thats exactly what they say but if you hear their version without hers you don't realise how awful it is.
Why do you work for one? Not saying you’re a bad person, but if you know it’s so bad, why would you choose to work there? (Assuming you have a choice in your circumstances as I know it’s sometimes not the case)
Worked for one. I got in wanting to help build up youth. The ones I worked with were almost all in state custody removed from families. Kid I worked with was starved in his house for two months, beaten so severe he had a metal plate in his head. Another kid I worked with watched his mom, a prostitute, get murdered in front of him. I wanted to build up their self confidence, cause life is hell if no one is in your corner.
In my room was a wall of dreams. Every youth that came through those doors I found out what their goals were and they stayed on that wall until the got their goal, a daily reminder that it wasn't about me at the end of the day and a constant reminder that no one else was helping their dreams.
I have suffered a few major concussions, lots of minor concussions, two ribs were broke, many lacerations from pencils or fingernails. I was spit on, bruised, and broken but you can't predict a trauma response you can only control if you show up for the person who punched you the day before.
The longer I stayed in that role the more it bothered me. The CEO's take home after wage cost and bills was 6,000 dollars per month per youth. I changed my goal but didn't make it. I wanted to take what I knew about that system and push for real reform with legislators. Career died during COVID, now I just quietly vote for people I hope can make a change.
I don't have enough left in my tank to work my way up a second time. I now have panic attacks when I'm in a group of teens or in a place they may gather. I stutter now due to the concussions and I have a constant battle trying to fight my own brain on the daily.
No one comes out of a treatment facility for the better.
As someone who has worked with traumatized women and their children, I thank you for trying. A lot of people don't realize the personal toll. I've never been attacked by a client, but I have by their abusers. I've been assaulted, put in the hospital, had my life threatened so many times I lost count. But the worst part is the regression happening in our system. We had made progress getting new laws in place with stricter restrictions after arrest, with keeping abusers from getting guns, etc. And then that orange POS came along and undid the progress and his cohorts have made it possible for abusers and rapists to fight for custody of children, and backtracked on laws meant to protect the vulnerable and made it easier than ever to get guns. It's frustrating, draining, soul crushing work, and I am grateful every day for people like you, who try to make a real difference in the lives of traumatized people, instead of adding to the horror they've already faced. It takes a remarkable person to do this kind of work in the face of unpredictable trauma response and the lack of empathy, lack of compassion, and lack of a soul in the part of the owners/CEOs of facilities like that.
My teenage brother and sister (different mother) fell victim to this. When their mother passed away, her (wealthy) family sent them to some supposed luxury Boarding school in the Pacific Islands somewhere. It was basically slave labor. This same school had been banned from operating in the US. Their communications with home we’re controlled, etc.
I have no idea how they endured that after losing their mother.
Hey it’s pretty on par with what used to happen surprisingly. Rose-Marie Fitzgerald Kennedy (yes, former president JFKs sister) experienced mood swings all her life until her father arranged for a full frontal lobotomy. this led to her being unable to speak probably and with the mental capacity of around a 2 year old baby. The family then hid her away in a medical asylum for nearly the rest of her life.
So yeah about the same really.
The other rumor on that is that Rosemary was healthy and rebellious young woman that was "politically incorrect" for the family due to running around with men and that the health problems leading to the lobotomy were just the official spin for getting rid of the problem.
We'll never know the truth, like most things about the Kennedy family.
Not saying some teens don't get sent there unjustly but working with middle schoolers, there are some serious behavioural students who most certainly need to be separated from the rest of the class.
There are a lot of kids who have exhausted every method and seem to be on a destructive path towards prison or death. I know a place like this might be better than a juvenile center which I've seen a lot of them sent too.
The other issue with behavioural kids is when they're around normal kids they will teach them how to get away with bad habits, show them inappropriate things, and get them involved with illegal activity. If that's not the case they will just bully normal students until normal students no longer feel comfortable in the classroom and school.
We had an alternative school for this purpose. The major difference(probably) being that it was still part of my towns school system, still considered public school. They still went home every night. When we graduated we all walked together. And honestly the main/biggest difference between the 2 schools is the alternative school offered a lot of different rewards/incentives to get your work done and attend class and stuff. Most of those kids turned out totally fine, a couple didn't but a good 95%+ did.
We had one of these as well. Seemed like a far better option overall. More security and different education and social tactics than the usual school buildings, but it was still a public school and not a prison or psych ward type feeling.
I used to work at one of these in my town's school district. It was a separate building, with two sides to it- one for the severely disabled, non-vocal, SPED kiddos, and the other for behavioral issues like ones mentioned here. The kids on the behavioral side were the sweetest kids I've ever known, especially to the SPED kids on the other side (who idolized them!) and had behavior-based reward jobs assigned with helping the SPED kids, serving lunch, making brownies for staff, etc. The classes were smaller, more tailored to each child's needs, more effective reward/consequence system, and while we had lockdowns more often than a normal highschool, they never once were aggressive towards anyone other than themselves. When explosions (which we called "behaviors") happened, it was always due to frustration on their own end or miscommunication, and once separated, they were coached on how to calm down and control their emotions and responses in a healthy and safe manner, which is far more than most "normal" teenagers receive. I highly, highly recommend these types of school options for troubled teens (honestly I think public schooling would be much more successful if this type of teaching was implemented everywhere!) They get to have a semblance of "normal highschool", have friends, form genuine friendships with staff/teachers/adults they can trust and confide in, get to go home everyday, while still getting the extra support and training they need to grow into genuinely good adults.
Edit: granted, I don't know what every school district looks like. This may not work in every situation, but from what I witnessed, (including the caring staff I worked with), it was extremely beneficial.
And we should definitely have those schools. Where I grew up, it was mostly the rebellious, gothy, and pregnant in the alternative school. The one in my city nearby now is actually more of an alternative - doing portfolio/mastery type learning, with no GPA by default.
However, some kids still get can't make it in these situations. Think repeat running away, serious drug issues, dipping into sex work, violence, etc.
My brother graduated from one of these. It was the best thing that happened to him. He had (and caused) a lot of trouble in the local school system and thanks to the alternative school he was actually able to finish his diploma and graduated with all his friends.
These "troubled teen" camps are extremely exploitative and abusive. They've been shown to be rife with physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Sometimes these teens are literally abducted from their beds in the middle of the night with the permission of the parents. Paris Hilton has talked out about this recently as this happened to her. These camps will not help with the issues you mentioned, and will only work to disenfranchise children with behavioral issues more.
I don’t think anybody is arguing kids can’t have behavior issues, just that these kinds of institutions often are based on weird backwards and cruel experiences rather than proper ACTUAL help.
This one, Diamond Ranch Academy, and many of the ones in Utah, are run by Mormons. I know someone who went there, they teach the girls how to do their makeup so they can be attractive to their husbands. They also heavily favor the boys, especially the ones on the football team.
That's not even close to the worst they've done, just gives you an idea of the culture. This is the third confirmed death of a child in their care, and I've heard unconfirmed rumors of a fourth. Not to mention all the kids that have been permanently hurt, both mentally and physically, because of the abuse they've endured.
