Yours truly has started a new petition on Change.org to end the practice of using teen escorts (aka legal kidnapping) to get kids to residential treatment centers. This practice is widely considered one of the most traumatic, harmful, and damaging in the industry and stopping is not only good for children, it also stands a good chance of stemming the flow of kids and money into these places, cutting the industry off at the knees.
Our friends at Shutdown Logan River Academy are behind us! Will you please help too?
Noted #TTI Activist Bill Boyles has started a new petition: https://t.co/4cYvYD1D1i Please help us spread the word & build signatures! (1/2)
— Shutdown Logan River (@StopLoganRiver) March 15, 2014
Want to see what the escort process is like? Nick Gaglia’s excellent movie Aaron Bacon shows it in stunningly accurate detail (trigger warning.) The escort scene starts at 1:20.
You can sign the petition here.
I will never forget when these two large people I never met before broke into my room while I was sleeping, packed a bag and dragged me crying at from my grandmother’s house onto a plane and across the country. I was horrified, and still have anxiety when trying to go to sleep at night. I sometimes check my house and door locks up to 5 times to make sure no one can get in. If parents are going to place their kids in these terrible places they should take them themselves. Then they may be able to see what kind of he’ll they are sending their kids to.
I totally agree Amanda, I hate to remember my escorts.. couple of reject police officers.
They did the routine kidnap on me in the morning as well and told me we’re going to Mexico. I knew I couldn’t stand a 10 hour drive with these douches so I requested we fly there–which we did, thanks heavens for that. Upon arriving at SanDiego for the remainder of the drive these police rejects bought me smokes at 16 years old..(I was thankful at the time but still…) And you know theyget off on this sort of torment because they promised me 1 cigarette before entering the compound, which they delightfully didn’t follow through..they gave me one to take inside and be confiscated…cruel right?
I saw one of them a few months later too when they brought in another victim…He wasnted to talk to me like we we’re friends. Whats a joke.
Love this website though so I can find some empathy finally. 14 years it took me before I even googled that forsaken place. Hope you’re doing well Amanda.
And Jade/Jason if you’re reading this–Fuck off, with my college tuition-I hope someone wins it in a lawsuit.
Yet you never thought of actually respecting your parents. If you would have acted like a responsible member of society then it wouldn’t have ever happened. It’s not kidnapping and it’s the child choice to act like a punk.
If parent weren’t trapped by a respectfulness because they can’t legally kick you on the curb until your 18. If CPS would stay out of it and let parent actually use corporal punishment you would never be here.
But all in all if you are acting respectfully you would never have gone, but I can see you still haven’t accepted responsibility since you use adjectives like kid nap and I still have nightmares. Grow up and stop blaming people for your problems created by you.
No matter what any of us did to end up in these places that does not excuse the programs for committing such heinous crimes against the children in their care. Murderers in prison are afforded more rights and protection than these children, most with no criminal history to speak of. Being “disrespectful” does not give any parent the right to unlawfully incarcerate their children nor is it legal to forcibly commit a child into “treatment” without their consent. This is quite simply a major violation of our basic human rights, and the consent laws of most states. When we refer to being kidnapped, that’s because that is exactly what it felt like. If 2 people woke you up in the middle of the night and forcibly removed you from your house, refused to tell you where you were going and treated you like a prisoner, despite the fact that you were not under arrest… I think you would feel the same in that situation… It’s rather traumatic. Not to mention the nightmares… those are all too real, and most of us still have them. It’s one of the symptoms of PTSD and many survivors have been professionally diagnosed with PTSD stemming from their experiences in the program. These are not excuses, blame or immaturity… These are the verifiable negative psychological effects of such a traumatic experience.
Of course, why would we expect someone who talks like that, who calls us punks and liars and says it was our choice to be sent to a program and abused (aka, a program supporter, probably either staff or a brainwashed parent, or maybe a kid suffering from Stockholm Syndrome), to be concerned with facts? We see it every day on this site…people come on here every single day who just want to attack us, shut us down or shut us up, and continue perpetrating the same kind of emotional violence on us that they did when we were teenagers (since they can’t physically abuse us anymore). Nothing scares abusers more than when their victims find a voice, and when they get scared, they lash out like this, because they are abusive and that’s how they try to control the big, scary world around them.
