I was in elan and yea, a lot of similarities. elan had a pretty extensive class system. Shot down was the lowest, worker was standard entry level, then expeditor, then something else, then guru, and I can’t remember the rest.
Anything lower then expeditor weren’t allowed to talk to one another without a higher up “being aware” or couldn’t use the bathroom without an escort(who could deny you if they were busy or just didn’t want to). If you wanted to speak to a staff member(even if they were right next to you) you had to ask a higher leveled person who would then tell the staff you wanted to talk. At meal time the highest member at the table got to pick the food first followed by the next highest and so on.
elan also did the same thing with boys and girls. They were not supposed to talk to each other and doing so could get you in trouble. elan had like 4 houses and on the very rare occasions the houses crossed paths, you were not allowed to talk to them or even LOOK at them.
They also stripped you of any “old you” identities. Plain clothes, no logos, no piercings, no jewelry, no non standard hair colors/cuts(I don’t think they even allowed boys to have long hair), no hats, and no hoodies.
They did the same thing with music as well. No swear words or extreme stuff. Thankfully burning cds were a new thing when I was there and my used his works CD burner to burn me some good music I liked.
If they suspected you were going to escape( pretty much impossible, the place is in bumfuck Maine in the woods) they would make you wear fluorescent clothing, and in the case of boys… fluorescent PINK clothing and take your shoelaces. Sometimes make you wear a sign around your neck as well.
The one good thing about elan was it wasn’t backed by religion. I don’t even remember an option for church.
The school I went to did the same with stripped identity. No logo clothing, everyone got the same haircuts. Kids on punishment “learning experience” wore either a bright Orange shirt or red shirt with the words “learning experience” or orange jumpsuit with “runaway call 911” written all over it.
We didn’t have access to anything like music, computers, phones, etc. The only contact we had with the outside world was through supervised parent phone calls, supervised doctor visits (only if you absolutely had to go off-site), and supervised on-site family visits once you were promoted to strength.
Excel’s program was rooted in AA which they claimed didn’t require a higher power or religion, only a belief in a higher power outside of yourself.
It was an incredibly controlling environment. The amazing thing is, even in such a place I managed to form some good memories and forget a lot of the bad. I immersed myself in schoolwork, and duties like working in the kitchen which was an enjoyable outlet since I like cooking.
At the end though, I guess I was just one of those who faked their way to the top (strength) as I was one of the fastest students ever to reach the appropriate level, but I hid my unhappiness and disagreement with their methods and refused to return as soon as I turned 18 and had my first off-campus visit.
Since you mentioned religion. Most places like that I know of in Germany were either church influenced state-run or state-sanctioned church-run. Which added an additional layer of hell... One the church is really reluctant to talk about, and state authorities to investigate.
Most of the Troubled Teen industry in the US spun out of Synanon, so it comes from a very particular religious background. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synanon
It seems like Elan comes from there, but I can't be sure.
Anything lower then expeditor weren’t allowed to talk to one another without a higher up “being aware” or couldn’t use the bathroom without an escort(who could deny you if they were busy or just didn’t want to). If you wanted to speak to a staff member(even if they were right next to you) you had to ask a higher leveled person who would then tell the staff you wanted to talk. At meal time the highest member at the table got to pick the food first followed by the next highest and so on.
elan also did the same thing with boys and girls. They were not supposed to talk to each other and doing so could get you in trouble. elan had like 4 houses and on the very rare occasions the houses crossed paths, you were not allowed to talk to them or even LOOK at them.
They also stripped you of any “old you” identities. Plain clothes, no logos, no piercings, no jewelry, no non standard hair colors/cuts(I don’t think they even allowed boys to have long hair), no hats, and no hoodies.
They did the same thing with music as well. No swear words or extreme stuff. Thankfully burning cds were a new thing when I was there and my used his works CD burner to burn me some good music I liked.
If they suspected you were going to escape( pretty much impossible, the place is in bumfuck Maine in the woods) they would make you wear fluorescent clothing, and in the case of boys… fluorescent PINK clothing and take your shoelaces. Sometimes make you wear a sign around your neck as well.
The one good thing about elan was it wasn’t backed by religion. I don’t even remember an option for church.