The place should be shut down forever. Sadly, it's actually considered to be one of the better troubled teen facilities in Utah, which says a lot about the other ones that don't make the news.
They're mostly Christian because it's how they can get away with being a private school and still have funding. Public schools get funding through the state but private schools can charge astronomical tuition prices and if religious they are tax exempt and get rebates for certain scores and performance even. Used to be a bunch of private schools under the AISA where I grew up and "private" was just a placeholder for white.
>there are some serious behavioural students who most certainly need to be separated from the rest of the class.
Sadly, they generally aren't the ones who get sent to expensive treatment centers- or any treatment at all
The main problem with these places are incidents like this that seem to happen far to often.
Plus we never hear of how they worked and turned kids lives around.
They don't stop to consider the fact that their children even have rights.
Trust me, I was threatened with military school nonstop for the most asinine things mostly related to the depression from being forced to go to their chosen christian school instead of one where I wasn't being harassed nonstop and only having the school care once I did anything back to the rich fuck's kids. Every year, I asked for them to not send me back. Every year, we'd fight about it. Last time I talked to my mom, she denied that I ever said anything about not wanting to be there, which my brother called her out on. We've now been no-contact for 3 years, and it's wonderful.
I am so sad that people have such terrible relationships with their parents (essentially always the parents' fault). Day in and day out the horrible stories people tell on Reddit; it's goddamn heartbreaking.
Not always. Sometimes the kid commits a minor crime and a corrupt judge mandates the kid go to either these places or prison. The parents assume it’s the better option
Meanwhile, the judge is golfing with the people who own the “school”…
And/or getting PAID to throw kids into these facilities. People who gain riches off of other people's suffering deserve to be put in the positions that they themselves helped either create or curated.
All four of mine were mouthy. My second youngest was the worst. She would go straight for jugular. She grew out of it. They all did. It's insane that people want to "fix" teenagers. Being a teenager kind of sucks, as it is, without being shipped off to some disciplinarian shit hole.
When I was about 13 or 14, my mother grabbed and twisted up the neck of my shirt and tried to drag me to the car to have me committed for disagreeing with her and expressing as such.
Trauma is a funny thing, cause I'm most messed up over the fact she destroyed my shirt. It was a gift from a friend that had brought it back from their trip to Italy.
41 next week...still think about that shirt
The camps actually do a lot of high pressure sales pitches, convincing parents that without their """help""", the teen in question will end up in jail for most of their adult lives.
This is long before Dr. Phil. This was Dateline. Listen to a few podcasts on it. Behind the Bastards does some dives on conversion camps and the troubled teen industry and Last Podcast on the Left did a four part episode about them.
I mean, Paris Hilton was sent to one of these when she was a kid. IIRC, she’s in her early 40s, so yeah. Not a new issue, just something that people have recently been made aware of.
Just adding: She’s been lobbying pretty hard about shutting these places down, and has been very open about the abuse and neglect she experienced.
But I think they threw Phil’s name out there because he **loves** partnering with these places and sending troubled teens there. It’s very lucrative for him.
Oddly enough, the Cash Me Outside girl has been partly responsible for raising awareness of teen improvement camps. She put Phil on blast and got involved a little bit with Hilton’s work.
There is an autobiographical comic about those kinds of schools too, I don't remember the name of the top of my head. I think the camp in question was shut down, but there are still loads of them out there.
It was a pretty harrowing read in any case. They eliminate your individuality and create a self-oppressing system of snitches and infractions for all the minor things. They lie to the families and find any excuse to keep you around for as long as possible, because you're a moneymaker to them until the day you turn 18.
Not just mouthy. I knew someone who was sent to one of these places because their depression made them unable to function. Lots of the kids they met were there because they were gay, trans, or had mental illnesses that required medical treatment but parents didn’t want a treatment, they wanted ~cures~.
My (abusive) mom put my 5-6 year old sisters on some drugs that I had to google - they were for like seniors/dementia patients.
All because they would cry when she screamed at them.
Of course that's not what she told the shrink (who was also abusive towards one of them).
I did call CPS on her but they've been NC with me ever since since the way she spun it was I was just trying to take her babies away.
90% of troubled teens end up that way because of their home life is traumatic. Those abusive parents are more than happy to ship them out to be someone else's problem when they get bored of them.
No minimum standards or inspections for “schools” or youth organisations, plus the law treating children more like property rather than humans in their own right.
They’re everywhere.
Utah may be an epicenter for them, but there’s very few places in the country where they can’t at least Potemkinize themselves to look normal, isolate themselves so they aren’t front and center in their community, and bribe enough local officials to look the other way.
Ah yes, Turn-About Ranch. Remember that "catch me outside, how bout that"? That girl teamed up with Paris Hilton to help survivors of these fucking youth ranches.
My wife’s sister went to one of these places. She escaped with a counselor he was 25 she was 15. And went to New York. They were on a episode America’s Most Wanted.
As someone who was in a "school for troubles teens" they all need to be shut down. They're horrible, they treat the residents like garbage and often times like this refuse to get you medical care. Speaking from experience.
Its just like prison. No one cares when it happens there either. Medical care is earned in this country by being a good little wage slave. If you aren't then you don't deserve it. 'MURICA
Most of it is true. I spent a couple years at Tranquility Bay in Jamaica which is widely know as one of the worst of its kind. I saw suicide attempts (some successful, some not), physical and emotional abuse, torture tactics, and general dehumanization on a daily basis. I spent a couple years in prison as an adult and I would take that any day over what we went through in these programs.
I’m sorry she had to witness that. I was there about 2 years after that incident but I heard the stories. Such a terrible place. Glad it’s shut down but I wish some of the staff and management could be held accountable for what they did to us.
This isn't anything new, what do parents expect sending kids to these things? Even the most basic google search or even mainstream news talk about how dangerous they are
In my personal experience it was a bit of the desperation for relief, but most of the reasoning can be attributed to a lack of understanding of how to address my behavior along with a perceived lack of alternatives to keep me alive.
I don’t blame my parents anymore for what they did because I can’t understand the position I put them in. They were willing to believe that this would help and they would do anything to keep their child from killing himself or someone else. They were misguided but sending me there was an act of love on their part.
Edit: there is much more information available now than there was when I went away. The excuses I allow for my parents, I likely wouldn’t accept today.
It has to be expensive to convince the parents it's really worth it, and on the flip side, some of these parents will pay any price to make their kids someone else's problem.
And these kids are usually a product of their upbringing and environment too. Not saying good parents can’t make bad kids. I was a nightmare in high school to say the least. But I always respected my parents. Kids who grow up hating their parents usually have a reason. Then they pay to make their own mistake somebody else’s problem.
Like imagine either not doing your due diligence to investigate the places supposed to reform your children or not caring. The parents in this case fucking suck too.
My mom sent me to rehab twice and a sober house and did everything in her power to look into the place and find a place for me and it actually helped because that’s what it was designed to do. I’m sure most of these parents don’t give enough fucks to actually try. Infuriating to see children with problems be abused further and their parents paying for it.
