Sent Away

As a child I knew two kids who were sent from their homes on the east coast to a wilderness program and a boarding school for bad kids in Utah. Recently I’ve thought about those two friends and wondered what their experiences were like as I’ve followed the news of Paris Hilton’s advocacy on this issue. As a believer in the criticality of public policy and regulation this podcast highlighted so helpfully why oversight is essential to public safety. I feel for all the parents who were trying to do right by their kids under challenging circumstances and for the kids who survived abuse. Thank you for reporting this story so thoroughly. Incredible local and national journalism. I’ve started donating monthly to APM because of In the Dark and Sent Away.

Very thorough research and good story telling. I had no idea these programs were a thing in Utah. Always enjoy learning something new and love listening to podcasts while doing mundane chores. This one really held my interest but I hated to learn about the mistreatment of so many teens.

One might, or might not be surprised to know that even in today’s age, there are judges and lawyers, who have no idea but there is in fact, a well organized “troubled teen industry“. Thank you to APM for reporting on this little piece of a giant story. For those who don’t know what the TTI is, listen to this podcast and you’ll get a good taste. I know that there is so much more above below, and beyond what is covered in this podcast series. Step one begins with “educational consultants“ who are less interested in placing your child into a great score, and more interested in the short buck to be made funneling kids into wilderness therapy, treatment, and then onto therapeutic boarding schools. I don’t like the word “score“ or “academy“ for you. These are not schools. They are behavior modification centers determined to punish. And break children, even still.

I got into this because I was inspired by a book by a well-known children’s author by the name of Todd Strasser. in addition to writing many children’s novels for entertainment, he’s also novelize various feature films, but the book that got me interested in this podcast is a book by him called Boot Camp, about a boy, who, after ignoring several warnings to stop dating one of his teachers, is sent to Lake Harmony, a treatment program located in upstate, New York, on the Canadian border. The book itself was horrifying enough, but the afterword really hit home. And that’s why I looked at this podcast. However, I don’t think the story of people who are sent away is over with his final episode. It’s so good that I think that Moore needs to be talked about, including these so-called professional transporters. In fact, I read about one that I think should be interviewed. and unlike others, he is one of the good guys. His name is Evan, James, otherwise known as. bullet. In fact, he was featured on an A&E TV show called the extractors. And such facilities exist well beyond Utah. So I think there’s plenty of material to continue the podcast. But I would suggest doing one about a place called agape, in Missouri.