When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged • Hacker News Board

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#71

Post by fit2rule » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 4:43 AM UTC

girvo wrote: post #70

arthurofbabylon wrote: post #68

Stories about these institutions get conflated into a mess that scarcely resembles the reality. In a way, this is inevitable with a wide variety of schools and treatment centers, and a yet wider variety of perspectives. This particular story tells us little about these schools – it describes the perspective of a student, a client. This is valuable and I'm grateful to read it. However, I caution other readers against…

I have a question. Do these programs exist in other countries? A cursory search (I honestly am not sure what I should be looking for) couldn't find any here in Australia. Is this a uniquely American thing? Surely not, I assume. If it's not, do these programs have the same horrible stories coming out of them elsewhere, and if they don't, does that not paint a picture that the approach taken in the US isn't a good one?…

No post body was provided.

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#72

Post by jjeaff » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 4:44 AM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #43

wolverine876 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a certain level it's not hard to understand, in that it's predictable: Power corrupts, and you can depend on it. People with power over vulnerable human beings, and with no check on their power, can be generally predicted to abuse it. Just look for those situations and I predict that you will often find it. (That's one reason transparency and openness are so important.) Look at child sex abuse scandals: Who do the…

>> Have you ever heard of such a thing happening to the children of the powerful? Yes. It happens all the time. In some areas of high society, in the recent past, it was downright common. Look into the history of British boys schools. I myself attended a British-style boarding school. While I never witnessed anything personally, a few years after I graduated my former math teacher was fired in disgrace. I never got t…

Just a side note. I don't know how the sex offender registry works in the UK, but in the US, it can be rather punitive. People can be placed on a sex offender registry for sleeping with their 16 yr old girlfriend/boyfriend on the day of their 18th birthday. Some have been convicted as sex offenders for simply receiving nude photos from their underaged significant other. I have even heard of cases where prosecutors have tried to try underage kids as adults for having nude photos of themselves on their phone.

This can then follow them the rest of their life. Being fired for failing to notify your employer could be a case as mundane as that.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/201...

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#73

Post by kingcharles » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 4:52 AM UTC

rOOb85 wrote: post #6

dghlsakjg wrote: post #3

If you want to read something truly horrific check out elan.school . It was a troubled teen school in Maine that sounds unbelievable until you read multiple identical stories from students

I was one of the unlucky people who spent time at elan. It was a terrible terrible time. Much like the author of the article I was awoken by 2 big dudes in my bedroom and was given the choice to get dressed and go peacefully or they would drag me out of bed and take me away in my underwear. I said I'm not doing shit until my parents give you permission to take me. They handed me a piece of paper with both my parents…

How long have you been out?

What's your relationship with your parents like now?

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#74

Post by mrjangles » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 4:52 AM UTC

rOOb85 wrote: post #6

dghlsakjg wrote: post #3

If you want to read something truly horrific check out elan.school . It was a troubled teen school in Maine that sounds unbelievable until you read multiple identical stories from students

I was one of the unlucky people who spent time at elan. It was a terrible terrible time. Much like the author of the article I was awoken by 2 big dudes in my bedroom and was given the choice to get dressed and go peacefully or they would drag me out of bed and take me away in my underwear. I said I'm not doing shit until my parents give you permission to take me. They handed me a piece of paper with both my parents…

Yeah I'm glad you asked, I do have a question. I read that comic linked above, it was incredibly horrifying, but as I kept reading, something felt off about it. The guy who wrote it is clearly a professional writer and he uses many common manipulative tricks to engage the reader, and that bothers me a little, like he isn't being completely honest.

So I did some research and it seems most of his facts check out with what other people say, but I have to wonder particularly about the part where he claims that they forced him to scream at and abuse his parents in exchange for holiday time. Do you know anything about that really happening? Did they really force kids to act crazy in front of their parents in order to ensure they got locked away at Elan for longer? I haven't heard anyone else corroborate that part.

Edit: actually a read your other comments and it seems it really was as bad as this comic book says. Controlling what you were and were not allowed to say to your parents is crazy.

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#75

Post by kingcharles » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 4:53 AM UTC

duxup wrote: post #49

It's hard read these stories and not wonder about the parents. At the same time I'm often drawn to the story of my high school buddy's youngest sister. His family was as normal as you might expect, the kids were perhaps unusually "driven", but in good ways, music, athletics, academics, all three even. But the youngest was driven to rebel in the most distributive ways possible, the usual running away from home, older…

It seems like these places have nailed the brainwashing of the parents. Most of these parents seem like normal, rational human beings that are basically getting the cult treatment and ending up drinking the whole glass of Kool-Aid.

