NYRA Launches New Troubled Teen Industry Nonprofit, Breaking Code Silence

We are happy to announce that NYRA is now fiscally sponsoring Breaking Code Silence, a movement organized by a network of survivors and activists to raise awareness of the problems in the “Troubled Teen” Industry, to aide them as they organize their nonprofit.

Youth can be kidnapped and held without their consent in these programs for “behavior modification”, often suffering severe abuse. Many of these facilities facilities employ some version of a tactic called “Code Silence” (this specific term was used first in the program Casa By The Sea). This is used to dominate students through forced silence, meant to socially isolate students until they reach a breaking point. This oppressive silence can last for days, weeks, months, even up to years, if the student does not progress in the levels. This form of treatment causes feelings of frustration, abandonment and separation anxiety (the side effects have proven to result in complex trauma symptoms years after release). By literally taking these youths’ voices away, the program takes away their right to express themselves, report abuse, and make relationships with their peers.

#BreakingCodeSilence was created to encourage survivors of institutional abuse to stand up and testify about the abuse in their programs. They are part of a larger coalition of advocacy groups we have been forming together to free the over 50,000 youth held in abusive residential facilities, collaborating on an open letter calling on Congress to shut down all private youth programs immediately.

The BCS team and our broader network of activists work together to educate about institutional child abuse, investigate open programs for abuse, and push for reform of this industry via legislative action. We are helping them raise funds to formally organize and further create education, investigation, and legislation on the Troubled Teen Industry. If you donate to us through this link after selecting “breaking code silence”, your donation will help them free the youth held in abusive behavior modification facilities.