You appear to be forgetting that when children act out, it’s because the family dynamic as a whole is sick. Doesn’t matter how “normal” or “loving” it appears on the outside.
Growing up, my brothers had a lot of behavioral issues – the kinds that would’ve gotten them sent to one of the WWASP programs had my family had any money. As an adult, I now understand our mother was incredibly emotionally unstable and that was how they dealt with being in that traumatic environment.
If a child is being “disrespectful”, think about why they would be motivated to behave in that way. If you stop writing kids off as “bad” and look a little deeper, you’ll be more likely to see that they’re expressing pain in the only ways their not-fully-developed brains have sorted out how to express it.
It’s the parents’ responsibility to raise the children. If the child turns out to not be respectful, it’s ultimately the fault of the parents or some other factors outside of the child’s control. Sure each individual has “personal responsibility” but doing this kind of shit to the kids and justifying it as “it’s the child’s fault” is just sick on so many levels
Nick: Yet you never thought of actually respecting your parents. If you would have acted like a responsible member of society then it wouldn’t have ever happened. It’s not kidnapping and it’s the child choice to act like a punk.
Response: Children bear ZERO responsibility for the parent-child relationship. Children are born empty cups and blank canvases which their parents fill or create. Children mirror their parents’ behavior. The first duty of respect is owed from the parent to the child especially if the parent expects the child to know what respectful feelings are and behavior looks like. By the time a child reaches puberty and has endured a lack of mutual respect from their parents, that claim to love them (a major component of love is mutual respect), and other abuses which vary on a case-by-case basis, they are starting to feel some independence in such a way as they never have. Now, they have a chance of physical and actual survival without their parents. They know deep down something is wrong and they are being labeled as the “problem” and the “bad” one and they don’t know why because up until this point they’ve tried their damndest to do everything to keep their parents happy and nothing ever gets them the real love they crave and truly need. Their core needs remain unmet. Because of this, with this new found sense of independence, but inability to identify and articulate the pain inside and what they need (which their parents should have known all along), they act out. This behavior is only the symptoms of abuse and or neglect in the home.
Nick: If parent weren’t trapped by a respectfulness because they can’t legally kick you on the curb until your 18. If CPS would stay out of it and let parent actually use corporal punishment you would never be here.
Response: Parents are not trapped. They, unlike their children had and made choices before the child was even a thought that would affect the child’s entire life. If you, as an adult were hit by another adult, you would most likely strike back physically, calling it self-defense, and/or press charges or label it assault. I’m also sure you’ve said, “Pick on somebody your own size.” Why when it comes to adults you want to puss out and call it “assault”, but when it’s a kid that has a much higher incident of being severely injured or dying you want to call it “punishment” or “discipline”? Why doesn’t “pick on somebody your own size count then? And, If You’re Going To Pull THE Spare-the-rod routine, YOU Had Better Be Sure You’ve GOT Your Ten Commandments tight, haven’t been divorced, or committed any other stoneable offense, because it also says it would be better if you had a stone tied to your neck and thrown in the ocean than to cause one a child to turn from or be afraid of God. I think beating a child in the name of God qualifies. As far as “kicking them to the curb” at 18, with a parent like you, I’d be dying to get out!
Nick: But all in all if you are acting respectfully you would never have gone, but I can see you still haven’t accepted responsibility since you use adjectives like kid nap and I still have nightmares. Grow up and stop blaming people for your problems created by you.
Response: Not going to repeat where I stand on respect. If parents were able to look at themselves and take responsibility for their own failures as parents and the compound effects those failures have on their children, or better yet, be prepared to have children for the right reasons, which is to love and nurture out of your own abundance, not to give your parents a grandchildren, not to give your first kid a playmate, not because all your friends are having babies, not because you’re trying to save your relationship or marriage, not because you want something to live you unconditionally, etc. If that’s what you’re looking for, get a dog, some confidence, and self-awareness. Babies are not supposed to be born with jobs. Kids don’t have responsibility for how their parents chose to raise them or the environment in which they chose to do it. Believing differently is delusional and makes the parents victims of young children and, therefore, pathetic sorry excuses for adults and parents. I am a mother and a grandmother and I STILL have nightmares about the abuse I endured as a child and the systematic psychological torture inflicted while institutionalized. I am no “punk kid” and just your mere use of that verbiage and everything you have said speaks volumes as to your character, abusive and oppressive nature, and, quite frankly, your ignorance when it comes to children, parenting, empathy, and life in general.
