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Is Wilderness Therapy in ‘Outer Banks’ Real?

The third season of the popular television programme Outer Banks premiered on February 23 and is jam-packed with drama. It can be challenging to follow along as Sarah (Madelyn Cline) mediates the conflict between the endearing but damaged protagonist John B. (Chase Stokes) and her Psychotic ex-boyfriend Topper (Austin North), while Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey) becomes into the Outer Banks’ most insane resident. As this is going on, grownups are once more after the kids’ lives, and Big John reappears with unforeseen consequences as a result of the long-awaited reunion. The kids and their parents actually have some significant looming implications of their excursions, as they learn over the season.

However, there are instances when this writing is just as melodramatic as its cast.

The parents (with the exception of Pope’s parents) are generally terrible, and the kids are most definitely not all right, despite the fact that the show seems to alternate between entertaining team drama and a treasure quest plot akin to Uncharted. Even while the group causes many of the problems, some of them are simply poor parenting. There are many instances of blatantly poor parenting, such as Big John (Charles Halford) disappearing and abandoning his child alone for a year in search of treasure, or JJ’s (Rudy Pankow) abusive convict father, Luke (Gary Weeks), or any of the absentee moms (really, where are Sarah and Rafe’s mum? ), but there is one obvious instance of perhaps “misguided” parenting that is touched on in Season 3, and

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In Season 3 of Outer Banks, starring Brett Praed, Madison Bailey plays Kiara. picture from Netflix
The Kook-born daughter of a Pogue who prefers to associate with Poguelandia’s elite men, Kiara (played by Madison Bailey), has a set of desperate parents. One cannot blame Mike (Marland Burke) and Anna Carrera (Samantha Soule) for getting tired with Kiara’s disappearances and disobedience. Last season, Poguelandians vanished for days without communicating with their homes, making it impossible to know if they were still alive. As the season goes on, they demonstrate to Kiara that they are unsure of what to do by threatening to send her to wilderness therapy. As a result of Kiara’s persistent refusals, they hire two thugs to drag her against her will to a place known as “Kitty Hawk.” The location of the show is the village of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which is located in the state’s Outer Banks. Hence, even if there is no Kitty Hawk facility for at-risk adolescents to be taken to, the Outer Banks’ inclusion of the name is an obvious allusion to the OBX municipality.

Outer Banks opened a subject that has received much-needed attention in recent years by including a facility like Kitty Hawk in the main plot of this season. The “Troubled Adolescent Industry” is a highly lucrative industry that includes wilderness therapy. The Troubled Teen Industry is known by “many various titles — boot camps, behaviour modification institutions, wilderness therapy, LGBT conversion — but they are all promoted to parents who believe they need to change their child’s conduct,” according to the National Youth Rights Organization.

These camps are actual, and children can be kidnapped and brought there against their will, just like Kiara was. Several teenagers had even more traumatic experiences since they had been “kidnapped” from their homes in the middle of the night and sent to a facility for behavioural treatment. In the guise of “tough love,” the facility’s administrators require the teenagers to cut off all communication with the outside world during this procedure. Children’s stays at wilderness camps can cost up to $50,000, and insurance often does not cover these costs. In order for their child to attend these camps, families frequently choose to go to extreme lengths, such as refinancing or selling their houses. With little to no oversight, the Troubled Teen Industry makes billions of dollars every year. Since there is no regulation, counsellors may have different levels of training, some may not.

Many survivors have come forward with reports of numerous types of abuse, including emotional, physical, and sexual assault. To make matters worse, survivors frequently allege that the camp’s facilitators closely monitor communication with the outside world, making it difficult for them to bring up their families’ experience of the terrible treatment.

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Unbelievably, Outer Banks presents a positive image of this sector of the economy. Prior to Paris Hilton speaking out about her experience in the 2020 documentary This is Paris, the problem was comparatively underreported. Hilton talks about her time in the Troubled Teen Industry in the documentary, especially her terrifying ordeals at the Provo Canyon School in Utah. Hilton gave examples of how the school’s administrators had abused their positions of authority. Since Hilton came forward, tens of thousands of people have revealed in the media and on social media the inhumane treatment of the Troubled Teen Industry.

The unsettling part about this company is that it seems to actively utilise deception to sell its services to discouraged parents. Later, Kathy Hilton spoke out about her choice to enrol Paris Hilton at the Provo Canyon School, describing it as an effort to support her child. It is obvious that parents make this choice with the greatest of intentions, wanting to prevent their children from heading in the wrong direction, given the amount of money that is frequently needed to send them to these programmes.

JJ is able to free Kiara from the facility in Outer Banks by convincing the administrator that her cat, which does not exist, has passed away. It’s a humorous moment as cunning JJ demonstrates his apparent talent for going above and above to support his pals. Kiara’s stint in the problematic teen industry only lasts a day in order to keep the show’s tone, and happily, it does not turn out to be too terrible. Yet, Outer Banks did so in a way that was nuanced and expertly woven into its plotline, and that, regardless of how dramatic other parts of the script are, is how you make influential television.

Outer Banks is presently available to stream on Netflix in all three of its seasons.

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