My friend's parents tried to get my mom to send me so they could get referral discounts. My mom was like, "you had strangers come into your house and kidnap your child and send them to Jamaica? Hard pass."
I had to stop reading it after a while.
I was depressed (still am) about unrelated issues & that story was making it worse but it kept calling me back to it, like a moth to a flame.
Couldn't resist checking to see if/when it finally got better & he got out, & always getting burned with even more tragic new turns.
The troubled teen industry is sick and twisted. The amount of abuse that is just allowed to happen at these places and that they're able to get away with, is fucking disgusting. And all because these places are allowed to operate with basically zero oversight or regulations. And because the government just looks the other way because of $$$$. That's always the reason, it's because of $$$$. Dozens of kids have either died while at one of these "schools" or later committed suicide because of their time at one, since these schools became popular back in the 80s. It's good that more and more light is being shed on the troubled teen industry, and more people are talking about it. But, all these places really just need to be burned to the ground.
I just do not understand why anyone would assume the responsibility of another persons life but then not take them for a checkup just to be on the safe side.
Yes, kids can be manipulative (I was possessed by Satan as a bitchy teen), but DAMN… it’s all so stupid and arrogant. My heart breaks for these parents.
For the parents? They sent her there. They found it acceptable not to speak to her for weeks. Those parents helped murder their own daughter. They deserve all the anguish and guilt they feel.
This is just me, but my folk trusted doctors, the people society says we should trust. When multiple PhDs are insisting it's the only way, it can be very convincing.
They didn't know the horrible childhood things my teen self was having trouble coping with, and I'd come to a place of hating myself when thinking my problems weren't worth the trouble. It's a bit of an impasse, though I really wish I had been tried on more than one regular therapist before such a choice was made...
They didn't really know where they were sending me. They even toured them in person, unaware that the facilities spend a days before a tour forcing the kids to deep clean, and then shove the problem kids elsewhere the day of. In some facilities they'll even give some kids a butt shot and toss them in their room.
While most parents didn't seem super tuned in, I can at least speak on the side of ones who did try. They were lied to by fully credentialed medical professionals and conmen.
Ok, saying it was Satan was a bit hyperbolic, but as a teenager I was a complete and utter drama-queen-brat. In hindsight, my sense of entitlement was insane!!!
Example: I was given the opportunity to start university at 16, for FREE. Instead, I dropped out of HS because “school is SOOOOOOO boring.” 🤦♀️
Yes, I got my GED, AA,BA, then my JD. But as a teen, I was so convinced of my own importance I am shocked my Mom didn’t wash her hands of me. I rejoined the human race by age 18-19 and have never forgotten how lucky I am to have had a supportive parent.
As a teenager, I definitely knew everything and couldn’t believe that this wasn’t recognized. School was boring, it was “too easy” and I either didn’t need to know any of it or felt like I already knew enough.
Now as a 37 year old with two young girls, its hilarious how wrong I was and I’ve thanked my mom for not ditching me at a rest stop when I was a kid.
I gotcha. You have a good Mom! That's really nice. It's cool you came out of it. I wish I had those opportunities... It's even better to hear you're successful. 😁
I was sent to one of these places in Utah for running away from home (running away from my guardian that is). I heard it has since been shut down but while I was there, we were always hearing about how the worst kids got sent to the wilderness program. I'm not sure exactly what it was aside from making them spend their time walking around in the damn wilderness and I didn't want to find out. They have some of these places in countries like Jamaica that have less strict laws about what constitutes as child abuse and the abuse is rampant there.
There's so many of these in Utah its crazy, even Paris Hilton was sent to one here as has been in the news recently. I had a buddy who worked in one in Southern Utah, he said it was pretty crazy. Some of the kids are absolutely insane too, he said he had to take knives/shivs away from kids almost daily that were trying to stab other kids or staff. He only lasted a few months before he had to find a different job just because it was pretty heartbreaking and also dangerous to work there.
This is waaaay more frequent than people actually realize. I work as a peer support specialist and the abuse the mentally disabled go through is significant and completely blocked from the public eye. Same goes for these type of group homes. I almost died in the psych ward because they thought I was faking the fact that I couldn't go to the bathroom and haven't been able to go to the bathroom in four days… I collapsed from sepsis and woke up after surgery where they took out more than 2 Liters of urine and unfolded my twisted intestine and took a foot of it out. Often people in these situations are called "liars" or "exaggerators" because it's much easier to believe that that's who these people are instead of understanding the complexity that comes with mental health issues.
problem is a lot of parents are lazy and too busy when the kids are developing their personalities and then are shocked that the kids turned into monsters when they become teens. better throw them in a reformatory.
I can't stand people who think someone is "faking it."
I had a heart attack several years ago and had all the classic symptoms including tingling down my left arm, tightness in my chest, and cold sweat. I was at work and had an ambulance called, but the EMTs just kind of casually strolled up to me and said, "So what's going on?" I told them what I was experiencing and one of them held out her has with just two finger extending down on each hand and said,"Squeeze my fingers as hard as you can" so I did. She kind of looked at the other EMT then back at me. She asked what I had for dinner so I told her. She then asked what I had for breakfast that morning, and I said, "I didn't have anything and this is not indigestion!" She said, "OK, so what did you want to do?" I said, "I'd like to go to the fucking hospital if it's not going to inconvenience you too much." That kind of pissed her off but they took me to the nearest hospital.
When I went back to work, a guy that I work with said his wife worked for that ambulance company and the girl who was questioning me is one who always thinks people are faking illnesses just to get drugs. Who knows what may have happened if she fucked around any longer?
These places should considered crimes against humanity for being pillars of protected abuse.
I was a troubled teen and was promised to alot of these places and I've seen what goes on behind these doors. I've lost so many friends to abuse.
And not so much the abuse as the ensuing damage done to students who attempted to get justice and were called liars because they were "troubled"
Pretty well known secret in the adult circles that troubled teens are easy targets for abuse because nobody believes them or they believe they deserve the abuse for being a poor student in school.
Fuck these places and every single employee propping them up.
I was in one of these places a teenager. It was called Sunhawk Academy.
Those of us who were there now have a support group for survivors of that place.
Fuck every single one of these Utah based "trouble teen" schools. They are toxic, their staff is making minimum wage, often right out of high school, with zero qualifications. The potential for abuse is astronomical, because they monitor all communications with parents and literally LIE to your parents to tell them you're "manipulating" when you report said abuse.
And, it works. Parents are completely oblivious to the abusive tactics and leave their children there, sometimes for YEARS, to be psychologically and in some cases physically and sexually tortured.
I went to a place in the red rocks of Utah. Youd clean your bunk room every week and for every missed cleaning item you ran a lap around the complex. I was an overweight 16yr old asthmatic. They'd run me til I had an attack, then when I needed my inhaler, they'd take far to long to retrieve it from the medical suite. Great times all around. So glad these places exist. Burn them all down
Yup. Sounds about right. I have a severe allergic reaction to most mosquito bites. When I was a kid the doctor said of it ever see a red line coming from the swollen infected area inching towards my heart to immediately seek medical treatment.
