Boot Camps - Are They A Quick Fix?
The idea of a teenage boot camp is to attempt to instil discipline in a teenager in a 6- 8 week period. There are government and private boot camps, some run for actual juvenile delinquents, others for teenagers who have general behaviour problems.
The model for commercial teen boot camps is military boot camps where new recruits learn to orient themselves to the military and to acquire, discipline, physical training, etc.
Other options for more long-term training of young people, usually young men are military and boarding schools. However the long year-by-year boarding school programs are often too expensive for parents are may be considered a too extreme solution.
The advantage of sending a teen to a boot camp is that both the teen and the parents get a bit of a break from each other. The teen gets a chance to learn new attitudes, and the parents have a chance to go to counselling, to ask themselves what they did wrong in their teens upbringing, and try to find solutions at their end of the problem.
Of course it is difficult to send a teenager away. Parents generally don't want to do that. The problem is you have kids who are so defiant. They refuse to go to school, they use cigarettes when told not to, and some of them use illegal drugs.
With young people there are also sexual issues, some are having sex, some use it as an excuse to go out of control. By putting a child in a "boot camp" or a wilderness camp, you give him a chance to be isolated from his environment and give him/her a chance to concentrate on developing themselves, on education.
Often children who are sent to boot camp for seven weeks after have to be sent to boarding school of some sort. Boot camp may get them under control, but for a long term intervention and really changed behaviour, something more is often needed. The idea is that boot camps are not a magic solution to teenager problems. They are useful to give the children and the parents a time out.
The better boot camps are more wilderness camps and educational camps, because the military orientation in itself can tend to cause tremendous resentments in teens unless there is a family tradition of people being involved in the military, or some other positive identification with the program. If the teen learns a new skill or a new sport this might help a lot.
The model for commercial teen boot camps is military boot camps where new recruits learn to orient themselves to the military and to acquire, discipline, physical training, etc.
Other options for more long-term training of young people, usually young men are military and boarding schools. However the long year-by-year boarding school programs are often too expensive for parents are may be considered a too extreme solution.
The advantage of sending a teen to a boot camp is that both the teen and the parents get a bit of a break from each other. The teen gets a chance to learn new attitudes, and the parents have a chance to go to counselling, to ask themselves what they did wrong in their teens upbringing, and try to find solutions at their end of the problem.
Of course it is difficult to send a teenager away. Parents generally don't want to do that. The problem is you have kids who are so defiant. They refuse to go to school, they use cigarettes when told not to, and some of them use illegal drugs.
With young people there are also sexual issues, some are having sex, some use it as an excuse to go out of control. By putting a child in a "boot camp" or a wilderness camp, you give him a chance to be isolated from his environment and give him/her a chance to concentrate on developing themselves, on education.
Often children who are sent to boot camp for seven weeks after have to be sent to boarding school of some sort. Boot camp may get them under control, but for a long term intervention and really changed behaviour, something more is often needed. The idea is that boot camps are not a magic solution to teenager problems. They are useful to give the children and the parents a time out.
The better boot camps are more wilderness camps and educational camps, because the military orientation in itself can tend to cause tremendous resentments in teens unless there is a family tradition of people being involved in the military, or some other positive identification with the program. If the teen learns a new skill or a new sport this might help a lot.