Anonymous’ Testimony – Trails Carolina

I have a lot to say about my time spent at Trails Carolina that wouldn’t remotely be enough for this one submission. I’ll do my best to cover the things I experienced. I was sent to Trails Carolina for and I quote, “lying about completing homework.” Trails Carolina advertises itself as a last-resort for parents worried about the safety of their children, and as such, is a place for primarily suicidal, aggressive, or otherwise troubled minors.

I had never been admitted to hospital despite having clinical depression, and have never been suicidal. Somehow, even though the Trails Administration reviews every applicant, I was admitted to go. My parents tricked me into going to Trails by saying I needed to help them go get a car for my younger sister, who was about to learn how to drive. At the time I was 17, with my 18th birthday on March 18th, and I already had a license. I agreed to help them, and suddenly found myself being dropped off in the middle of nowhere. The fact alone that parents can abandon their children in the woods with complete strangers (and no access to their children other than through filtered letters) is in itself, shocking.

But some of the borderline abusive practices I endured go as follows:

Bathroom breaks

Using the bathroom was restricted to an unreasonable point, and residents could only use the bathroom when the bathroom tent was set up. We had to drink lots of water due to our regular hikes, and physical activity means you have to use the bathroom more often. This didn’t seem to matter, and unless you used your one-per-week bathroom excuse, you were not allowed to use it outside of designated times. This resulted in people having accidents, and counselors making them wear the same clothing despite how unhygienic that is. One shamed a girl in my group for being unable to hold her bladder after being refused a trip to the toilet. We were also timed, and were yelled at if we took over two minutes to use the toilet, even if one was having digestive issues.

Medical negligence

Some of the absolute disregard for our health was astounding. I have a lot of food intolerances that were refused to be met, and because of this, I physically couldn’t keep down most meals. During my time at trails, I went from 145 pounds to 120, and I wasn’t overweight when I arrived. If you were unable to finish your meal, your group was given a punishment. If you threw up your meal, you were given no other food. This was an obvious problem for me, and it was severely neglected. I am not struggling with potential thyroid problems and slowed metabolism after basically starving for 77 days. Other than this, one of my group mates got a rash that I claimed looked like poison ivy. Instead of looking into this, I was chastised for giving ‘unnecessary medical advice’ and she was left alone for several days. Finally, when they got a nurse, she confirmed it was poison ivy. By this time it had spread and if treated earlier would have saved her a lot of discomfort. By far the worst thing I witnessed in this category was during a hike to a new campsite in the rain. It was muddy out, and one of the girls in my group slipped due to her backpack’s weight, fell, and hit her head on a protruding rock. She lost consciousness and was out for a solid minute, and when she woke up, was forced to keep hiking. That week she experienced memory loss and other telltale symptoms of a concussion, but there was no medical treatment and it was likely not documented.

Emotional abuse

One of the main points of Trails is to break down the residents to a point where they have nowhere to go but up – a point where they are quite literally forced to try. This to me is wildly unethical, and we would face public humiliation, group punishments, verbal abuse, and constant stress. One of Trail’s practices is reading a letter detailing why your parents have sent you. You’re required to read it in front of your group the first day you meet them. These letters contain detailed trauma and personal experiences that you are forced to share to people you have met at maximum a few hours earlier. If you refuse to read it or leave out anything, the counselors will read it instead, and then ask the group if they have ‘feedback’ on your letter. Even ignoring the fact that being abandoned in the woods for several months is traumatic enough, actively having your “prison guards” break you down is morally unethical. These are just a few things that come to mind and is not remotely a comprehensive list. I am still dealing with trauma from Trails, including nightmares and flashbacks. Because of my time there I have been on PTSD medication and am having to take trauma therapy, something I have never had to deal with before. If you want to contact me for more details on my experience, please do. I’m more than happy to share what I and others with me went through if it can help prevent some from the same fate.