By the way that act has nothing to do with this. Its for child pornography. This site is just abusing your mind. You forget when parent sign you up they sing power of attorney and a few other clauses. They are your parents until you get released and power is traded back over to the parents.
This HR 1981 act won’t help you because the center has to be related to a child pornographer, so if there’s never been a charge for it it does you no good.
I believe you are mistaking the bill that was introduced in 2011 and died in committee… HR 1981 is a CURRENT bill, a revision of the former H.R. 3126 (112th): Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2011. You can read about it here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1981
What a braying jackass this guy is. Keep coming back and commenting and visiting though, sir, since every visit and every comment just makes us rank higher on Google and makes our message even more likely to get out and be heard by those who need to hear it.
Hello, Where can I find their phone# ?
Many Thanks!!!
I was escorted multiple times from wilderness program to Treatment to wilderness again to Treatment the last time in mexico, at a “lovely” place called PI. That doesn’t exist anymore. I remember the last time from wilderness program I was taken to mexico on a plane by 3 black escorts. One was small and one was medium sized and one was huge. I guess one for running to catch me if I ran, one who was fast and big and a huge one that I guess could handle me once the other two caught me. I ran into one of my friends from the last wilderness program years later after I finally made it out of treatments back into the real world. He was also escorted by these same 3 black escorts and he told me he was sexually abused during his over night excursion waiting for his flight to his next program. Who is gonna believe a kid who is getting escorted to these places. He never told anyone what happened till years later when I happened to end up in a regular boarding school with him. He was 18 than, I was 17. I mean who would have believed him anyway? I remember those guys threatened physical harm to me if I tried to run. Im lucky nothing happened to me like my friend though. I mean what is there to do. Parents are lied to about what happens and told that the kids being escorted will say these things, granted Im sure some would try in order to get out of these places. But even at these places there nothing a kid can do to report abuse. To who? When? We had n0 rights. Especially being in a foreign country or being on blackout with the world including your parents for 6 months to a year, and how they prepare all the parents that all of us are liars that will say anything to manipulate our way home. Now I am 29, drug addict multiple adult rehabs because I was never able to overcome what happened with these reform type disciplinary “THERAPY” schools. My teenage years where stolen, my friend was abused, I know many that have committed suicide because they couldn’t endure the trauma and here I am. Still trying to collect the pieces of my shattered life 12 years later.
I’m a special education teacher at a notoriously troubled school, and I deal with rudeness (and worse) regularly. I advocate ending the practice of forcibly escorting kids to these schools because:
1. It violates the 13th amendment, because nobody shall be enslaved except as punishment for a crime. If the teen hasn’t been convicted and sentenced by a judge, then the transportation is illegal.
2. It teaches kids that “might makes right.”
3. What the parents are really doing is having their child jailed for being rude.
4. It allows parents to pawn unwanted kids off on someone else.
5. If the parents ship the kid off to a boot camp 1000 miles away, then stop paying the fees, the kid will be out on the streets with no means of support.
We have been struggling with my 15 year old daughter for over a year in intensive therapy for anxiety and depression, defiance, low self esteem. She has a lot of family support. We are a dysfunctional family perhaps, but each member has tried their very best to help her and participate in family therapy. We feel frightenned for her future as she feels so hopeless right now.
Although I don’t want her to leave home, I feel she needs to get away from all of the difficult influences in her environment at school, and the stresses she feels at home (which are vague and undefined). She has never been abused; if anything she has been “spoiled” and not received enough discipline and structure due to parents who have tried to encourage her to make her own decisions.
I feel like being in a healthy beautiful environment, with people that are understanding and supportive, and peers that are supportive, she would be able to heal, work on “finding herself” and find what makes her happy.
I am afraid of making her feel abandoned or traumatized, or feel that she is not loved.
Is there any advice you can give me in finding the best place for her right now?
