Having released on March 5, 2024, Netflix’s latest docuseries, The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping, delves into the exploits at The Academy at Ivy Ridge. The director of this project is one of the school’s former students, Katherine Kubler.
According to Tudum by Netflix, even though it has been a long time since Kubler left The Academy, she is still reeling from the trauma she experienced there. Gradually, she created a documentary, only to learn that the truth was more gruesome than expected. The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping sheds light on the troubled teen industry.
As per IMDb, the synopsis of The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping reads, “Investigative docuseries about a woman haunted by her teenage experience at a troubled youth program.”
What happened at The Academy at Ivy Ridge?
Tudum by Netflix noted The Academy at Ivy Ridge felt more like a prison than a school. Like other students, her freedom became restrictive when Katherine Kubler arrived. Moreover, the school didn’t allow them to talk, smile, go outside, or even freely communicate with the outside world.
One of the survivors shared their experience on the website Trapped In Treatment. They stated, “While I can admit that I wasn’t the perfect child in my teenage years, I never did anything so serious that warranted being subjected to the emotional trauma and abuse that this place inflicted upon me.”
They further stated, “The program worked by using manipulation and brainwashing tactics, on both the students and the parents. Parents were typically unaware of what this place truly was. The reason was that the school marketed themselves as being something entirely different.”
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping is now available to stream on Netflix.
