Orotina, Costa Rica
Dozens of American teens ran away from a private reform school in Costa Rica after government officials arrived to investigate reports of abuse, The New York Times reported this week. The Costa Rican authorities told the 200 students, ages 11 to 17, that they could not be held at the Academy at Dundee Ranch against their will. “Kids heard that and they started running for the door,” said Hugh Maxwell, 17. Parents pay $30,000 a year to send troubled teens to Dundee Ranch, where administrators promise to use tough-love techniques to straighten them out. Authorities have been receiving reports of beatings and other abuse for two years. More than 30 kids escaped during the government inspectors’ visit. Some tried to find their way back to the U.S., and others reportedly headed for the beach, 20 miles away.
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