PRIMITIVE LIVING
Nathan Hollister spent a year at Paradise Cove in Western Samoa. He said living conditions were difficult and the training intense and sometimes disturbing, but he said he greatly benefited.
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Passing Level 1
For teens, the only way out of Level 1 is to embrace Teen Help's rules without question. Thatmeans actively participating in group seminars so intense, according to some teens, that they sometimes cause group vomiting. The first seminar Nathan and the other Level 1's attended was "Discovery." It lasted three days. Nathan described it as "very intensive and tough. If you're not putting out effort, they will kick you out." Consequences for kids thrown out of Discovery included writing essays or listening to motivational tapes.

A FIRM HOLD Cameron Pullan, director of SpringCreek Lodge, demonstrates a restraint hold sometimes used at Teen Help compounds. The organization says that restraints are used as a last resort, but teens at two compunds say they were left hogtied for hours. _________________________________________________________

One essay, Nathan recalled, was "Why do I let fear run my life?" Nathan said that to pass the seminars, a boy must participate "genuinely and sincerely, really trying to get something out of it." The seminar's facilitators were Teen Help staffers from southern Utah. "They do processes that teach you really powerful lessons," he said. "They teach you a lot about trust. I learned a lot about trust and about trusting others. And they help you discover who you are inside, so you have a sense of identity." Eventually, even the most resistant teens relent and go through at least some of the seminars. Participants say that to pass, they must make confessions and show what the facilitator believes is real emotion. Some participants say that many teens in the seminars are reduced to tears or nausea. Drew, a 16-year-old from the Midwest, was sent to Paradise Cove after he was expelled from a military school for breaking and entering and vandalism. He reached Paradise Cove the same way Nathan did -- a forced "escort" to Utah and flights from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, Honolulu and Samoa. He said he spent about two weeks on Level 1 at Paradise Cove. "You have to raise your hand and call for a helper when you walk around," he said.

"You have to ask somebody to walk you to the bathroom, and then you have to have somebody watch you in the bathroom." -Nathan Hollister

"You have to ask somebody to walk you to the bathroom, and then you have to have somebody watch you in the bathroom." Unlike Nathan Hollister, he disliked the seminars. He and his father spoke only on the condition that their last name not be used. "I hated them," Drew said. "You're in there and they're telling you everything. ... And they tell you something you did wrong. It's just to destroy your self-esteem. "They'll get up and say, 'This is what you did wrong.' A lot of kids are just, like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' But a lot of kids are just faking it." The counselors "tell you to get out of what they call your comfort zone. And when you're uncomfortable, things change, and la-di-da-di-da. And basically you've got to do it or you get kicked out. "You hear about all these seminars and how beastly they are. And you're pretty scared when you first go in there. And when you're done, you feel pretty good." The euphoria, however, isn't the result of self-discovery, Drew said, "but because you got through the stupid thing." Drew said sanitation at Paradise Cove was poor and that many boys became ill and developed sores on their bodies. "I have one on my leg that still hasn't healed," he said months after leaving the program.

 

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