My best advice is consider ANY kind of residential treatment as a last resort. Check into wraparound services in your area. Try an after school outpatient program. Always try the least restrictive option first. Consider placement a last resort. If you are absolutely convinced it is necessary after exhausting all over options, bearing in my mind how traumatic it is, always look for a reputable, state-licensed, in state option near you. visit the place beforehand, unannounced if possible, and during the stay visit as often as possible. Avoid any place exhibiting any of our red flags. Remember, good treatment is never coercive and should not be open ended. Do what’s best for your daughter, not what’s best or most convenient for you. This should be treatment, not punishment. Hope this helps.
Look into “youth at risk”. I’m in wa and that’s what we have, not sure if it’s in every state but it’s what I would use if I had defiant depressed kids who won’t listen to a word I say
Distressed Parent;
I am a parent of adult children, grandparent, and survivor of institutional abuse, which was a residential facility referred to as a “boarding school” that represented itself as being a healthy beautiful environment, with people that were understanding and supportive, and peers that were supportive, and that I would be a whole new happy Christian girl when I left. It is a nightmare that still plays daily in my head like a movie. I would love the opportunity to speak with you. Because of the risk of unwanted callers, I won’t post my number in the comments here, but am willing to provide it to the administrator or if you are willing to give you my email, we can exchange contact information that way if you are interested. I think before you make a decision you will want to hear from someone who was a resident who has not just graduated and a parent.
My name is Paige Hansen and at the tender and confusing age of fifteen I was typos I was going on vacation to mexico. Ensenada, MX to be exact. A wretched place called casa by the sea. Pleasant enough name. But inside those thirty foot walls was an atmosphere that is very difficult to describe. The owner dragged me out of my mom’s rental car by my hair and took me into the debasing room. In a taunting manner, I was told that I was not going to see my mom again for a very long time. I asked “you mean like a month?” They lied, “if you work hard enough.” After the junior staff came, they told me the truth, which is that a year was considered an extremely unachievable length of time to graduate. They took pleasure in watching me cry and beg for my mom. I didn’t see my mom again for over a year, for parent-child seminar #1. By that time I was legitimately brainwashed. There were those that fought, and those who just let themselves break. I realized if I didn’t comply, that I would never leave. So I bowed mparentdown for the next 16 months and complied. I was told my parents didn’t want me and that they wouldn’t miss me for a second. I wrote my mom the truth of how that place was but was quickly shut down, my letter crumpled up and thrown away in front of me, and told to rewrite it but no “manipulation” or else I’d get in trouble. Learning all those stupid little rules took me about three months. I spent hours and hours in “worksheets”. I didn’t want to go there ever again so I let my brain be convinced of all the rhetoric and lies that CBS instills in the very easily manipulated minds of teenagers. This experience left me a shell of a person. When I finally got pulled by my mom, she was horrified at her new daughter. I was so scared of everything, couldn’t sleep for years for the nightmares that filled my mind. I cannot express enough how these places abuse the weak undeveloped brains of teenagers. This is when kids need their parents support the most. When they are coming into adult hood and don’t know which direction to go. There are other ways to control your child, check into youth at risk. A judge will throw them in juvee for a day or two if they misbehave. The ones in the USA are just as bad. There are no real regulations on this money making scheme that plays off desperate parents. This place has ruined quite a few great people. They get out and they commit suicide. I myself tried twice. I felt I had no clue who I was and that the world would be better off without me. That was within three months of getting out of that hellhole. Parents, parent your children, don’t send them off for other people to abuse.
Please check out the facility before you send your child, show up unannounced, and listen to your child. Look for short term treatment first. Also ones that don’t make you sign over custody, and sing away your parental rights. There are more negative programs then good ones out there. This site has guide lines to tell if it’s a good program. Take them to heart. I’m sorry your daughter is struggling. I hope you do work things out and your daughter heals.
The night I was woken up and ripped out of my bed by Albert and Nancy, was the night I stopped being able to sleep without double checking to make sure my room, and later my house were locked up tight. To be woken at an odd hour, and having my clothing thrown at me and told “Hi, my names Nancy, get dressed we’ve got a long day ahead of us!” To get to see my mother laughing as they took me away sobbing and screaming to Mount Bachelor Academy.
Seems to me we are all grown up now, not so helpless, and can call for their “services” and when they show up thinking we are some kid to abuse we can beat them halfway to death and enjoy it.