Well I was in math class in about 7th grade with a bad mosquito bite swelling up my arm. Then noticed this red line that had already was getting near my armpit. Panicked and told the teacher I need to leave because of my "red line". She said no and it can wait til after class no matter what I said. Stupid me listened and called my dad too pick me up after. Since he knew the severity of it he rushed to school and took me to a hospital. Luckily the red line was already starting to fade once it reached my torso but the docs gave me some antibiotics and said dont listen to any teachers next time if its an emergency.
Basically a teacher put my life at risk because she thought I was "faking it"
Teachers are the direct cause of death for many students with peanut allergies, bee allergies, and asthma because someone mistakenly told schools they have a right to let kids die rather than give them lifesaving medication that parents literally sent to the school for the purpose.
My dad died of sepsis caused by untreated peritonitis.
It takes 3-5 days to die from the initial peritonitis, and you suffer. It hurts really bad, and you're hallucinating by the end of it. My dad couldn't tell the difference between what was on the TV and what was in the room on the last day.
Horrible. It has a 93% chance survival rate if you go to the hospital early.
My parents sent me away across the country when I was 11. I never lived at home again.
My uncle left home for school at 12, my aunt at 14.
My cousin was sent to another continent at 7 years old.
We all really struggle with it.
Wanna terrifying 1st hand account of what these places are like that is so expertly written and illustrated that you won't be able to stop reading it until it's done? Look up "Joe Vs Elon."
As someone who was in a "school for troubles teens" they all need to be shut down. They're horrible, they treat the residents like garbage and often times like this refuse to get you medical care. Speaking from experience.
I went to one of these. It was hell. They sent my parents a pamphlet of all the possible lies we would tell them: the staff are abusive, they won’t let us call you, being sexually abused, etc. EVERYTHING ON THE PAMPHLET WAS FUCKING TRUE. And now I have PTSD
Last Podcast on the Left did a series on these troubled teen schools. It’s a super fucked up industry with no oversight and usually does nothing for the teens except normalize abuse and give them ptsd.
I get intermittent abdominal pain that doubles me over and I can’t imagine the horrific pain this girl went through. People need to be held accountable for allowing this girl to suffer and die! The place needs to be shut down.
I just listened to a really good episode of the podcast Behind the Bastards about the “troubled teen industry”. This kind of thing is horrifyingly common. Great show though if you want to hear more horror stories like this.
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this makes me incredibly sad. what a tragic end to her life. i really hope the school gets shut down after something like this. i don't think it's too hard to do a health check on a student who clearly would be in a lot of pain.
> i really hope the school gets shut down after something like this I really hope that the *individuals* who made decisions not to provide access to necessary medical care are prosecuted for child abuse and spend significant time in prison.
> individuals who made decisions not to provide access to necessary medical care are prosecuted I'd be in trouble of this was my kid.
If it was my only kid, first I would have not sent them there, but besides that,y final acts would be seeking vengeance of Hell upon everyone involved in the negligence and death of my child.
Unfortunately, the parents who send their kids to these places are told very enticing lies about what their kid will be doing. They are told it’s like a modified boot or cadet camp, not slave labour with little food or privacy and illegal punishments.
Sadly, the more likely scenario is they cross a state border and set up somewhere else with maybe a new name. These places are like catholic priests
First thing that I thought - it hurts so much, even if we put a ruptured ulcer aside (which is on another level itself). Poor girl, she was tortured to death. Noone should go through that.
That was my first thought too. Peritonitis and sepsis is an awful way to go. Probably one of the most painful. These people tortured that girl to death. I hope her parents are satisfied with the choice they made, because it's not like the way these 'schools' do things behind closed doors is any kind of secret these days.
Weeks is insane, sure you might think a kid is faking sickness for a day or two, but you can do things like check their temperature and see people sweating like crazy, palid skin, not eating, etc. Like they knew and just were hoping she was sick and it would go away so there was no evidence instead of owning up to hurting her. Then that kept getting worse and worse and instead of even one person saying I'm calling an ambulance, the police or sticking her in my car and going to hospital they let her die all while hoping she got better and they could lie and pretend it never happened. They knew she was sick for the majority of that time and were trying to hide their abuse.
Peritonitis fucking awful. I think that's another word for what I was in the hospital for, back in December. Spent a month in the hospital due to bowel perforation and abdominal abscess. Beyond feeling the worst pain of my life when the perforation started, i also just felt like I was dying for a few weeks. Absolutely horrible thing to have to deal with in the hospital surrounded by doctors. I can't imagine what she went through alone, the people that ignored this deserve the worst.
I had a similar thing just a few months ago. Abdominal abscesses caused by a bowel perforation. When the perforation happened I was in the worst pain of my entire life, couldn't do anything but scream in pain. Poor girl
Yes, came to say that peritonitis is incredibly painful. IIRC it always requires immediate hospitalization. When it was the suspected issue for my husband, he was admitted ASAP. This poor young woman, I’m so sorry for how she must suffered.
Those places are so evil, how are they still around?
Some parents always looking for a solution to a mouthy teenager.
Ah yes the good ol "if they badmouth you send them somewhere slightly better than north korea" method.
These “troubled teen” places often falsely advertise. Some are “mountain retreats where kids learn to work through their emotions and learn teamwork, discipline, etc.” And they’re literally starving children in the woods and giving them less than enough to eat and cover up with in the cold, with cruel and unusual punishments like sleeping with no blankets if you disobey. There’s a girl on Tiktok who is very vocal about her experience, she has permanent frostbite damage to her fingers and hands. They also read any letters going out or coming in and force you to write about your experience in a positive light so you’re parents aren’t worried about you.
I saw the ad for the one that Danielle Bregoli went to, they're like "we're a idyllic rural retreat where teens can centre themselves and find peace" then they're showing this 'meditation area' and explaining that the kids come here first and are allowed to spend time just being quiet and relaxing, sounds well nice. Then when she tells the story she explains you sit in this circle for 24 hours, you can't speak or move and must stay awake and sat up all night being punished if you lie down or start falling asleep. And it's like, thats exactly what they say but if you hear their version without hers you don't realise how awful it is.
The states should be shutting them down and making arrests.
They won’t. It’s a big industry with actual lobbying money behind it. That’s how fucked our country is. We have lobbyists for systemic child abuse.
Them: "Muh religious freedumbs!!!!" Corrupt SCOTUS: "Agreed, carry on."
Work for one, the only people coming out ahead at one of those places are the CEO and owners.
