Boot Camp News

Seven guards from Maryland's boot camps for juvenile offenders have been fired for assaulting delinquents in their care, officials said yesterday as criminal investigations continued into the pattern of abuse spanning more than three years. This information was printed in the Baltimore Sun, January 11, 2000. Yet, the boot camp industry, as a whole, have advocated that they are effective in turning around the lives of those youths who have disobeyed the law to the point that they could no longer be controlled by the parent. Boot Camps are rarely an effective option for troubled teens. Boot camps are not designed to help the struggling teen deal with their underlying emotional issues.

Therefore, before a parent can make an educated decision (or an informed decision) about a military type boot camp school, one would need to know how the specific boot camp defines themself. According to one specific web site, the militaristic environment will set the child in the right path, regardless of the offenses prior to being admitted to such a facility; however, and even according to the Department of Juvenile Justice, such a school cannot possibly have an effect on a child's behavior unless there is a continuum with respect to the skills that the child learned while being confined. This is undisputable.

Parents are expecting miracles; but what most of the well-known boot camps for teens do not work well, especially if there is no aftercare launched immediately upon release from confinement. And, therefore, the parent is doing nothing more than wasting time and money.