Inside Scientology: The Children of the Cult

Trigger Warning: Today's blog is not going to be a happy one. Discussion of child abuse ahead.

For over ten years, I was involved in Scientology. For the first half, I was receiving counseling and studying their teachings on a more casual basis. The second half however, I was on staff full-time at one of their largest churches in America.

During this time I was working as a counselor, but I was also the nanny during their public events. Of which there were many. There would also be children who needed babysitting while their parents were in session, or in the classroom. Not many people wanted to be stuck on "baby duty," but I loved it. Plus, it's a great excuse to be away from all of the insanity, being paid (when lucky) to just hang out and color; it was the best gig in a horrible situation.

All of this to say, I spent a decade involved with a group who insisted that their goal was to save mankind... all while actively and intentionally forcing their children to be neglected, uneducated, and then pushed deeper into the very cult that made them this way.

Today, we're going to take a look at the children of Scientology.

The childhood they never had

My Introduction to The Children of Scientology

I am not a reporter. I am not a journalist. This is not some giant exposé that I have spent months researching after years of being undercover. I'm not going to talk about The Ranch, except to say that I did briefly live with a guy who grew up there, or any of the other stories you may have heard in other articles. I am here to talk about the things that I saw and experienced first hand. Those were bad enough.

My first introduction to the "Children of Scientology" took place before I had even left Canada. While I was in Calgary for counselling, I stayed with an older couple who were the personal auditors of my ex, and a couple of men around my age who were also in town for Scientology services; one of whom was their son. We all lived together for a few months before I moved to America, and I heard so many stories.

The couple used to be in the Sea Org, before the "no kids" rule, and their son was born in England while they were building the St. Hill Organization in East Grinsted. She would tell me stories about him as a toddler, sobbing before being taken away on a bus with all of the other children, raised by babysitters who were still children themselves, sometimes not being allowed to see them for months on end. At one point, while the church in England was still being built, he was four years old and running around unattended, no one could find him... until they spotted him standing some 10 feet up on the bare rafters. This was told to me as a funny anecdote.

That was just my brief introduction. By the time I got to the States, I was not prepared for the rampant neglect and brainwashing that had not only been normalized, but was glamorized.

Don't worry, the big one's taking care of the little one

"I Was Raised Under a Desk"

Somebody reached out to me recently, and said something that prompted me to write this blog. "I was raised under the desk, and in the classroom."

This is the sad reality for so many children born to Scientology staff-member parents.

In my short time at this church, there were at least a dozen married couples on staff with children, not to mention all of the parents who would come in for services and events; this meant that the church was always full of children of all ages. Most of the children of staff members literally grow up sleeping under the desks. And then, when they're too old for their car seats, taking Scientology courses aimed at children in the classroom. All. Day. Long.

Scientology is very particular about needing to follow "the laws of the land." They have been investigated in the past, and they are aware that there are agencies waiting for any excuse to investigate them again. Because of this, they are very strict on their constituents not breaking any laws, or at least not getting caught doing so. In turn, you are never to turn in another Scientologist to the law. You do not sue anyone, you do not file police reports, you do not talk to law enforcement at all, unless not doing so would be against the law. Yes, you read that right. And no, I am not exaggerating. According to their book of Ethics, reporting or handing over another member to "the law" in any way is a Crime, and doing so could result in being kicked out.

A quick note here: One could think "Okay cool, so what? Get kicked out! Then you can leave!" Unfortunately, no. Nothing in Scientology is ever that easy. If you're kicked out, you are deemed a Suppressive Person. This is a person who is actively fighting against Scientology, and therefore must also be actively fighting against mankind. This means that they are evil, and so is every person who associates with them. When you get "declared," you lose all of your friends and family; unless they want to be declared too. You have no money, no connections, no education, no way to live.

And that's if they allow you to leave at all.

Where is Shelly? And so many others who never returned home.

The Children of Scientology

For a lot of these children, Scientology and Scientologists are the only thing they've ever known. It's been around for long enough now that multiple generations of Scientologists exist.

Where I worked alone, the two older women who ran the two different shifts (think day and night shift) were both mothers to adult children, and most of them were also on staff, having babies of their own, and running the place.

Only one wasn't. And that's because he is a convicted child sex offender.

Hiring him would either be against the law, or just a massive PR flap; I can't remember what rule exactly kept him off staff, but it didn't stop them from having him constantly at the church, running seminars and raising money, even when his now-adult victim and her family would frequently be in attendance.

