‘Breaking Code Silence’ TikToks expose the horrifying reality of the Troubled Teen Industry
America’s Troubled Teen industry is a multi-billion-dollar largely unregulated sector intended to “reform” teenagers with behavioral problems, or mental health issues, through abusive and unsafe methods. Now survivors of these institutions, backed by Paris Hilton and Bhad Bhabie—both former victims themselves—are “breaking code silence” en masse on TikTok, telling the truth about what they experienced in the hopes of preventing a future generation from being subjected to the same trauma.
Troubled Teen institutions are known under several different names—such as wilderness therapy, which combines an outdoor setting with a behavior modification program. But they usually begin in the same way: “legal kidnapping,” where staff members abduct children from their beds in the middle of the night, refuse to tell them what’s happening, and transport them in handcuffs to the camp or school. Once there, they are often strip-searched and subjected to other humiliating treatment as part of their intake process. These experiences are traumatizing enough on their own, but the additional abuses experienced by these young people inflict further psychological harm.
@ the united states of america ???? #breakingcodesilence #troubledteenindustry #iseeyousurvivor #therapy #wilderness #parents #cult #childlabor #abuse
