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Boot Camp School for Troubled Youth

For a long time, boot camps were seen as an alternative to sending young teens to jail. It became the preferred alternative, in fact, as it was a place where these young kids were actually given a chance to rehabilitate and improve themselves. Even today, the function of boot camps pretty much remains the same. They serve the purpose of bringing a chance in young teens that may be troubled or have disciplinary issues. Today, boot camps have become extremely common and can be found just about anywhere in the country.

There are a few positive aspects of boot camps which instigate parents to send their troubled young kids to boot camps in order to overcome issues they may be facing in raising them. Boot camps are designed with the intention of inculcating within the young teens a very strong sense of discipline and a respect for authority. Since most parents send their teens to boot camps specifically because they are unable to discipline them; this becomes a majorly appealing factor of boot camps. Furthermore, boot camps also aid the youth in developing self-control, which is essential in problems such as drug abuse, as well as the ability to become a responsible citizen of the society rather than a burden for those around.

However, boot camps are generally very similar to an already accepted model of rehab, which is the military boot camp. These boot camps follow most of the same pattern as military boot camps in the sense that the young teens are disciplined through extremely strict and tough routines, rigorous drills and tactics of fear and punishment are used in order to fulfill the requirement of bringing about a change in the youth. Due to this reason, the change may actually be very extreme but may also be very short lived.

Many teens and young kids begin showing criminal behavior at a very prime age. For such youth, jail is too harsh an option because it does not allow the youth a chance to change them in a positive manner. For such teens, boot camps are the perfect solution because they are presented with a viable and effective alternative rather than spending years behind iron bars. These boot camps offer such teens a legitimate chance to see their behavior for what it is and bring about the change needed for them to function as responsible and reasonable members of the society.

However, for young teens that are facing behavioral issues due to deeper and complicated emotional or mental issues, boot camps are just the wrong place for them. The camps may be able to change their behavior but since boot camps do not offer any therapy or counseling, the underlying issues are never addressed and hence, any change is brought about in their behavior or dealing will be extremely short-lived and ineffective.

Therefore, boot camps can be the best option for certain troubled youth as it may save them from having to spend a life going in and out of jail. At the same time, however, boot camps may be the completely wrong option for certain troubled youth whose underlying issues are never addressed.