The troubled teen industry - #Breakingcodesilence

The troubled teen industry is pretty successful considering it's something not many people know that much about. This industry, mostly spread around the USA, provides parents with a solution to an age-old problem, having difficult teenagers whether these teens are possibly violent towards others, having sever mental health problems, doing drugs or heavily drinking this industry has the solution for you! Stay away camps, boot camps, conversion camps, therapeutic boarding schools and wilderness camps are all part of this industry. While some of these options don’t seem too damaging there is an underlying issue with these facilities, they are grossly under regulated and barley overseen by state officials. Not only that but some of these camps could be considered abusive as many who have left these systems allege abuse and mistreatment of them and their peers. This industry is directly profiting off negligent and lazy parents looking for easy solutions and kids who don’t have the legal right to speak for themselves.

So, what happens at these camps? While it is very hard to say as many camps have a no phone policy and choose to cut off all residents from the outside world some have come out to share their experiences in these camps. A famous influencer, rapper and former guest on the Dr Phil show, Danielle Bergoli also known as Bhad Bhabie, has spoken out about her experience in the facility she was sent to after her time on the show. Bergoli after her time on the show was sent to Turn About ranch, this was a direct suggestion from Dr Phil. In her testament Bergoli explains that she was 13 when sent away to these camps by her mother. Danielle then goes over her first few days and hours at the camp, “I was taken there against my will. They (Turn About Ranch) give you transporters. Transporters are two people, a male and a female that come in the middle of the night, they don’t tell them (The kids) where they are going, they just take them, they handcuff them, they put them in the car. It’s basically like kidnapping” What Danielle is alleging is no surprise, it is very common for these facilities to take extreme measure to “scare these kids straight” it is an effort to subdue them. However, this method is extremely traumatic and if the child they are transporting were already mentally ill this could very easily lead to irreversible psychological damage and trauma. “For the next three days there’s no showering, they put you in a circle which is a tepee but it’s open and you have to sit there for three days. They wouldn’t let me lay down for nothing, like I was falling asleep, and they were like ‘ah get up, get up’” Danielle alleges, she continues on to describe experiencing feelings of hopelessness and feeling like she was completely isolated. These camps are extremely dangers, and they show no signs of actually improving the behaviour of the kids, in fact studies have shown that these camps increased recidivism by 8%.

These camps are nothing new and neither are these horrific allegations against them. In 1996 a Arizona teen died in the custody of North Star (A camp that has since re branded) Employees. The boy, Aaron Bacon died of perforated Ulcers which were left unattended even after he begged staff to be given medical attention. The staff also starved the boy for 8 of the 21-day hiking trip. Five of the employees were found guilty of negligent homicide and were taken to court. This did very little as only one of the five was actually sentenced to jail time the others were only given community service and probation. The mother of the boy was also very critical of the medical technician on site who gave Aaron a piece of cheese and told him to work harder. “She killed my son as surely as she put the gun to his head” She has stated. Since 2000 there have been 86 unconfirmed death in these facilities and there have been multiple accounts of sexual assault coming from the camps. People working there do not need to have qualifications like a teacher would and anyone can apply.

These facilities are directly profiting off of the abuse and mistreatment of children and the lack of awareness of parents. Thankfully there are movements that aim to increase regulations concerning these camps or even attempting to make these illegal. If you are interested in helping or learning more about this topic here are some sources:

https://www.breakingcodesilence.net/facts

https://www.breakingcodesilence.net/parents

https://www.breakingcodesilence.net/testimonial

The full interview with Danielle Bergoli: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GteqbsYGv1I