Photographer Helps Survivors of California Youth Training School Tell Their Horrific Stories of Life Inside of the Notorious "Gladiator School"”

Date:  10-24-2020 Formerly incarcerated youth claims that if you weren't violent you became a victim of violence

From Juvenile Justice Information Exchange: As David Reeve approached the picnic, he knew he was the odd one out. After all, it took some convincing for the group to make an exception for him. Unlike the men barbecuing and swapping prison stories, Reeve never spent time in California’s juvenile justice system or its infamous Youth Training School, which the men dubbed the “Gladiator School.” “They called YTS a gladiator school because you are going to learn and harden yourself into becoming a gladiator,” Reeve said. “You are going to learn to fight, to make deals and negotiate for survival because many of them were headed towards adult prisons like San Quentin or other hardened prisons.” Among the picnickers who gathered at Yucaipa Community Park in Yucaipa, California, for the reunion were John Berge. He spent 22 months at YTS before returning as an adult, working as a vocational instructor and later as an institutional gang investigator, Reeve said. Continue reading >>>