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The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping is a recently released true crime documentary series on Netflix. The documentary portrays horrifying events inside the Academy at Ivy Ridge, told from the perspective of former attendees.
The official synopsis of The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping, as per Netflix, reads:
"Years after being sent to a disciplinary school, a woman still haunted by her experiences exposes the corruption and abuse of the troubled teen industry."
The institution called Academy at Ivy Ridge was founded in 2001 and marketed as a boarding school to reform troubled teens. While the school claimed to use recreational activities and therapy to help the students, the reality was far from that. Katherine Kubler, a former student of the school, lifts the lid on the abusive practices of the school in the three-part Netflix true crime series. Read on to learn more about the shocking practices that are talked about in detail in the documentary.
6 shocking revelations from Netflix's The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping
1) Students were forced into the academy as teens
Katherine Kubler, the director of The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping, described her experience of being taken to Ivy Ridge as a form of kidnapping. Many of the students there were abruptly taken from their homes or regular schools and sent to the academy at their parents' request.
Men dressed in black would come in the middle of the night, handcuff children, and take them away to the academy. These children were forbidden to go outside the academy and kept under strict supervision.
2) Ivy Ridge was part of a group of institutions under WWASP
As revealed in The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping, Ivy Ridge was a part of WWASP (World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools), an organization based in Utah.
There were several sister facilities affiliated with WWASP, such as those located in Jamaica, Samoa, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and Costa Rica. When one facility was shut down, the children would be shifted to another sister facility. This resulted in inhumane living conditions (due to a lack of space) and a rapid spread of diseases among the children.
3) The institute monitored every move of the children
Ivy Ridge had strict rules to monitor the students, and each student was expected to memorize the rules and adhere to them. Some of the rules included not being allowed to talk without permission, maintaining a strict military-like dress code, keeping bathroom stalls open at all times, and no eye contact between male and female students.
The institute ran on an unachievable points system. If students flouted any rules, points would be deducted, and they would receive abusive corrections. If a student followed all the rules, they would receive points, which would eventually allow them privileges like shaving, holding unpaid staff jobs, and even graduating. As per the documentary, graduation was almost impossible since no student could attain a high number of points.
4) Abusive and humiliating seminars
Two- to four-day seminars would be held every four to six weeks at Ivy Ridge. Allison Chee (a former student interviewed in The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping) said:
“The seminars are the backbone of the whole program. In order to graduate [from] the program, you had to complete the seminars, and there were a lot.”
She further continued:
“Completing the seminars meant not questioning their [the program’s] ideology and conforming to the groupthink of the program.”
The seminars would be used to psychologically abuse the children to manipulate their cognitive processes. The seminars would blame the children for unfortunate events in their lives (like the deaths of their parents). They also underwent physical abuse, which included cross-dressing and dancing in front of their peers.
5) The institute earned millions but spent almost nothing on the children
Reform institutes require highly trained staff to handle troubled teens. However, The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping reveals that Ivy Ridge was concerned with making profits. Upon uncovering multiple confidential documents, Kubler discovered that the school was earning more than $1.5 million a month during the height of enrollment.
However, employees were only being paid a meager $5.50 an hour, and they were not qualified to handle the children. The institutes relied on making the children resort to child labor to complete janitorial tasks and work in the kitchen.
6) A riot failed to shut down Ivy Ridge
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping revealed that a student named Quintin and his friends planned a riot to destroy Ivy Ridge's computer lab and shut down the institution.
About thirty people managed to get away, but they were apprehended. Twelve of them were charged and jailed, while the remaining guests were brought back to Ivy Ridge. Quintin, who was sent to jail, described prison as a "five-star Hilton Hotel" when compared to Ivy Ridge.
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping is currently streaming all episodes on Netflix.