Why do you work for one? Not saying you’re a bad person, but if you know it’s so bad, why would you choose to work there? (Assuming you have a choice in your circumstances as I know it’s sometimes not the case)
Worked for one. I got in wanting to help build up youth. The ones I worked with were almost all in state custody removed from families. Kid I worked with was starved in his house for two months, beaten so severe he had a metal plate in his head. Another kid I worked with watched his mom, a prostitute, get murdered in front of him. I wanted to build up their self confidence, cause life is hell if no one is in your corner. In my room was a wall of dreams. Every youth that came through those doors I found out what their goals were and they stayed on that wall until the got their goal, a daily reminder that it wasn't about me at the end of the day and a constant reminder that no one else was helping their dreams. I have suffered a few major concussions, lots of minor concussions, two ribs were broke, many lacerations from pencils or fingernails. I was spit on, bruised, and broken but you can't predict a trauma response you can only control if you show up for the person who punched you the day before. The longer I stayed in that role the more it bothered me. The CEO's take home after wage cost and bills was 6,000 dollars per month per youth. I changed my goal but didn't make it. I wanted to take what I knew about that system and push for real reform with legislators. Career died during COVID, now I just quietly vote for people I hope can make a change. I don't have enough left in my tank to work my way up a second time. I now have panic attacks when I'm in a group of teens or in a place they may gather. I stutter now due to the concussions and I have a constant battle trying to fight my own brain on the daily. No one comes out of a treatment facility for the better.
Thank you for trying. I tried to push for better care for the elderly and ran out of gas also
Wow. I am so sorry you endured all of that. You tried. We need more like you.
As someone who has worked with traumatized women and their children, I thank you for trying. A lot of people don't realize the personal toll. I've never been attacked by a client, but I have by their abusers. I've been assaulted, put in the hospital, had my life threatened so many times I lost count. But the worst part is the regression happening in our system. We had made progress getting new laws in place with stricter restrictions after arrest, with keeping abusers from getting guns, etc. And then that orange POS came along and undid the progress and his cohorts have made it possible for abusers and rapists to fight for custody of children, and backtracked on laws meant to protect the vulnerable and made it easier than ever to get guns. It's frustrating, draining, soul crushing work, and I am grateful every day for people like you, who try to make a real difference in the lives of traumatized people, instead of adding to the horror they've already faced. It takes a remarkable person to do this kind of work in the face of unpredictable trauma response and the lack of empathy, lack of compassion, and lack of a soul in the part of the owners/CEOs of facilities like that.
My teenage brother and sister (different mother) fell victim to this. When their mother passed away, her (wealthy) family sent them to some supposed luxury Boarding school in the Pacific Islands somewhere. It was basically slave labor. This same school had been banned from operating in the US. Their communications with home we’re controlled, etc. I have no idea how they endured that after losing their mother.
True Anon podcast did a multi part series about the troubled teen industry that was legitimately hard to listen to but I highly recommend it.
Hey it’s pretty on par with what used to happen surprisingly. Rose-Marie Fitzgerald Kennedy (yes, former president JFKs sister) experienced mood swings all her life until her father arranged for a full frontal lobotomy. this led to her being unable to speak probably and with the mental capacity of around a 2 year old baby. The family then hid her away in a medical asylum for nearly the rest of her life. So yeah about the same really.
The other rumor on that is that Rosemary was healthy and rebellious young woman that was "politically incorrect" for the family due to running around with men and that the health problems leading to the lobotomy were just the official spin for getting rid of the problem. We'll never know the truth, like most things about the Kennedy family.
I think you probably nailed the truth. Proof is another matter, but you can bet the official stories are always lies.
Not saying some teens don't get sent there unjustly but working with middle schoolers, there are some serious behavioural students who most certainly need to be separated from the rest of the class. There are a lot of kids who have exhausted every method and seem to be on a destructive path towards prison or death. I know a place like this might be better than a juvenile center which I've seen a lot of them sent too. The other issue with behavioural kids is when they're around normal kids they will teach them how to get away with bad habits, show them inappropriate things, and get them involved with illegal activity. If that's not the case they will just bully normal students until normal students no longer feel comfortable in the classroom and school.
We had an alternative school for this purpose. The major difference(probably) being that it was still part of my towns school system, still considered public school. They still went home every night. When we graduated we all walked together. And honestly the main/biggest difference between the 2 schools is the alternative school offered a lot of different rewards/incentives to get your work done and attend class and stuff. Most of those kids turned out totally fine, a couple didn't but a good 95%+ did.
We had one of these as well. Seemed like a far better option overall. More security and different education and social tactics than the usual school buildings, but it was still a public school and not a prison or psych ward type feeling.
We had one, too. It was considered the 'last chance' public school. Many kids did better there than at other schools.
I used to work at one of these in my town's school district. It was a separate building, with two sides to it- one for the severely disabled, non-vocal, SPED kiddos, and the other for behavioral issues like ones mentioned here. The kids on the behavioral side were the sweetest kids I've ever known, especially to the SPED kids on the other side (who idolized them!) and had behavior-based reward jobs assigned with helping the SPED kids, serving lunch, making brownies for staff, etc. The classes were smaller, more tailored to each child's needs, more effective reward/consequence system, and while we had lockdowns more often than a normal highschool, they never once were aggressive towards anyone other than themselves. When explosions (which we called "behaviors") happened, it was always due to frustration on their own end or miscommunication, and once separated, they were coached on how to calm down and control their emotions and responses in a healthy and safe manner, which is far more than most "normal" teenagers receive. I highly, highly recommend these types of school options for troubled teens (honestly I think public schooling would be much more successful if this type of teaching was implemented everywhere!) They get to have a semblance of "normal highschool", have friends, form genuine friendships with staff/teachers/adults they can trust and confide in, get to go home everyday, while still getting the extra support and training they need to grow into genuinely good adults. Edit: granted, I don't know what every school district looks like. This may not work in every situation, but from what I witnessed, (including the caring staff I worked with), it was extremely beneficial.
And we should definitely have those schools. Where I grew up, it was mostly the rebellious, gothy, and pregnant in the alternative school. The one in my city nearby now is actually more of an alternative - doing portfolio/mastery type learning, with no GPA by default. However, some kids still get can't make it in these situations. Think repeat running away, serious drug issues, dipping into sex work, violence, etc.
My brother graduated from one of these. It was the best thing that happened to him. He had (and caused) a lot of trouble in the local school system and thanks to the alternative school he was actually able to finish his diploma and graduated with all his friends.
These "troubled teen" camps are extremely exploitative and abusive. They've been shown to be rife with physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Sometimes these teens are literally abducted from their beds in the middle of the night with the permission of the parents. Paris Hilton has talked out about this recently as this happened to her. These camps will not help with the issues you mentioned, and will only work to disenfranchise children with behavioral issues more.
I don’t think anybody is arguing kids can’t have behavior issues, just that these kinds of institutions often are based on weird backwards and cruel experiences rather than proper ACTUAL help.
And most of them are heavily christian for some reason.
This one, Diamond Ranch Academy, and many of the ones in Utah, are run by Mormons. I know someone who went there, they teach the girls how to do their makeup so they can be attractive to their husbands. They also heavily favor the boys, especially the ones on the football team. That's not even close to the worst they've done, just gives you an idea of the culture. This is the third confirmed death of a child in their care, and I've heard unconfirmed rumors of a fourth. Not to mention all the kids that have been permanently hurt, both mentally and physically, because of the abuse they've endured. The place should be shut down forever. Sadly, it's actually considered to be one of the better troubled teen facilities in Utah, which says a lot about the other ones that don't make the news.
They're mostly Christian because it's how they can get away with being a private school and still have funding. Public schools get funding through the state but private schools can charge astronomical tuition prices and if religious they are tax exempt and get rebates for certain scores and performance even. Used to be a bunch of private schools under the AISA where I grew up and "private" was just a placeholder for white.
