In only one day, the true crime documentary series “The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping” has become one of the most watched series on Netflix worldwide. According to FlixPatrol, it currently holds the Top 5 spot of the global chart.
The three-part show is an exploration of the “troubled teen industry,” which includes a range of youth residential programs aimed at “difficult” teenagers, who might be dealing with substance abuse or mental health problems. These programs have been highly controversial, as many of the people who have been in them have reported that they suffered from emotional and physical abuse.
One of the most famous advocates against the troubled teen industry is Paris Hilton, who in her 20220 documentary “This Is Paris,” shared her experience at a Utah boarding institution. In this case, “The Program” focuses on Ivy Ridge, a disciplinary boarding institution that operated in upstate N.Y. between 2001 and 2009.
‘The Program,’ an exploration of the troubled teen industry
The docuseries is directed by Katherine Kubler, who is a survivor of Ivy Ridge. Alongside her former classmates, she returns to the abandoned building and tells their horrific stories. While the school was marketed as a place to help struggling kids, Ivy Ridge students suffered from mental and physical abuse, and were obligated to participate in cult-like activities.
Talking to Time, Kubler explains that she made the docuseries “because there really was nothing out there to help explain what had happened to me to my friends and family to warn them about these places.”
In the documentary, Kubler not only interviews former Ivy Ridge attendees, but also former staff members and her own father, who was the one who sent her there (without knowing, of course, the reality of the school). Kubler also found paper trail and video footage of the abuse.
Among the forms of violence that the kids suffered, there were physical punishments such as flogging, or being locked out in a room for hours; as well as forms of emotional abuse such as prohibiting them from speaking to one another or not being able to go outside.