Troubled Teen Industry Survivors are Breaking Code Silence
Thinking of sending your kid to military school? Don’t.
If you’ve ever seen references to a vague ‘military school’ in school or film, you’ve seen a nod to the troubled teen industry. This industry is made up of a series of institutions, such as schools or camps, that promise desperate parents and teens an end to problems such as depression, addiction, truancy, or just plain inadequacy in a parent’s eyes. The most common formats for these institutions are boot camps, wilderness schools, and camps dedicated to LGBTQ+ conversion therapy. Other popular formats include pseudo-psychiatric facilities and faith-based boarding schools.
In an interview with Vice, three survivors, Theo, Mary, and Sarah, all recounted their experiences. They all came from Cross Creek Manor, an institution based in La Verkin, Utah. At this for-profit reform school, students were forced to attend supposedly therapeutic seminars that involved rape reenactments for female students who were sexually abused. During these reenactments, others were encouraged to call this student a “whore” or a “slut”. This school also used solitary confinement as a means of punishing students for any infraction, even something minor like missing a spot on the floor.