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#76

Post by droppedframe » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 4:54 AM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #43

wolverine876 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a certain level it's not hard to understand, in that it's predictable: Power corrupts, and you can depend on it. People with power over vulnerable human beings, and with no check on their power, can be generally predicted to abuse it. Just look for those situations and I predict that you will often find it. (That's one reason transparency and openness are so important.) Look at child sex abuse scandals: Who do the…

>> Have you ever heard of such a thing happening to the children of the powerful? Yes. It happens all the time. In some areas of high society, in the recent past, it was downright common. Look into the history of British boys schools. I myself attended a British-style boarding school. While I never witnessed anything personally, a few years after I graduated my former math teacher was fired in disgrace. I never got t…

I went to the Leys school in Cambridge as a border, and it was by far the worst experience of my life. I was burnt out for a decade and I turn 40 this year, only recently having gotten over the resentment. Much of this article rang familiar. Those British boarding schools are intended for upper class misbehaving teens who won’t conform. There’s no intent to educate, they’re trying to ‘break’ the pupils. A common tactic to sidestep accountability is to give authority to the older pupils. I can’t even think about it without getting angry and upset. They beat me to the point my whole upper body was black. I twice attempted suicide in the dorm only to be stopped and beaten more. I was sleep deprived to the point I could hardly stand. It was freezing at night and the older boys in the neighboring dorm made it a habit of sneaking in and hitting us (hard) with bats and hockey sticks. Enough, I choose not to think about it anymore. But I was unable to function in British society after that. My hatred for the people was to the point I couldn’t even speak. To this day I refuse to buy British product. I left a few years later and I’ll never go back to England.

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#77

Post by kingcharles » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 4:55 AM UTC

rOOb85 wrote: post #27

dghlsakjg wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long were you there? Did your parents ever realize/own up to what you went through? Edit: sorry for my ghoulish interest. Reading that comic absolutely blew my mind, and left me shook.

I was very fortunate that my parents believed me and withdrew me after ~5 months. My parents sent me there with the best intentions. But elan tricked them. And they realized that. They have both apologized numerous times and explained how they regret the decision. Last year, so over 20 years later, out of the blue my dad just blurted out “I’m so sorry we sent you to elan. We truly didn’t know…”. It took me by surpris…

The parents get brainwashed by these companies. It's like a cult mindset. They've got the script down perfectly, preying on the parents insecurities and fears until rational people make irrational, fucked-up decisions.

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#78

Post by sandworm101 » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 4:57 AM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #72

sandworm101 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Have you ever heard of such a thing happening to the children of the powerful? Yes. It happens all the time. In some areas of high society, in the recent past, it was downright common. Look into the history of British boys schools. I myself attended a British-style boarding school. While I never witnessed anything personally, a few years after I graduated my former math teacher was fired in disgrace. I never got t…

Just a side note. I don't know how the sex offender registry works in the UK, but in the US, it can be rather punitive. People can be placed on a sex offender registry for sleeping with their 16 yr old girlfriend/boyfriend on the day of their 18th birthday. Some have been convicted as sex offenders for simply receiving nude photos from their underaged significant other. I have even heard of cases where prosecutors ha…

He was fired when they discovered that he had not registered. They discovered that after investigating him in response to another "situation".

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#79

Post by droppedframe » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 5:00 AM UTC

droppedframe wrote: post #76

sandworm101 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Have you ever heard of such a thing happening to the children of the powerful? Yes. It happens all the time. In some areas of high society, in the recent past, it was downright common. Look into the history of British boys schools. I myself attended a British-style boarding school. While I never witnessed anything personally, a few years after I graduated my former math teacher was fired in disgrace. I never got t…

I went to the Leys school in Cambridge as a border, and it was by far the worst experience of my life. I was burnt out for a decade and I turn 40 this year, only recently having gotten over the resentment. Much of this article rang familiar. Those British boarding schools are intended for upper class misbehaving teens who won’t conform. There’s no intent to educate, they’re trying to ‘break’ the pupils. A common tact…

and I’m not going into the sex stuff, but yes that was going on as well. Less with myself but it was all the way criminal.

Shame on me for not going to the police. But as a young teenager you just don’t know.

Re: When I was labeled a ‘troubled’ teen, I obliged

#80

Post by kingcharles » Mon, Mar 28, 2022, 5:00 AM UTC

Is anyone else disturbed at the sheer number of people in this thread alone who are coming out about being forcibly sent to one of these camps?

And I'm thinking that statistically HN's demographic probably swings more towards nerdy, well-behaved white boys from two-parent families who are middle-class or above. Not necessarily who I would have thought would have been at harm from this scam.

So, if the demographic I believe is least at risk is coming out in such numbers, how many kids are really being taken like this? I'm scared this problem is even bigger than the few media stories are making it out to be.