I was placed in F.L chamberlain school in Middleboro, MA this summer.
The reason for this was because I was shy, I didn't have a lot of friends and because I told a teacher I was suicidal after I came out the previous night to my dad. He was so angry he beat me, told me that I was a "failure at life" and I was going to "end up on the street doing drugs". My dad is extremely homophobic.
The following week I was told to pack my bags and go to this school. My mom told me it was to "get away from my dad until he calmed down".
What happened in the next 2 1/2 months were so terrible, It hurts me to even talk about it. I was so sick with stress that night, sleeping in this bed with gang marks carved into the bedframe, starvation, being forced to take medication which I have never took before to "fit in". When I woke up and went to this so called school, I entered a classroom with kids twice my age, mostly tough guys and one girl. The classroom was an old historic building, holes and punch marks were EVERYWHERE. I did not belong here. These kids were serious. I was exposed to things that I never wanted to be exposed to. On my first day I learned the Spanish teacher was having an illicit relationship with an underage student and kids were walking out of math class and smoking crystal meth, and the teacher didn't even care.
I begged my parents to take me out. If I even showed the slightest tear or even sounded troubled, it was policy to put you on phone restriction so you couldn't talk to your parents. I prayed to god. 75% of the kids there were hardcore kids who really should of been in Juvi.. The 25% who were innocent, kids who really needed help were shown no mercy, by the staff members or kids.
The only reason I got out was because I was stabbed in the stomach and when I went home for a visit, when I finally got one I went to see my grandparents, and my grandma saw my scar, then my mom saw, then they asked me questions, more and more. I finally cracked. I told them everything. my parents begged them to just let me sleep over at my house. Before I went to sleep I used the bathroom, and I started urinating blood. I passed out in the bathroom and then that was it. I was out. What a coincidence, right? It turns out the medicine they gave me was causing my liver to fail, and I lost consciousness a lot. Of course at the place they didn't care, they would think you were acting out or sleeping. Every time I passed out I was "frozen". I could talk to no one. I trusted no one. I barely spoke. I barely ate. And can you believe, that right now, THIS second they are still doing these things, behind closed doors, not just there but in "programs" around the country? That's not even scratching the surface.
I was lucky I wasn't killed right when I got there because I was openly gay at that point. These scars won't go away. If I can dedicate my life, just to shut these people down then that's what I will do. These kinds of things cause people to go to jail for life, and yet, behind that happy-go-lucky school tour guide, there is pain that will never go away.
The author later wrote an update:
Its been 5 months since I was rescued from the boarding "school" that I spoke about in my post before. Unfortunately, even the name of the "school" triggers my PTSD so if you want to read about what happened, click on my profile, and find my previous post.
I can finally say that I am getting better every day. I think about it less and less. I am in a great place right now. I'm at a real school with real people, freedom and people who are accepting and loving.
5 months ago I never thought that this would happen... Well, I didn't really think at all, I was in survival mode all the time. I weighed under 105 pounds, and I was so sick, I nearly threw up every day. I am so grateful that I was saved. I am so happy I'm safe.
Two months ago my family and another family that was in this "program" decided to take action. We wrote a review on greatschools.org explaining in depth what happened to both of us. Unfortunately, 2 weeks later the review was removed by the "school" after filing a complaint with the website. We learned this as we had an email explaining why our review was deleted.
What happened is sick. This never should of happened. But It did, and I want to dedicate my life to making sure other parents and teens don't make the same mistakes we did... Looking at "programs" to help get better.
To ANYONE suffering from the consequences of long term psychiatric and physical abuse. Anyone who has survived.. It will get better in time. Remember, The best revenge is living a good life.
Sources:
- The original testimony (Reddit)
- The update (Reddit)
- Factsheet about the facility (Fornits Wiki)
thanks for posting this :) -area
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