A new Netflix documentary is sending shockwaves through the UK, being branded one of the most harrowing and disturbing films ever to hit the streaming platform. 'The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping' exposes a terrifying global network of disciplinary academies for teenagers, with its investigation centred on the Ivy Ridge Academy in New York.
The film, directed by Katherine Kubler who was herself a student at Ivy Ridge, unveils a horrific world of systemic abuse. It features never-before-seen footage and heart-wrenching testimonies from survivors who detail the nightmare they endured.
A Legacy of Trauma and Abuse
Kubler's documentary pieces together a devastating picture of life inside the institution. Students were subjected to brutal physical restraints, severe beatings, and were often held against their will for months, even years, on end. The most vulnerable were forcibly sedated and transported to the facility in the middle of the night, a practice known as 'gooning'.
Perhaps most chillingly, the film reveals that Ivy Ridge was not an isolated case. It was part of a vast, profit-driven network of similar facilities operating across the United States and beyond, all following the same controversial 'tough love' methodology.
Shocking Evidence Comes to Light
The documentary's power lies in the concrete evidence it presents. Kubler and fellow survivors managed to retrieve and salvage thousands of pages of official documents from the abandoned Ivy Ridge campus. These records, which the directors tried to destroy, meticulously detail the abuse, including incident reports of violent restraints and punishments.
This paper trail provides incontrovertible proof of the programme's failures and the immense suffering it caused, backing up the traumatic stories shared by its survivors.
A Warning to Parents Everywhere
'The Program' serves as a stark warning about the unregulated 'troubled teen industry'. It exposes how desperate parents were manipulated into paying exorbitant fees to send their children to these facilities, believing they were getting professional help.
Instead, as the documentary so powerfully illustrates, they were unknowingly subjecting them to a regime of terror and psychological torture, the scars of which last a lifetime.
