1091: Troubled Teen Industry | Skeptical Sunday
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What is the Troubled Teen Industry?
But what happens when the challenges of adolescence make parents feel like they need to find outside help? Enter the Troubled Teen Industry, a complex web of programs and facilities that claim to help troubled teens and their families survive. But are these programs the solution, or do they create even more problems? Today, we're transporting ourselves to the troubled teen industry with survivor, advocate, and mother to her own teenager, Meg Applegate. Meg is the CEO of Unsilenced, which is a nonprofit organization that aims to help stop institutional child abuse by empowering self-advocates to create lasting social change. Meg, thanks for joining me. This is quite a topic we're going to deal with here today.
Hey, Jordan. Thanks for having me. It's quite an introduction and probably one that my teenager would roll their eyes at. It's funny you use the word transported because many of the kids that enter these programs are transported against their will, oftentimes in the middle of the night.
So this kind of sounds like kidnapping. Is it that dramatic? That's crazy, honestly.
How are teens transported to these programs?
Yeah, no, it really is. I myself was actually kidnapped from my bed in the middle of the night and transported to a facility.
I'm trying to wrap my mind around this, right? Because this is, and we'll get into this, but I've had this happen to friends of mine too. Who comes to you in the middle of the night? Do they just take you out of your bed? I'm imagining them kind of like rolling you up in your bed sheets and carting you off in a van.
Yeah, transporters that my parents hired came to escort me to my first program. They woke me up, told me I was coming with them, and that we can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Is the Troubled Teen Industry legal?
So this is insane, but I gotta ask, what is the hard way? Yeah, they told me that that way involved handcuffs. All right. So is this legal? I should know this, but I'm asking you because this is your industry. How did I not know that this was really going on in the world? Like I've had friends that this happened to in the 90s and I thought like they were lying about it because it definitely sounds illegal. You can't just have someone kidnapped even if they're your kid. Can you?
Unfortunately, it is legal. You may be more aware of this industry than you think. Thinking back to when you were in high school, do you remember any kids that just disappeared all of a sudden? Maybe there were rumors of them going to tour Europe or going to boarding school or going to prison.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the Troubled Teen Industry?
1:18–2:15
2
How are teens transported to these programs?
2:15–2:44
3
Is the Troubled Teen Industry legal?
2:44–7:46
4
What are the abusive practices in these programs?
7:46–9:01
5
How do these programs manipulate families?
9:01–13:43
6
What is the role of taxpayer funding in this industry?
13:43–16:36
7
How do these programs market themselves?
16:36–20:33
8
What are the psychological effects on survivors?
20:33–47:12
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Jordan Harbinger Show
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