Hacker News Reader

How long were you there?

Did your parents ever realize/own up to what you went through?

Edit: sorry for my ghoulish interest. Reading that comic absolutely blew my mind, and left me shook.

I was very fortunate that my parents believed me and withdrew me after ~5 months.

My parents sent me there with the best intentions. But elan tricked them. And they realized that. They have both apologized numerous times and explained how they regret the decision. Last year, so over 20 years later, out of the blue my dad just blurted out “I’m so sorry we sent you to elan. We truly didn’t know…”. It took me by surprise.

The parents get brainwashed by these companies. It's like a cult mindset. They've got the script down perfectly, preying on the parents insecurities and fears until rational people make irrational, fucked-up decisions.

Pretty much. elan knew exactly what the parents wanted to hear and see and would tailor the parents tour or questions around that.

But what about most kids there are from group homes or foster situations? Those people don't have that excuse, except perhaps for the first kid. The comic states they send dozens of kids there, over the years. So for CPS, the "they didn't know" doesn't apply.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com