For many teenagers, punishments look like getting grounded or losing their phone for a week. But in some cases, more drastic measures are taken.
When TikToker Chad (@chadwfranke) was 14 years old, he talked back to his parents a couple of times, like any teenager would do.
However, that was enough for them to send him to a wilderness program in Arizona. These programs were designed to help troubled teens by placing them in rugged outdoor environments where they learn survival skills.
He was with around 10 other boys, but they were much older. They were more like 17 or 18 years old.
In Arizona, he was required to hike about 10 miles per day through the desert. During his first week there, the other boys were not too fond of him. He was younger, slower, and definitely was not as strong as them.
One of them, a guy named Satchel, really disliked him. Satchel was a really muscular and intimidating guy from Atlanta, Georgia. He won the state championship in the top division of his high school wrestling tournament.
One night, the group was exhausted and hungry after a long day of hiking. Chad decided to heat up some pre-cooked mashed potatoes over the fire. He had made the fire himself out of wood and a piece of string.
He put the mashed potatoes in the pot and then went into the woods to relieve himself. He dug a three-inch hole to use as his toilet and covered it up with dirt when he was finished.
In the five minutes that he was gone, Satchel decided to tamper with his food. He contaminated it with his own bodily fluids. Chad realized something was off after everyone started laughing when he put the food in his mouth.
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He immediately spat out the mashed potatoes.
The counselors figured out what happened after everyone snitched on Satchel. The next morning, four patrol officers drove out to the desert, picked Satchel up, put him in handcuffs, and took him away. The boys never saw Satchel again.
Many TikTok users were shocked by the food incident and the terrible treatment from wilderness programs. Several of them shared their own experiences or near-misses with similar programs.
“My friend got sent to a military camp this week for kissing a girl,” commented one user.
“I went to a coed wilderness camp for the entire month of July. It was awful,” stated another.
“I got threatened with this constantly! I think the only reason I didn’t get sent was because my mom had ADHD and would just forget about me entirely,” wrote a third.
“Two wilderness programs and three residentials. I never went home. I got out right before I turned 21. I just turned 30, and it still haunts me,” added another.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
