In the years that followed my graduation, I suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. I spent years silent about the abuse that happened to me because I was ashamed, because I felt like no one would believe such abuse could happened to me at a Christian institution. I’m not alone. Many of the thousands of graduates of the troubled teen industry suffer long term trauma. Sometimes when I can’t sleep I read accounts of former students on message groups, alumni wondering “Does it ever get better?” Alumni wanting hope not just for themselves but for their children.

The West Point child described seeing adults tied with wires to trees and then burned to death. Her parents later found a tree, partly burned, with electric cables around its trunk. The children were reluctant to admit that they participated in the torture or sexual assault of other children, therefore this is generally a late disclosure.

All the children showed scarring both vaginal and/or rectal. This finding indicates that

sexual assault has occurred in all eleven cases. Although this factor is a symptom and not

an allegation, it was more comfortable for parents to answer this question at this point in

the survey.