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Commentary By Christina Buttons

Don’t Believe Paris Hilton’s Bull About the ‘Troubled Teen’ Industry

Culture, Health Culture & Society

Paris Hilton was back in the spotlight — not for a new reality show, but as the face of a movement to abolish youth residential treatment. Her claims of abuse at a Utah facility in the 1990s helped launch the viral #BreakingCodeSilence campaign, which has since inspired a dozen state laws, a federal law, and an upcoming Netflix dramatization of the “troubled teen industry.”

The message pushed by Hilton and other self-identified “survivors” is clear: All residential programs are abusive by design. But behind the documentariesexposés, and TikTok testimonials lies a far more complex truth.

Residential treatment isn’t where parents send kids for typical teenage rebellion — it’s often a last resort for kids in crisis. These programs vary widely — from locked psychiatric facilities to wilderness therapy — in structure, clinical intensity, and quality.

Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post

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Christina Buttons is an investigative reporter at the Manhattan Institute.

Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images