Across the world for decades, parents have threatened their unruly children with the notion of sending them to military school if they don’t shape up. Nine out of ten times, those unruly kids or teens never go to military school. They either straighten out on their own time or they continue to be menaces to society. In today’s society, sending your child to military school isn’t always the first option anymore. There are lots of places that can be referred to as juvenile boot camps that are meant to reform your teen and send them back to you as a changed person. If you believe that is possible, then looking into juvenile boot camps may be a great choice for your family.
There has been a ton of controversy in recent years about the effectiveness of juvenile boot camps. Depending on who you talk to, they are either very effective or a complete waste of time and money. Since the cost of some of these boot camps are averaging $15,000-20,000 for attendance, people should be completely sure of the need to send their child before investing that large amount of money into fixing a problem that may not be fixed at all. A lot of parents enlist their teenager under the assumption that juvenile boot camps will be a reality check and a quick fix. Unfortunately, it isn’t very common for a short stay at a boot camp to be a quick fix. Perhaps for younger teens who are in the early stages of rebellion and acting out could be candidates for a quick fix short stay in a boot camp. However, once the teens are more set in their destructive behaviors and appear to have no structure for themselves, a short term camp isn’t going to help them in the least. Those teens should be attending a long term juvenile boot camp.
Some of the controversy that has come to light in regards to these juvenile boot camps is the safety of your unruly teens. Instructors have gotten a lot of negativity when they push the teen a bit too far either mentally or physically. It is one thing to willingly enlist in military school or boot camp and expect the rigorous exercises and screaming in your face mentality. It is another thing to take a teen who is struggling through their life and may have underlying issues and push them entirely too far. If you’re a parent who is considering enrolling your teen in a juvenile boot camp, make sure that you do your homework. Don’t be too quick to write the check and pack your child’s suitcase for them. Find out what the boot camp’s policies are. Find out how many complaints have been filed, if any. See if you can arrange a trip to spend a few hours observing and visiting with some of the staff members. Your child may be out of control and in major need of some major changes, but you owe it to your child and yourself to ensure that the program will be effective and keep your child safe as well.
