Straight Inc. Visitor Comments

"I was a victim of Straight Inc. I attended three of their programs. I was beaten up and sent to the hospital with a broken nose or jaw fracture more than once, but still returned to the program. It has taken me eleven years to begin to talk about Straight."

"I am a Straight survivor. I was not a drug addict, but my parents enrolled me in Straight. First, I was in Texas for 8 months and then transferred to Orlando. It was horrible. I was pregnant at 15 and they talked my parents into forcing me into an abortion and then two days later they took me back. I watched chairs being thrown through walls, shoulders being broken. I have had a 6 year battle with endometriosis and I believe it started there. When I went to the nurse for stomach pains they said it was just scar tissue and sent me back to the carpet room. Also, just to move onto phases, you had to make up stories to get them off your back. I will be forever scarred by these people. I missed two years of school and later dropped out because I couldn't handle it. I then got my GED and am still struggling to prove to people that just because I was in a drug treatment facility doesn't mean I was an addict."

"I was in Straight for 13 months. During my time at Straight I was assaulted by a staff member, who punched me in the face in front of the entire executive staff during a confrontation in the 'carpet room.' Straight fired him and then rehired him after I left. I saw him in the news recently. Why would Straight rehire a man that hit 14 year old girl in the face? This is just a piece of the past for me, but it may be reality now for children still involved in the program. Straight was the American equivalent of Hitler's youth."

"Thanks for the time and energy you have devoted to getting this information out. I was in the Springfield Straight in 1987. I fortunately was able to jump out of a shower window when I was a first phaser. I was never caught! I'm not mad or sad for myself anymore, but I also only had to be in there for a couple of months. I do want to protect any other children whose parents have been tricked into putting them in these types of places."

"I was once a member of Straight.The abuse we were subjected to was not only physical, but mental. I survived the traumas that occurred to me pre-treatment and those that occurred during treatment. I have heard it said that Straight knows how to tear a person down, but doesn't know how to build them back up. I know I will never be built back up. Straight taught me to mistrust everything and everyone. We were pawns in a game."

"I became a victim of Straight at the age of thirteen. I can't believe something that adversely affected so many lives could just be swept away. Your site has helped to give vindication to my memories."

"I just wanted to take the time out and thank you for listing Straight Inc. You see, I was a victim of that place. Slowly, but surely, the truth about our experiences will come out."