Sadly, he wasn't even on my radar for one of the biggest threats to the children there.

Breaking down all of the terrifying men I had been locked in rooms with, forcing them to confess their worst wants and deeds to me, that will have to wait for another blog. But there were many, and they were dangerous. And despite all of the gaslighting the cult tried to throw at me, they know exactly the type of men they were allowing to be around those children.

The biggest threat to those children, however, was the simple culture of Scientology itself. It is a mission based cult. The mission was supposed to be "saving the world," but really, it's just about being the biggest church, and making the most money. At any cost.

The children start as liabilities. Staff members don't make any money, and missing time is not an option. You can't afford childcare, and you don't have anyone you can leave them with; everyone you know is also a Scientologist, so they're busy at the same times you are. In some lucky cases, you'll get someone who volunteers to babysit for little to no money. But these are few and far between, and sadly they are typically people who came to the country illegally (or not on a working visa) for Scientology, and are just desperate for any way to earn some extra money. Most of the babies wind up sleeping in their car seats, under the desks, so their mothers can do some kind of paperwork or whatever busywork they've found for her to do while not being able to move or focus much.

As the children get older, they all run in packs around the church; the bigger ones taking care of the little ones. Until they're old enough to start taking Scientology courses, and going in session. There are no age restrictions on services, I have taken a newborn in session for something called a "body assist." (Nothing on the cans, more like "laying hands" or energy work) They start them as young as possible.

Some would attend school, but most were home-schooled. Unfortunately, this is all a part of what keeps them trapped. When children are exposed to others outside of the cult, they start to form different thoughts and ideas. They'll openly talk about their parents being in Scientology, and other kids have different ideas. This often leads to Google, where the children start to learn upsetting things about the cult they're in, and then they talk to their parents or siblings about it. Inevitably, everyone ends up in some kind of trouble for it, and the children learn to stop asking questions.

Once they hit pre-teen age, they split off into two factions: the ones who stay, and the ones who leave. Unfortunately, the ones who want to leave are still dependent on their Scientologist parents, so their teen years end up being miserable. I had to take so many troubled teens in session; I could tell they just wanted to walk a different path, but that simply is not an option when your whole family are Scientologists. But wanting to leave meant that you must be doing evil acts of some kind, so they would be interrogated, investigated and pushed onto courses... Wanting to leave would only push them in even deeper.

Unfortunately, those were the lucky ones. Having a miserable time like that in their teen years had a tendency to leave an ugly mark, and as soon as they could quietly walk away, they were gone.

The other children, the believers... They rarely get out. And most of the time, they end up in the Sea Org years before they turn 18.

There were dozens of teenagers that walked through the doors while I was there. By that age, they don't want to be in school anymore, so they would be "home schooled" at the Church; meaning the parents would just sign off on whatever was needed so they could pass all of their classes and graduate, or just get a GED as soon as possible. This way, they could be full-time staff members as soon as possible.

The Sea Org is constantly getting parents to sign over guardianship of their children so they can take them over state lines, or even to different countries, and have them join the Sea Org as young as they can legally get away with.

This is done intentionally. Because they know that this is the age when people are at their most vulnerable, eager, and easily manipulated. This is also called grooming.

The children start as liabilities. They end up as cannon fodder.

More "bodies in the shop." More people on staff. More numbers.

Just. Another Number.

We're off to save the world! See you never!

Final Thoughts

This blog has been so incredibly difficult to write. I think I managed to write a paragraph a day before I would have to just put it down and walk away. I was a part of the problem. I was a part of the recruitment cycles. I took children in session, I helped them "learn about Scientology;" which really just means I helped to brainwash them.

I can not go back in time and undo any of the damage I've done. All I can do now is talk about it, and keep talking about it. Tell your friends, tell your loved ones. Scientology is more than Tom Cruise being weird and jumping on a couch, or John Travolta mispronouncing names and inappropriately grabbing women at awards shows. It is a money-making and power-seeking machine, that is stealing the lives of children to fund yet another marble mansion.

They need to be stopped. They can not continue if people stop joining.

Finally, for all of my "blueberries:" I remember you. I miss you. I really hope you find this one day. Please reach out, if you want to. Your families do love you, but you are not wrong. Scientology is not the answer. I think about you every day 🫂🫐