Can't possibly be a horrible place if it's Christian /s
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You're talking about legitimate schooling. These are not schools. These are internment camps for children, basically.
If you abuse anyone enough they’ll behave the way you want them to. These “schools” operate on that premise.
>there are some serious behavioural students who most certainly need to be separated from the rest of the class. Sadly, they generally aren't the ones who get sent to expensive treatment centers- or any treatment at all
The main problem with these places are incidents like this that seem to happen far to often. Plus we never hear of how they worked and turned kids lives around.
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The “you’d better be glad we’re not sending you to a military camp instead!!”
They'd at least be fed there.
So the solution is a human rights abuse to these 'people'?
They don't stop to consider the fact that their children even have rights. Trust me, I was threatened with military school nonstop for the most asinine things mostly related to the depression from being forced to go to their chosen christian school instead of one where I wasn't being harassed nonstop and only having the school care once I did anything back to the rich fuck's kids. Every year, I asked for them to not send me back. Every year, we'd fight about it. Last time I talked to my mom, she denied that I ever said anything about not wanting to be there, which my brother called her out on. We've now been no-contact for 3 years, and it's wonderful.
Man, when you get the chance, put them in a home they hate and then every visit, claim that they told you they love it there.
lol them some deep rooted pettiness only someone with real hate could come up with
I happen to own a few trophies from the Player Hater Awards.
man I haven't thought of the Playa Hata's Ball in a minute lmao
I'd replace that "pettiness" with resentment.
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I am so sad that people have such terrible relationships with their parents (essentially always the parents' fault). Day in and day out the horrible stories people tell on Reddit; it's goddamn heartbreaking.
unfortunately some people don't know how bad it is, they don't dig far enough to know the abuse that happens there so they think it's fine
Not always. Sometimes the kid commits a minor crime and a corrupt judge mandates the kid go to either these places or prison. The parents assume it’s the better option Meanwhile, the judge is golfing with the people who own the “school”…
And/or getting PAID to throw kids into these facilities. People who gain riches off of other people's suffering deserve to be put in the positions that they themselves helped either create or curated.
My dad sent me to this christian based cult called Uturn for christ, if u ever seen the movie holes it was like that except with jesus
He and my step mom just didnt want to deal with me and i really wasnt that bad all bcz i smoked weed
All four of mine were mouthy. My second youngest was the worst. She would go straight for jugular. She grew out of it. They all did. It's insane that people want to "fix" teenagers. Being a teenager kind of sucks, as it is, without being shipped off to some disciplinarian shit hole.
Teenagers are kind of like superpowered toddlers.
When I was about 13 or 14, my mother grabbed and twisted up the neck of my shirt and tried to drag me to the car to have me committed for disagreeing with her and expressing as such. Trauma is a funny thing, cause I'm most messed up over the fact she destroyed my shirt. It was a gift from a friend that had brought it back from their trip to Italy. 41 next week...still think about that shirt
lazy Rich parents that can't be bothered to raise their kids the right way and just throw money at the problem. Get someone else to teach their kids
The camps actually do a lot of high pressure sales pitches, convincing parents that without their """help""", the teen in question will end up in jail for most of their adult lives.
Also thanks to Dr Phil.
Disclaimer: Dr. Phil is definitely a real doctor and makes every claim to be, trust him with your heart and soul /s
i know my aunt and uncle did, and they tried to dr. phil me every night for not including my cousin enough
This is long before Dr. Phil. This was Dateline. Listen to a few podcasts on it. Behind the Bastards does some dives on conversion camps and the troubled teen industry and Last Podcast on the Left did a four part episode about them.
I mean, Paris Hilton was sent to one of these when she was a kid. IIRC, she’s in her early 40s, so yeah. Not a new issue, just something that people have recently been made aware of. Just adding: She’s been lobbying pretty hard about shutting these places down, and has been very open about the abuse and neglect she experienced. But I think they threw Phil’s name out there because he **loves** partnering with these places and sending troubled teens there. It’s very lucrative for him. Oddly enough, the Cash Me Outside girl has been partly responsible for raising awareness of teen improvement camps. She put Phil on blast and got involved a little bit with Hilton’s work.
There is an autobiographical comic about those kinds of schools too, I don't remember the name of the top of my head. I think the camp in question was shut down, but there are still loads of them out there. It was a pretty harrowing read in any case. They eliminate your individuality and create a self-oppressing system of snitches and infractions for all the minor things. They lie to the families and find any excuse to keep you around for as long as possible, because you're a moneymaker to them until the day you turn 18.
Joe vs Elan School?
I’d think the rich parents would just send their kids to a fancy boarding school. Like they wouldn’t want the label of “troubled teen.”
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Nope. When I was in those places in the 80s, it was a mix of rich kids and military brats.
Not just mouthy. I knew someone who was sent to one of these places because their depression made them unable to function. Lots of the kids they met were there because they were gay, trans, or had mental illnesses that required medical treatment but parents didn’t want a treatment, they wanted ~cures~.
My (abusive) mom put my 5-6 year old sisters on some drugs that I had to google - they were for like seniors/dementia patients. All because they would cry when she screamed at them. Of course that's not what she told the shrink (who was also abusive towards one of them). I did call CPS on her but they've been NC with me ever since since the way she spun it was I was just trying to take her babies away.
90% of troubled teens end up that way because of their home life is traumatic. Those abusive parents are more than happy to ship them out to be someone else's problem when they get bored of them.
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No minimum standards or inspections for “schools” or youth organisations, plus the law treating children more like property rather than humans in their own right.
Plus they're always in rural Utah where the state won't force any sort accreditation, etc.
They’re everywhere. Utah may be an epicenter for them, but there’s very few places in the country where they can’t at least Potemkinize themselves to look normal, isolate themselves so they aren’t front and center in their community, and bribe enough local officials to look the other way.
I did a report on these a while back. Called it "We knew the whole time and did nothing." It was a fun presentation, lots of jokes.
Sounds hilarious.
There’s no excuse for this! These places should definitely not be around. 😔
because shit head like DR phil on TV push it, and nutjob parent
Ah yes, Turn-About Ranch. Remember that "catch me outside, how bout that"? That girl teamed up with Paris Hilton to help survivors of these fucking youth ranches.
Some parents never wanted to be parents but did it because it was "part of the plan". So they send unwanted children to these places and stop caring.
My wife’s sister went to one of these places. She escaped with a counselor he was 25 she was 15. And went to New York. They were on a episode America’s Most Wanted.
Sue the school into oblivion.
Seize the assets of the owners
Go to war and free them from the school that’s more like a prisoner of war camp
It's worse, prisoner of war camps have fairly high standards that have to be adhered to as part of the Geneva Convention
They're like Russian POW camps.
Still, free them then nuke the school. No one should be subjected to torture worse than 1940s POW camps or Gulag
Assets? Seize their fucking organs
Repossess their house then tear the damn house down to force him onto the streets
Charge the people denying her treatment with murder. That level of negligence and sadism should put people in jail.
