A recent investigative report has highlighted several accounts of the abusive conduct carried out by adults at the Fort Stewart Youth Challenge Academy (FSYCA). One former employee says “inmates get treated better” than the adolescent cadets.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) revealed earlier this week that several at-risk youth and other adolescents attending the FSYCA in Fort Stewart, Georgia, have been subjected to abusive and traumatizing conditions created by employees of the facility – which caters to those aged between 16 and 18 years old.
The FSYCA, which is run by the Georgia National Guard, has had both public documents and former staffers describe a range of misconduct that is alleged to have happened behind closed doors.
“We were kids treated like animals,” 18-year-old former cadet Tabitha Olsen told the outlet via text message. “I understand how they liked to call themselves a military school and that it was supposed to be challenging, but I went through basic training for the Navy and it was nothing like the treatment that school put me under.”
One of the main issues highlighted by the AJC in the investigative report dealt with the use of chokeholds by cadres, or academy military staff.
“A chokehold, if the airway is constricted, could kill you,” said Jim Dooley, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice who teaches lessons on the use of deadly force at the New York City Transit Authority. “I'm…