Hi, for any of you who have gotten to know me a little on Fornits, I'm Julie Cochrane and I'm a Science Fiction author. I'm not a bigtime A-list writer, but I may get some hits on my website along the way that the normal range of sites blowing the whistle on this industry don't get. I may get some different people that might not otherwise hear about this problem.
I'm in the process of writing an article, that I plan to put on my website, about why the Troubled Teen Industry is a problem that needs people's personal attention, and their calls and letters to their elected representatives.
I'm hoping the article will be the kind of thing people will print and hand out to their friends and neighbors and spread the word.
One of the things I need, to document what goes on in these places, is personal accounts from people who don't mind that personal account going up on a website, with their name (and city and state--no address). I'd need contact information to verify I'm talking to a real person. If there's a reason a real live person doesn't want their name up, I can do what magazines and newspapers do with letters and say "name withheld on request"--but it will reduce the impact of the story. I'd rather have the story and not be able to print the name than not have it at all, but I'd prefer to be able to publish names.
What I'm interested in is: why you believe you were sent, which facility you were in, what dates, what you remember of the rules for the different levels and the punishments for breaking the rules, what you wore, what your average day was like, what the food was like, whether any therapy was confrontational or supportive, whether students had rule enforcement power, whether students were expected to snitch on others, what kind of contact you were or weren't allowed with the outside world, whether you witnessed or experienced any acts of egregious abuse, whether you were drugged and the circumstances, whether you experienced or saw restraints or takedowns used on someone who was not immediately being violent to self or others, whether you experienced or saw denial of appropriate medical or dental care, what any education provided was like, the equipment and training for you and conditions of any "wilderness" activities, whether you graduated or your parents pulled you out early, whether you went on to college and whether you graduated, whether you worked in a program in your adult life, whether you have been diagnosed with PTSD or any other program-caused injuries or conditions, and your relationship with your parents now.
Personal accounts, whether positive or negative or mixed, will only be considered if they include the approximate amount of detail above. I reserve the right to choose what to publish, and I reserve the right to base that decision on my own criteria including asking for additional detail. (i.e.--no detail-bare "I Just Got Out and the Program Saved My Life!" accounts will be considered.)
I recognize that there are conditions that require residential treatment and that there is good residential treatment out there, and that disclaimer will be in the article. But this article is, necessarily, going to be primarily about the problems and the need for reform.
Please feel free to share this request for personal accounts with other program survivors you know, either personally or on the internet.
Mostly, I intend to put up these accounts with a link from the article to them, and use them as part of my supporting documentation.
When I talk about this industry to people, the first question they ask is, "Who says so? How do you know?"
I think personal experience accounts from survivors will go a long way towards convincing the skeptical.
You may include the names of program employees or owners in your accounts, in fact I would prefer you do so, but I will redact/change the names of individuals to ensure that the focus of the story is that it's a personal account, and for obvious legal reasons.
I reserve the right to edit any accounts for length, spelling, grammar, or readability *but* any edited accounts will be run by that survivor for approval prior to being posted.
I don't expect to submit this article for print anywhere. If I do end up submitting it or giving permission for reprint, any proceeds will go to the Red Cross. I'm not writing this for money.
I would really appreciate any personal stories people would be willing to send me. I think it's very important to get the word out and stop this from happening to future generations of teens.
Please send any accounts, with contact information, to
[email protected]Julie
The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
-- John Adams, (1772)
