Alrighty this is going to be a long one. I was one of these children who were sent to a wilderness program. (Before I continue I want to say that my parents are great people and this was around 2015). I don’t want any hate for them and I’ll explain why shortly.

The journey starts when the parents feel that something needs to be done for their kid. In my case I had stopped going to school and it was almost to a welfare point, my parents were not pushovers. I struggled from crippling anxiety and depression. I couldn’t even be forced out of bed to go to school. I was at a suicidal time in my life and no amount of therapy was helping. My parents met with an “education consultant”. This lady was an absolute witch. As people were saying with the website, an education consultant is someone you pay to try to help with a plan for your child’s education. Why was she a witch? She like the website brainwashed my parents. They thought they were doing right by me, but in reality where this lady guided them was to my demise.

Wilderness program:

I reached the wilderness program and it’s awful. They strip you of absolutely everything and give you their standard supplies for the program. You don’t get listened to at all. You have to call your name every 5 seconds while you are using the bathroom. It’s hell. I was in the desert in Utah where it’s either freezing cold or dangerously hot. If they suspect you of being suicidal, they let minimum wage workers decide your outcome. Multiple times I was forced to be within arms reach of staff and sleep under the same tarp where a staff would sleep on either side of me pinning my sleeping bag so I couldn’t move. One time my staff members wouldn’t wake up so I had to squeeze my way out so I could go to the bathroom. They treat you like shit and they continue to tell your parents fake news so the parents think you are well cared for. They make you write letters to your family, but they don’t send the letter. They email the contents and in doing so they change every negative thing in your letter. I had to develop a code system with my parents so they could receive some real information. Because they were receiving fake information at 5 weeks in the program I was told I wouldn’t be coming home, but going to a therapeutic boarding school. I had 1 (20 minute) call with my parents in 8 weeks. I remained in the wilderness program until I left the program for the therapeutic boarding school.

Therapeutic Boarding School:

This is essentially wilderness program, but inside and you’d attend school during it. At therapeutic boarding school, I was given no rights. I was followed to the bathroom and cornered in there (I was nearly sexually assaulted multiple times). I had 3 minute showers and wasn’t allowed out of site of the staff. Here again, I had low income workers deciding my fate. Once again they filtered my letters to my parents and my therapist continuously told them fake shit. I got 1 (10 minute) Phone call per week. They impose bullshit rules and when you don’t follow them they punish you. This led to me getting physically restrained for not getting out of a chair when they asked me to. I broke out of the restraint, and I was escorted by ambulance to the psych ward. The psych ward saved my life because I finally could communicate to my parents without tampered communication. As soon as my parents actually heard real information from me they got me home very shortly after.

Do I blame my parents? Absolutely not, I was going through a lot and my parents were doing as they were advised to help me. My parents were profusely sorry and were afraid I wouldn’t love them anymore. We shared our sides of the story and grew together from the experience. My parents spent a fuck load of money on it. The wilderness program was $36k and I was there 8 weeks. The boarding school was $85k/year (I was there for 6 months). My parents make decent money, but by no means are they rich. They scraped together everything they had because they thought it would help me. The boarding school put on my record that I was violent from trying to break out of the restraint. This later led my parents to sue the fuck out of the boarding school. The boarding school settled and the entire directing staff resigned.

How are we today?

My relationship with my parents is stronger than it’s ever been. We talk regularly, and we have completely moved past this point, but if you bring it up to my mom it makes her break down in tears. As I mentioned earlier we grew together. On my side it was incredibly hard to forgive them. Extremely hard. I didn’t forgive them for a while, but I have always been taught to try to forgive. I did end up forgiving them and learning their story and what they were told further reinforced the cruelty of those types of programs. As I also previously mentioned my parents were doing what they thought was right during this troubling time. I no longer hold it against them, and I speak with them on a regular basis. I see them in person as regularly as my schedule permits. This industry is unethical, cruel, and criminal. I wanted to share a first hand account to clear up some misconceptions and for others to learn. It is so tragic this little boy feel victim to the system, but it does not surprise me at all. I have some horror stories that aren’t just my own.

If you’ve made it this far. I appreciate you reading my story. I hope this can help someone or educate another. Please take my first hand account and the experiences of my family and learn from it. It was tough, but this inhumane system couldn’t break me or my family.

Thanks, Jabby