Cyndy Etler

Dec 29, 2024 | courant.com | Cyndy Etler

The fix for Bridgeport Public Schools’ chronic absenteeism is simple, but few know it exists. As district leaders, school administrators, and parents on the Attendance Task Force address practical barriers including transportation and childcare needs, they should consider the baseline reason teens avoid school: they don’t want to be there. Teenagers are endlessly resourceful. They find ways to avoid what they don’t want. On the flip side, when there’s something teens do want, they’re unstoppable.

Sep 10, 2024 | sheknows.com | Cyndy Etler

Algebra = Not fun. Nipping out to McDonald’s = Fun. AP History = Not so fun. Hiding in the woods with friends during third period = Extra fun. Chemistry = Torture. Sleeping through the snooze button in a soft, warm bed = Absolute bliss. Your average high schooler might use these equations to explain why they ditch class, but that isn’t the full story.

Jul 29, 2024 | humanparts.medium.com | Cyndy Etler

He was a twelve-year-old boy. I could feel his death because I lived it, when my own mother paid to have me locked up and brutalized. Official accounts say he died by asphyxiation, his mouth and nose smothered by the material of the bivy - the coffin-like one-person tent - into which he'd been placed by the wilderness camp staff. But as any kid who's done time in the troubled teen industry (TTI) will confirm, even after they kill you, sometimes you're still breathing.

Jul 4, 2024 | newsweek.com | Cyndy Etler

Crushed by a throng of bantering teenagers, I moved past the armed policeman and through the metal detectors. It was my first day of work at Dorchester High, an urban school in Boston. My soon-to-be students included a 17-year-old arms dealer and an adolescent prostitute. It felt good to be home. I became a teacher to save teens' lives because my high school teacher saved mine. I was suicidal as a youth, the result of a savagely abusive childhood.

Mar 24, 2024 | yahoo.com | Cyndy Etler

A former Straight Inc. warehouse, which was occupied by Straight spinoff program "Kids Helping Kids" when this photo was taken in 2005. Courtesy of Kris Flannery / SurvivingStraightInc.comWhen I was a kid, my mother locked me in a warehouse and left me there. For 16 months. Her husband had been beating and molesting me, but then I hit puberty and started fighting back ― and nobody wants to deal with a loud, angry teenager. The warehouse was occupied by a “tough love” program called Straight Inc.