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Pretty sure they blocked me after I commented, so no screenshot.
The US essentially has no restrictions on what parents can do to their children, or pay to have done to them. These companies will show up at night, and take a child out of their bed at night. They explicitly tell parents not to warn the kid what will happen.
When I was sexually abused at a similar facility and tried to report it - I was placed on heavy doses of antipsychotics in retaliation. They drugged me unconscious, and then punished me for sleeping during “class.” As an adult, I have involuntary shakes and movements associated with the medical malpractice enacted on me.
These places don’t get investigated, they don’t get shut down. I think Utah is one of the only states with any form of agency that watches over these places. Child protective services won’t go in, health care agencies won’t go in.
Children have no rights in the US. They are the property of their parents, to be disposed of as they wish. And fuckers like this agency are delighted to kidnap children that their parents can’t be assed to parent.
There was a post recently, IIRC one of the kids ran away, the "camp" didn't report it, and the police killed the kid.
There was someone in the comments that defended it, they "worked in the industry". I didn't have the guts to call them out on working in the terrorism industry against children, even though my instance is getting deleted this month.
I just found out that my facility claimed another life, within the months I’ve been trying to get the state to investigate it. Not reported anywhere, just personally have been loud enough to have former employees reach out to me.
Fuck anyone involved who doesn’t become a whistleblower.
Well considering that North Korea and Russia exist it’s not soooo far fetched. The real surprise is how it has been considered until recently as THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. We were so blind…
Tbf, only Americans considered America the best country in the world. The rest of us have seen it as a third world country in denial when it comes to social issues for decades. The only non-americans who think America is the greatest are people who live in scrap metal shacks in countries run by dictators and egotistical assholes who hate welfare and Healthcare.
That comic made me sob both the first time I read it, and when I came back to the finished product.
And yeah elan school has been sufficiently investigated to leave little chance that Joe wasn't being as truthful as someone can be about an incredibly traumatizing teenage experience.
Thanks for sharing this. I've still got quite a few chapters to go, but I wanted to comment this thought before I forget it: it's so incredibly striking how powerful the small acts of kindness are. I've cried more at the little gestures of kindness than at all the cruelty.
I just spent the three last days reading that as much as I could. I was enthralled. I just finished it and… what the actual fuck? How was that possible? And why none of the staff was jailed, even after the revelations?
I don't like comics usually but I swallowed that. Such a good read and so traumatizing! I think everybody should read that, it feels so real and I cried and was shocked so many times. Hardly anything before made me feel all the pain with them and I wish the best to everyone who has had to go through that.
Some states absolutely have cracked down on these types of places, as they were notoriously used for conversion therapy, among other terrible purposes. I definitely went to one of these places when I was a rebellious teenager, but I was fortunate in only having to go on the weekends during the day. I was also fortunate that the place had some oversight by my state, as I quickly learned that all their "punishments" could easily be defeated by simply refusing to participate (e.g. refusing to run laps, clean the gym floor with a toothbrush, etc). I lasted maybe 3 weekends there before they kicked me out of their "program."
That was 20+ years ago, and it still kind of blows my mind that those places exist. Therapy and supportive parents will "correct" rebellious behaviors 90+% of the time.
The funniest thing about my story is that it was kind of the reverse of the regular one. My mom was the wild one who did drugs, and was trying to keep me from noticing.
I wasn’t really “troubled.” I didn’t do drugs, I was a shy weird kid with good grades, never acted up in school - I didn’t learn the word “blowjob” until we watched Why Did I Get Married as part of “group therapy.” My mom just was a munchausen psycho. The actual psychiatric hospitals she sent me to would pick up on that quickly, but these fucking places don’t care, they just want the cash.
Munchausen, oof... brutal, sorry you had to endure that as a kid. My wife is a children's therapist, specializing in play therapy for traumatized kids. It's definitely opened my eyes to how much misery in society could be dramatically reduced by simple early intervention in young children. So many problems in adulthood are rooted in untreated trauma. Anyway, I hope you're doing well now, despite having to go through that gauntlet of a mentally unwell parent as a kid.
Also, very much agree that these places should absolutely be nationally outlawed.
Zero surprise. IG regularly recommends/sponsors content that genocidal, pseudo-scientific, grifting, fascist, etc. I switched to Pixelfed for regular use.
I had IG ahowing me ads for Arab "housekeeping" services where you could pick your "housekeeper". Just straight human trafficking and sex slavery brought to you by the fine folks out in Silicon Valley
Facilities like this need to be burned down and the staff put to the headsmans axe, in fact did you know a shit tonne of them exist in Utah because of course they do.
Fun fact CPS wanted to send me to one as a child, luckily I was both a stubborn and clever little shit and my threat to burn things was taken seriously. My only condition to not burn things was to not go to it.
As satisfying as fantasizing about arson is, I imagine these facilities are usually insured. It’s also easy to spin into a sob story - these places often take advantage of the fact that they work with underprivileged/foster youth to get community donations. “Oh no, we can’t help children anymore! Gib us money!”
I got my facility taken off DonorsChoose - absolutely enraging that they were able to use that site as a for profit institution.
It’s a problem that needs to be attacked at the root ultimately. Children should have their rights protected. Remember how the US refused to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child? We also need more parenting classes - I’ve never been given the opportunity to be a parent, but I’ve talked with lots of parents about things like Love and Logic. Or just even accepting the fact that kids can just be weird or different sometimes - I should not have been punished for being uncomfortable with eye contact.
In the short term, educating people about these individual facilities. Making sure that the children who die in these places have their names remembered. I make signs with the name of the child my abusers killed, and just blanket surrounding neighborhoods with it.
While I agree with your points I still think my retributionary methods would still have a good bit of effect. A lot of these facilities are ran by the weakest and most evil mother fuckers. While burning them down by itself would get a sob story, going in with a militia and putting the bastards into the ground would sure as shit send a statement. Also if you set it up right you could get the kids medical and general aid attention while your at it, put a rifle between them and anyone who tries to fuck with them again.
Also yes I know this ain't practical, just boils my blood and makes me embrace the most violent elements of my heritage. I will hold that the fucks running these places need to find a short fuse grenade duck taped to the inside of their homes door.
The problem with these services is they get you in the door with these too-good-to-be-true deals, but then you're locked into a bullshit subscription service every month. So you think you're saving a bundle on the kidnapping, but you end up paying out the ass every month for them to KEEP the kid. Enshittification at work once again.