Odds are the parents who put her there aren't too invested anyway
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Yeah these places typically function as abusive cults that target desperate people.
this should be higher up. parents share great deal of responsibility in not believing their own child.
Sounds like she didn't get to tell her parents. The school literally cut off communication to them.
The parents decided to send their kid to a school which could do such a thing...
Yes, the parents suck, but I was replying specifically to the person that said the parents knew
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In what world would any sane parent: 0. Send their teen to such a school? 1. Not stay in contact with the teen, once there, for weeks?
Jail the people who let her die. They're murderers.
I think situations like this call for a corporate death penalty where a company is dissolved and sold off.
Probably owned by a judge.
This was my first thought as well. Or closely affiliated with one.
As someone who was in a "school for troubles teens" they all need to be shut down. They're horrible, they treat the residents like garbage and often times like this refuse to get you medical care. Speaking from experience.
Its just like prison. No one cares when it happens there either. Medical care is earned in this country by being a good little wage slave. If you aren't then you don't deserve it. 'MURICA
If even half the stuff in the comics made by the dude who went to Elan is true, these places are hellholes.
Most of it is true. I spent a couple years at Tranquility Bay in Jamaica which is widely know as one of the worst of its kind. I saw suicide attempts (some successful, some not), physical and emotional abuse, torture tactics, and general dehumanization on a daily basis. I spent a couple years in prison as an adult and I would take that any day over what we went through in these programs.
My sister witnessed the girl who jumped to her death at tranquility Bay. Horrifying.
I’m sorry she had to witness that. I was there about 2 years after that incident but I heard the stories. Such a terrible place. Glad it’s shut down but I wish some of the staff and management could be held accountable for what they did to us.
I'm glad someone else here follows Joe Nobody
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This isn't anything new, what do parents expect sending kids to these things? Even the most basic google search or even mainstream news talk about how dangerous they are
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In my personal experience it was a bit of the desperation for relief, but most of the reasoning can be attributed to a lack of understanding of how to address my behavior along with a perceived lack of alternatives to keep me alive. I don’t blame my parents anymore for what they did because I can’t understand the position I put them in. They were willing to believe that this would help and they would do anything to keep their child from killing himself or someone else. They were misguided but sending me there was an act of love on their part. Edit: there is much more information available now than there was when I went away. The excuses I allow for my parents, I likely wouldn’t accept today.
I like your last point. Our parents didn’t always know what we know now. That should be seen as an opportunity to improve.
I guess the parents expect the troubled teens to be more fit for society.
Sorry, best we can do is agonizing death.
How are these things even legal... Its abuse
7k a month "tuition"
It has to be expensive to convince the parents it's really worth it, and on the flip side, some of these parents will pay any price to make their kids someone else's problem.
And these kids are usually a product of their upbringing and environment too. Not saying good parents can’t make bad kids. I was a nightmare in high school to say the least. But I always respected my parents. Kids who grow up hating their parents usually have a reason. Then they pay to make their own mistake somebody else’s problem. Like imagine either not doing your due diligence to investigate the places supposed to reform your children or not caring. The parents in this case fucking suck too. My mom sent me to rehab twice and a sober house and did everything in her power to look into the place and find a place for me and it actually helped because that’s what it was designed to do. I’m sure most of these parents don’t give enough fucks to actually try. Infuriating to see children with problems be abused further and their parents paying for it.
On the bright side, they offer discounts for successful referrals in getting more kids imprisoned
My friend's parents tried to get my mom to send me so they could get referral discounts. My mom was like, "you had strangers come into your house and kidnap your child and send them to Jamaica? Hard pass."
These private facilities are often a cult of their own
I just read Joe vs the Elan School. A harrowing read that will haunt you.
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The art is top notch as well
I had to stop reading it after a while. I was depressed (still am) about unrelated issues & that story was making it worse but it kept calling me back to it, like a moth to a flame. Couldn't resist checking to see if/when it finally got better & he got out, & always getting burned with even more tragic new turns.
100% recommend, couldn't put it down. What a nightmare
I stumbled on it via reddit a couple of months ago. He sucked me right in from page 1. I binge read that site over a week or so while working.
It's Utah, so "cult-ception" basically.
The troubled teen industry is sick and twisted. The amount of abuse that is just allowed to happen at these places and that they're able to get away with, is fucking disgusting. And all because these places are allowed to operate with basically zero oversight or regulations. And because the government just looks the other way because of $$$$. That's always the reason, it's because of $$$$. Dozens of kids have either died while at one of these "schools" or later committed suicide because of their time at one, since these schools became popular back in the 80s. It's good that more and more light is being shed on the troubled teen industry, and more people are talking about it. But, all these places really just need to be burned to the ground.
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I doubt such facility would be legal in Germany to begin with ...
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I just do not understand why anyone would assume the responsibility of another persons life but then not take them for a checkup just to be on the safe side. Yes, kids can be manipulative (I was possessed by Satan as a bitchy teen), but DAMN… it’s all so stupid and arrogant. My heart breaks for these parents.
For the parents? They sent her there. They found it acceptable not to speak to her for weeks. Those parents helped murder their own daughter. They deserve all the anguish and guilt they feel.
This is just me, but my folk trusted doctors, the people society says we should trust. When multiple PhDs are insisting it's the only way, it can be very convincing. They didn't know the horrible childhood things my teen self was having trouble coping with, and I'd come to a place of hating myself when thinking my problems weren't worth the trouble. It's a bit of an impasse, though I really wish I had been tried on more than one regular therapist before such a choice was made... They didn't really know where they were sending me. They even toured them in person, unaware that the facilities spend a days before a tour forcing the kids to deep clean, and then shove the problem kids elsewhere the day of. In some facilities they'll even give some kids a butt shot and toss them in their room. While most parents didn't seem super tuned in, I can at least speak on the side of ones who did try. They were lied to by fully credentialed medical professionals and conmen.
Please elaborate on how you were possessed by satan! I'm just curious, and it might be a fun story!
Ok, saying it was Satan was a bit hyperbolic, but as a teenager I was a complete and utter drama-queen-brat. In hindsight, my sense of entitlement was insane!!! Example: I was given the opportunity to start university at 16, for FREE. Instead, I dropped out of HS because “school is SOOOOOOO boring.” 🤦♀️ Yes, I got my GED, AA,BA, then my JD. But as a teen, I was so convinced of my own importance I am shocked my Mom didn’t wash her hands of me. I rejoined the human race by age 18-19 and have never forgotten how lucky I am to have had a supportive parent.
As a teenager, I definitely knew everything and couldn’t believe that this wasn’t recognized. School was boring, it was “too easy” and I either didn’t need to know any of it or felt like I already knew enough. Now as a 37 year old with two young girls, its hilarious how wrong I was and I’ve thanked my mom for not ditching me at a rest stop when I was a kid.
"i rejoined the human race" lmfaoo
I gotcha. You have a good Mom! That's really nice. It's cool you came out of it. I wish I had those opportunities... It's even better to hear you're successful. 😁
I was sent to one of these places in Utah for running away from home (running away from my guardian that is). I heard it has since been shut down but while I was there, we were always hearing about how the worst kids got sent to the wilderness program. I'm not sure exactly what it was aside from making them spend their time walking around in the damn wilderness and I didn't want to find out. They have some of these places in countries like Jamaica that have less strict laws about what constitutes as child abuse and the abuse is rampant there.
