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unqualified liars
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It is disturbing how this facility is invalidating the traumatic experience and decade of internal suffering the women who attended this program go through after leaving. Are you above a public apology? Regardless of your attempts to quiet us, we will only get louder.
I attended this tc from 13-15. I am in many survivor groups on Fb (highly recommend joining these to hear more real feedback). We come together and help one another because no one will ever know the true mental torture we experienced expect for those who also had to endure this suffering.
The directors can change but that doesn’t matter. When your child is acting out the worst thing you can do is pull them from home (especially at that young of an age) and throw them into a place where their physiological needs are not met.
The staff is not qualified to deal with suicidal girls, drug addicts, sexual abuse, etc. this is a religious facility that brainwashes girls into behaving. This is why you see changes eventually and maybe even for some time after they leave the program, but the trauma from abandonment will eventually set in. Sending you kids away will create more trauma.
Let’s remember why teen challenge started in the first place. This was a facility for kids in New York to get off drugs and they could willing come + willingly go. Now teen challenge is open to 10 year olds (maybe younger) from fearful parents that don’t know what to do. I understand that being a parent can be confusing (I have a 7 year old daughter now) and teen years even more so. When things get hard, don’t send your kids away...pull them closer.
The issues I dealt with as an adult are ongoing. I would consider myself to be an exception to this place as I have found happiness, wealth, family, and healing but the road here was not easy. Many of the girls I went to teen challenge lakeland with are dead (suicide or overdose), in jail relating to drugs, homeless, or struggling with painful emotions and ptsd.
While the original intention of teen challenge was good, it is no longer for the best interest of the child. I believe radical religious couples (the directors and staff) are just as blinded. It’s hard to see the psychological torture and negative by-products of the tc experience when you are doing it all in the name of Jesus.
Not only was I also suicidal at one point in my life and struggled with addiction (even though I had never tried drugs before attending teen challenge) I also suffered from night terrors that had the general theme of trying to escape a camp with a bunch of girls 13 years after leaving. Other women in the survivor groups also share identical suffering /experiences/ nightmares.
I was the “big sister” (a name given to girls who are in the program longer that show the ropes and introduce the rules to new girls) ... to a girl who was suicidal. She was 12. I was 14. We had to remove everything from the room..lightbulbs, pencils, even shampoo and conditioner anything that she would try to harm herself with ...and she got pretty creative... let’s think about this... A 14-year old is responsible for making sure a 12-year old doesn’t kill herself. The other girl that was her “big sister” was my friend Stephanie burns who just died two years ago from a drug overdose.
There are other stories that I legally can not give out names but there was sexual abuse with one of the directors wives who was taking girls back to her home (the neighborhood next door) and sleeping with them. The director eventually stepped down shortly after so graduated.
The “new directors” can assume to be holier than the ones before but overtime something eventually happens and they step down.
This is just my story from ONE facility. There ate worse stories from other programs and other teen challenges across the county.
If anyone is considering taking there chime to one of these places and would like to speak to me directly you can find my anywhere in social media. I am happy to take the time out of my day to elaborate on any of the above. Please research more. That’s all I ask.
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