Rebecca’s Time at Carolina Springs Academy
My name is Rebecca and in 2008, when I was 16 years old, I was sent to Carolina Springs Academy, located in Donald’s, South Carolina. I lived there for a year. We lived in a point based system. We could earn around 25 points a day but they set us up to call one another out for rule violations, which resulted in loss of points. Breaking Code Silence was a ‘Category 2’ violation, which meant a loss of 25 points. A loss of 25 points was a day added to your stay. Points were needed to vote up to different [...]
Theo Gets Transported to LaVerkin
The following is my account of March 10 and March 11, 2005 - the night that everything changed. Oftentimes on television and in music the world coming to a stop sounds like the screeching of a car slamming on the brakes. So much so that the term “a screeching halt” is in our lexicon and used in day-to-day life. I can’t speak for everyone but I can tell you what it sounded like when my world came to an abrupt standstill. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t earth shaking. It was just fast. It was the blood pumping in my ears [...]
Bobby’s HLA Story
This post is not to deter from any other survivor who has told their story. This is my story. They have their own stories which deserve just as much if not more attention than mine does. It has taken me 16+ years to tell my story to the world. This post barley scratches the surface of my story though. It is a long post too. You may look at the photos and see me as a smiling and happy teen but that is far from the truth. I was in a dark place in my mind and an even darker [...]
Elizabeth’s Time at Mount Bachelor Academy
A month after my 13th birthday, I was sent to Mount Bachelor Academy (“MBA”). I was in the midst of depression when I arrived there; several life-altering experiences happened to me in 1989 that would send any pre-pubescent girl into depression. My family moved several times before I was 12. It was very difficult to make friends and keep them, constantly being the "new girl" and I was frequently bullied. In February, 1989, my family moved from Southern California to the Bay Area, forcing me to change schools in the middle of the year and quit competitive figure skating, which [...]
Alexandra’s Experience at Growing Together
On February 28, 2004, I was involuntarily entered into a controversial drug-treatment center for teens, and my life was changed forever. But first, a little bit of what led me to the program called “Growing Together” in Palm Beach County, Florida. The label of ‘troubled teen’ was assigned to me sometime in 2002, when I was thirteen years old and in sixth grade. I was shamed and labeled a slut as well by the mothers and religious leaders at the Christian school I attended because my body had developed sooner than most of the other girls my age. There were [...]