‘I used to be strip searched and supervised in showers aged 14 at troubled teen college’

Karen Rennie was a rebellious punk rocker who favored to dye her hair purple when her dad and mom despatched her to a college for wayward teenage ladies.

According to Karen, her mum and pop believed her promiscuity, bisexuality and lack of curiosity in teachers justified their actions.

But in an unique interview with the Daily Star, Karen, now a 56-year-old grandmother, gave a uncooked perception into her harrowing 363 days contained in the Excelsior Youth Centre in Aurora, Colorado.

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The shiny pamphlet given to her dad and mom boasted about utilizing “behaviour modification techniques to prevent destructive behaviour” for so-called troubled teenagers – however the facility was shut down in 2007.

Karen was pressured to go there aged 14 in May 1982, and she or he remembered being violently restrained and put in solitary confinement and not using a blanket.

“I was subjected to a strip search and was not allowed to use the restroom without being observed,” she mentioned.

“Upon arrival I was attacked and held down by five adults and dragged into an empty room where I spent three days before it was explained to me where I was.”

She added: “On level ‘SS’ you were constantly supervised and you were not allowed blankets in your room except at night and you could not brush your teeth or take a shower without being supervised by adults.”

According to Karen, new college students have been despatched to the ‘TLC’ (The Locked Centre) the place they needed to eat their meals till they have been trusted to stroll down the corridor to the cafeteria themselves.

She claimed they have been later moved to one of many 4 “cottages” which have been every made up of about 25 ladies. Here the youngsters have been anticipated to “work the program” and progress 4 phases – however Karen mentioned solely two ladies she knew reached section 4 which meant they might depart the ability to search out work or attend AA conferences.

Alleged punishments have been brutal and Karen informed us: “For me, the very worst consequence was what they called ‘TO’ or ‘ETO’ which were more gentle words than saying solitary confinement.

“Being a 14-year-old child locked in a room with no blankets, no pillows, nothing to write on, no sounds, no human connection… it is real torture. The longest I can remember being in ‘ETO’ for any stretch was four days.”

Karen was finally let loose from the establishment when her dad and mom ran out of cash and she or he went again to stay with them in May 1983.

However, she mentioned she had realized no coping expertise from being “locked up” and regardless of being drug free earlier than going to the troubled teen college, she found marijuana afterwards which she mentioned helped to suppress her nightmares.

Just months after returning house, her mum kicked her out and she or he spent 18 months sofa hopping till she bought her diploma in 1985.

“I basically graduated high school just to spite my parents and Excelsior Youth Center,” she mentioned.

Karen now lives in Southern California the place she has been based mostly all her life – apart from her traumatic yr in Colorado.

She has three youngsters and one granddaughter and for the previous seven years she has labored at a preschool for kids with particular wants.

And talking about why she is prepared to open up about her experiences and summarising the affect, she mentioned: “The extra we speak about this the extra individuals will start to grasp that these are usually not broken and troubled youngsters being despatched away.

“These are merely younger youngsters rising up, naturally rebelling in opposition to their dad and mom, making an attempt issues that may be totally different from their dad and mom.

“If the parents have the money they can pay to lock their children up so that they don’t have to be bothered with them. My parents could never be bothered with me which is why I acted out in the first place.

“My parents had poor communication skills and punishing parenting styles. It is no wonder I rebelled and no wonder they locked me up. The abuse I suffered at Excelsior gave me recurring nightmares until I was 25-years-old.”

The troubled teen business was uncovered in a brand new Netflix documentary, The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnappings which centered on the Academy at Ivy Ridge.

And as for extra consideration being drawn to the billion greenback business, Karen mentioned: “I really love the idea of them all being shut down in my lifetime.

“I never thought I’d see it happen because the victims are far too damaged and struggling to launch an attack against something this big.”

Karen Rennie has written a e-book about her experiences referred to as Growing Wild.