Anonymous’ Testimony – Teen Challenge Columbus Girls Academy

I honestly appreciate the fact that I was able to disconnect from my old life and rebuild myself as a person without distractions. However, I do not support the methods used at Teen Challenge (CGA) and wholeheartedly believe that it was my choice to change and I was able to do so through God and my own will.

I received every form of punishment they had at least once throughout my program and I now have severe anxiety about every decision I make for subconscious fear of doing something wrong. I snuck in a can of dip on my first off-campus visit about 6 months into my program, which obviously wasn’t a good choice, but as a result of that, I wasn’t allowed to see my older brother anymore (because I confessed that he was the one who purchased it for me) and I have reason to believe my counselor would hide letters I received from him and had a very negative opinion of him and would try to influence me with that opinion. I also got both of my home visits taken away and was not able to earn them back, despite the fact I started doing really well there. I also ran away in my 2nd month of my program and got a month added.

Towards the end of my program I was fed up with the system, getting so angry sometimes when a staff member would talk to me like I was a criminal that I would dig my nails into my arm to keep from lashing out, which I have a patch of nail shaped scars from. I had kindled a romantic relationship with a fellow student, nothing physical occurred but we passed notes very frequently. We were separated and put on relationship restrictions (punishment where you can’t communicate with anyone in other dorms or anyone else on RR) but about a week before I was supposed to graduate, they found one of the notes that I had written to her and sat me down to inform me that homosexuality is a sin and there was zero tolerance for it there. I had already gotten a month added for running away in my second month, and I was honestly afraid I was going to get another. My mom obviously knew I was ready to come home and that such a stupid situation would not be reason to agree to giving me another month. So, my punishment was that I got dismissed/expelled 3 days before I was supposed to complete the program and receive my certificate.

I had already been there well over the 15 month mark because of my first month added, but it was honestly so shitty to have put in all of that time and work just to have it ripped away from me at the very end. Not to mention, that shows up on my school record as an expulsion and made it very difficult for me to get into colleges in my state that usually accept just about everyone. To be punished in such a way for a choice of sexuality is sickening and on par with a hate crime. There are many more instances of how this program hurt me more than helped me, and I had my reservations with giving my testimony because I do believe that some girls blow the circumstances out of proportion, but these are just a few of my truths and I would like to be heard.