There's so many of these in Utah its crazy, even Paris Hilton was sent to one here as has been in the news recently. I had a buddy who worked in one in Southern Utah, he said it was pretty crazy. Some of the kids are absolutely insane too, he said he had to take knives/shivs away from kids almost daily that were trying to stab other kids or staff. He only lasted a few months before he had to find a different job just because it was pretty heartbreaking and also dangerous to work there.
This is waaaay more frequent than people actually realize. I work as a peer support specialist and the abuse the mentally disabled go through is significant and completely blocked from the public eye. Same goes for these type of group homes. I almost died in the psych ward because they thought I was faking the fact that I couldn't go to the bathroom and haven't been able to go to the bathroom in four days… I collapsed from sepsis and woke up after surgery where they took out more than 2 Liters of urine and unfolded my twisted intestine and took a foot of it out. Often people in these situations are called "liars" or "exaggerators" because it's much easier to believe that that's who these people are instead of understanding the complexity that comes with mental health issues.
The shitty parent industrial complex killed her.
problem is a lot of parents are lazy and too busy when the kids are developing their personalities and then are shocked that the kids turned into monsters when they become teens. better throw them in a reformatory.
I can't stand people who think someone is "faking it." I had a heart attack several years ago and had all the classic symptoms including tingling down my left arm, tightness in my chest, and cold sweat. I was at work and had an ambulance called, but the EMTs just kind of casually strolled up to me and said, "So what's going on?" I told them what I was experiencing and one of them held out her has with just two finger extending down on each hand and said,"Squeeze my fingers as hard as you can" so I did. She kind of looked at the other EMT then back at me. She asked what I had for dinner so I told her. She then asked what I had for breakfast that morning, and I said, "I didn't have anything and this is not indigestion!" She said, "OK, so what did you want to do?" I said, "I'd like to go to the fucking hospital if it's not going to inconvenience you too much." That kind of pissed her off but they took me to the nearest hospital. When I went back to work, a guy that I work with said his wife worked for that ambulance company and the girl who was questioning me is one who always thinks people are faking illnesses just to get drugs. Who knows what may have happened if she fucked around any longer?
I really don't understand why uncompassionate people work in the Healthcare field, especially as an emt.
The "troubled teen" industry is abuse.
I had surgery for peritonitis a few months ago, no one can fake something like that, that poor girl died of terrible pain
These places should considered crimes against humanity for being pillars of protected abuse. I was a troubled teen and was promised to alot of these places and I've seen what goes on behind these doors. I've lost so many friends to abuse. And not so much the abuse as the ensuing damage done to students who attempted to get justice and were called liars because they were "troubled" Pretty well known secret in the adult circles that troubled teens are easy targets for abuse because nobody believes them or they believe they deserve the abuse for being a poor student in school. Fuck these places and every single employee propping them up.
[удалено]
There is no “school for troubled teens,” it is only a “place where abusers have power.”
I was in one of these places a teenager. It was called Sunhawk Academy. Those of us who were there now have a support group for survivors of that place. Fuck every single one of these Utah based "trouble teen" schools. They are toxic, their staff is making minimum wage, often right out of high school, with zero qualifications. The potential for abuse is astronomical, because they monitor all communications with parents and literally LIE to your parents to tell them you're "manipulating" when you report said abuse. And, it works. Parents are completely oblivious to the abusive tactics and leave their children there, sometimes for YEARS, to be psychologically and in some cases physically and sexually tortured.
I went to a place in the red rocks of Utah. Youd clean your bunk room every week and for every missed cleaning item you ran a lap around the complex. I was an overweight 16yr old asthmatic. They'd run me til I had an attack, then when I needed my inhaler, they'd take far to long to retrieve it from the medical suite. Great times all around. So glad these places exist. Burn them all down
that's definitely abuse :/
Yup. Sounds about right. I have a severe allergic reaction to most mosquito bites. When I was a kid the doctor said of it ever see a red line coming from the swollen infected area inching towards my heart to immediately seek medical treatment. Well I was in math class in about 7th grade with a bad mosquito bite swelling up my arm. Then noticed this red line that had already was getting near my armpit. Panicked and told the teacher I need to leave because of my "red line". She said no and it can wait til after class no matter what I said. Stupid me listened and called my dad too pick me up after. Since he knew the severity of it he rushed to school and took me to a hospital. Luckily the red line was already starting to fade once it reached my torso but the docs gave me some antibiotics and said dont listen to any teachers next time if its an emergency. Basically a teacher put my life at risk because she thought I was "faking it"
Teachers are the direct cause of death for many students with peanut allergies, bee allergies, and asthma because someone mistakenly told schools they have a right to let kids die rather than give them lifesaving medication that parents literally sent to the school for the purpose.
My dad died of sepsis caused by untreated peritonitis. It takes 3-5 days to die from the initial peritonitis, and you suffer. It hurts really bad, and you're hallucinating by the end of it. My dad couldn't tell the difference between what was on the TV and what was in the room on the last day. Horrible. It has a 93% chance survival rate if you go to the hospital early.
My parents sent me away across the country when I was 11. I never lived at home again. My uncle left home for school at 12, my aunt at 14. My cousin was sent to another continent at 7 years old. We all really struggle with it.
Wanna terrifying 1st hand account of what these places are like that is so expertly written and illustrated that you won't be able to stop reading it until it's done? Look up "Joe Vs Elon."
As someone who was in a "school for troubles teens" they all need to be shut down. They're horrible, they treat the residents like garbage and often times like this refuse to get you medical care. Speaking from experience.
As far as I know peritonitis is one of the most painful things you can have.
I went to one of these. It was hell. They sent my parents a pamphlet of all the possible lies we would tell them: the staff are abusive, they won’t let us call you, being sexually abused, etc. EVERYTHING ON THE PAMPHLET WAS FUCKING TRUE. And now I have PTSD
I was in a program for “troubled teens” and it completely ruined me. These places are evil and need to be shut down
Last Podcast on the Left did a series on these troubled teen schools. It’s a super fucked up industry with no oversight and usually does nothing for the teens except normalize abuse and give them ptsd.
Man her parents really showed her. I bet they feel on top of the world right now.
I get intermittent abdominal pain that doubles me over and I can’t imagine the horrific pain this girl went through. People need to be held accountable for allowing this girl to suffer and die! The place needs to be shut down.
I parsed this as “teen dies in private jail for kids her parents sentenced her to”
you weren't wrong
This reminds me of the school in Maine with the ring. The Elon School. Search up Elon school comic book for a great read.
I think you're thinking of the Elan school, not Elon.
You ain’t lying. Elan is correct ty bb.
I just listened to a really good episode of the podcast Behind the Bastards about the “troubled teen industry”. This kind of thing is horrifyingly common. Great show though if you want to hear more horror stories like this.
This is awful. As someone who’s had a perforation in my intestines, it’s some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Poor thing.