Brainwashing teenagers is easy. Just say "Jordan, your life is in danger."

I know a 15-year-old boy named "Jordan". He was just your normal American teenage kid but his parents didn't realize that his behavior was well within the range of normal -- and they hounded him until he ran off. But when, desperate and cold, he went back to his home and really really tried to live up to his parents' expectations of 24/7 perfection, they had him kidnapped in the middle of the night and dragged off to a "behavior modification" program somewhere in the wilds of Montana.

That was six long months ago, back when I was truly naive and didn't have a clue about what kind of program Jordan had been kidnapped of into -- or that such things even existed. "What the freak is a behavior modification program?" I said to myself. Then I started asking around. And I found out more about them than I ever wanted to know.

Even as we speak, tens of thousands of American teenagers are being held against their will in the various behavior modification "compounds" that you can find advertised on the web as "offering hope to struggling teens". As you browse their websites, you may notice that these operations all have one thing in common: They are always located out in the middle of nowhere, in places like Mexico, Jamaica, the Utah desert or the wilds of Montana; places where there is no governmental licensing, regulation or control.

Once children have been "disappeared" off into these programs, what happens to them? A strikingly similar pattern emerges. In every case, these children become isolated from everything they know and from everybody who might be able to help them keep a grip on reality as we know it. Once children reach these places, there is no way anyone can get in touch with them and they are held incommunicado for a period of approximately three to five months. No one -- not even their parents -- is allowed to communicate with these children during the first several months of these "programs'.

If any program EVER requests you to absolutely and completely sign off on your child in this manner, grab you child and RUN!

Want to know what happens to these children during this crucial three- to five-month period? Let's ask the ghost of Russian scientist Ivan Pavlovich Pavlov, the father of modern brainwashing. He will tell us about his experiments -- and how they used to apply only to dogs.

"So. Ivan. How did you develop this concept?"

"It was actually purely by accident," replied Pavlov Pavlovich. "There was a severe flooding in St. Petersburg one winter and I was not able to return to my laboratories for several days. When I finally got back there, many of my dogs had died and the rest of them were starving. Before this terrible tragedy happened, I had trained my dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. But after surviving this catastrophe, they had forgotten EVERYTHING I had taught them! Everything they had learned just flew out the window." How do you say window in Russian?

"After this unexpected event," continued Pavlov, "I learned not only that I could de-program any dog's brain but also that I could re-program it again with whatever I wanted. It was easy. All I had to do was place a dog in conditions where it became convinced it was in danger of dying and Voila! It would do whatever I wanted it to do. And what works so nicely on dogs also works well on humans. I've decided to call this process 'Brainwashing'. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Thank you, Ivan. You have just handed me the key to understanding behavior modification programs. In the first three to five months of these programs, children that are held in them are being brainwashed!

I first got a hint that Pavlov's dog-washing process was being used on American teenagers when, during my research into the program where Jordan is being held at, I talked to an alumni of said program. "I loved it there," she told me, eyes still slightly glazed over. "I wish I could go back there...." At this point, her voice trailed off and she seemed uncertain for a few seconds...like she couldn't exactly remember her script...but then the light went back on in her brain and her programming kicked in again. "I would give my life for the headmaster. He would give his life for me," she recited. "He is the only person who can keep me safe...." Yeah, right.

Isn't this what happened in Guyana in the 1970s when 914 cult members drank cyanide Kool Aid because Jim Jones told them that was the only way they'd be safe? And wasn't Patty Hearst kidnapped, starved and kept in a closet until she too "saw the light"?

So. What kind of experiences do children have at these places that enables them to be "brainwashed"? The programs always follow the Pavlovian pattern. Like Pavlov's dogs, children are somehow convinced that they are going to die and that their life is truly in danger. Then some kind, loving, good-cop-type "Headmaster" suddenly shows up and offers to save them.

According to various eye-witness and survivor reports, at Casa by the Sea in Mexico, children were starved, whipped and kept in dog kennels. At the Bethany Girls' Academy in Mississippi, a disobedient adolescent girl's arm was broken. At Straight, Inc. in Florida, children were beaten, starved and raped. And at the Rocky Mountain Academy in Idaho, children were forced to dig their own graves, climb into coffins and be buried alive until they were scared enough to agree to be "complaint".

Other "programs" used forced labor camps -- like the one in the movie "Holes" -- to subdue children. One large beautiful chalet at a program in the mountains of Montana was constructed totally by "students" whose parents were paying $4,000 a month for the privilege of sending their children off to forced labor camps.

Recently, I saw a photo of Jordan. He was standing second to the right in a group photo taken for publicity purposes by Jordan's "program". The photo was displayed on their website. Most of the children in the photo looked glazed-eyed, complacent and "brainwashed". Jordan just looked angry, defiant and mad. But every child in the picture, whether they were looking angry or compliant, all had one thing in common. THEY ALL LOOKED LIKE LITTLE KIDS. Even Jordan. Whether they looked like good little kids or bad little kids -- they all looked like LITTLE KIDS. These children had all regressed back into earlier childhood; back to a time when someone else took care of them and they were "safe".

Jeez Louise. Does the "Headmaster" now help change their diapers?

Moving on to the next question. Now that we know what happens to children inside these programs, what becomes of them after they come out? What little research I was able to do on this subject produced some very surprising results. For one thing, the parents of these children are usually pleased and thrilled with the results. "My defiant teenager is now sweet and helpful. It is such a marvelous change. I feel like I've gotten my baby back again."

Guess what, Mom. You have.

Your children, when they emerge from these programs, will remain your "baby" for the rest of their lives. Better get their old bedroom ready again, guys. These "babies" are yours forever.

Forget your dream of raising another Einstein, Pop. Your children's mental growth potential has been stopped cold. They are really good about following orders but that's about it.

Take for example the case of the "graduate" I recently talked with. She had tried going to college when she first got out. That didn't work. Then she hooked up with this or that new boyfriend. That didn't work either. Then she tried living on her own. That was no good. Now she is 22 years old and back living at home with her parents. "But what I really want to do," she told me, "is go back to the program. Maybe they would let me work as a counselor there...." Sure. Go for it. You'd fit right in. You'd never have to think again. Plus you could help them dig the graves and build the coffins.

I wonder what will finally happen to Jordan. Will he somehow miraculously be able to resist or escape his behavior modification program's "brainwash"? Or will he simply return to the home of his parents and stay with them forever, happily remaining their unthinking clone?

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Brainwashing the ADULTS of America: Pavlov's little trick has worked here as well. Our "Headmaster" in Washington has convinced Americans that their lives are in danger -- and that only HE can keep them safe! Result? Americans too have become unthinking clones. Good job, Pavlov!