The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping

Really skillfully done, and surprisingly very hopeful and endearing throughout. These girls could be anyone you know, and they have such beautiful, strong spirits. I'm so glad to see that hasn't been ripped from them completely. I loved the heavy dashes of F you: the inside church audio, the gutsy phone calls to past workers, and the One Way or Another part. ;) How brazen of these absolute criminals to leave behind all their evidence, that really speaks to how above the law they feel they are. I'm glad it was all there to be found, I wish happiness and abundance to all who survived, and anxiously await the downfall of every wretched person who contributed to this nightmare.

This did not expect this documentary to touch me the way it did. I spent 12 month at Casa by the Sea. I Find it funny that another reviewer compared the tactics to the military and so stated it was difficult to be sympathetic. I served 7 years in the Army, with two deployments to Iraq, one of those being attached to an infantry unit. I'm also a firefighter. I've seen a lot. I would rather relive any other point in my life than that program. If you haven't been in it, you can't speak to it. What this documentary does so well, is that it does not whine and say that no one understands why are parent could resort to sending their child to a program. What it DOES to is explain why they are harmful, and usually, don't have the intended outcome. From the lack of credible staffing, programming, mental abuse, physical abuse (which I did not sustain, but I also am not surprised), and financial corruption, this documentary does a great job of fulfilling its intent. To inform.

We don't have kids, so I can't truly put myself in the place of a parent, but I was absolutely stunned watching this latest docuseries from Netflix. It boggles the mind that parents could be so easily duped and willingly turn their teenagers, no matter how troubled, over to these grifters and malcontents. Compelling and riveting, the 3-episode series describes the psychological and physiological torture teenagers were put under in the name of helping them straighten out at a "behavioral modification" boarding school. But it's not just one school and it's still happening. I'm thinking about the show days after finishing and horrified that this type of child abuse happens way too frequently.

I think this was a pretty good show, but one thing I will say is this stuff goes on all over the U. S still till this day. I was in group homes and foster care from age of 9 until 18 and many went on a point system. Things kids are in those homes to get away from go on in those homes. I've physically fought staff members because I refused to be bullied. Staff members sleep with some of the kids sexually and all. It's crazy. They kicked me out when I turned 18 in an area hours away from my home town and I had to figure it out. I'm great now my own family, land, and home. They fail, I made it...

If you have ever wondered what being sent to a residential treatment center, Katherine Kubler encapsulates that feeling so accurately, I was transported back to my own experiences in the Troubled Teen Industry. This was so thoroughly researched and thought out. The connections between Synanon, WWASP programs and the Litchfield family and the LDS Church really show how complex and multifaceted this vile industry is. Thank you to the survivors who participated in the creation of this docuseries and to the people who worked tirelessly to make this happen. You will change lives with this. We are Unsilenced!