The teen boot camps are originally designed for the troubled adolescents; this type of boot camp normally deals on teens with problems on behavior and substance abuse. Here, they are guided with supervision under the manner of military discipline to ensure a brighter future for them and also to ensure that they would be productive members of the community as they grow older.
Teen boot camps are said to be effective in straightening a teen’s undisciplined behavior by reinforcing formation and discipline. Their fundamental principle is subjecting the rebellious teenagers to profound mental and physical molding to cultivate them into better persons.
These boot camps are run by supervisors whose orders can be compared to military officers; the slightest violation on the rules will mean a punishment. That is why the participants in these boot camps are facing desolate form of disciplinary action. Included here also is the “in-your-face” system, the term use for the boot camp confrontation. Here, a disciplinary officer will subject the teen to many one on one personal contact where they would be given direct attention to their behavior and correcting them accordingly.
Previous supervisors employ corporal systems in these camps, although these systems were already prohibited by the legislation. Teenage boot camps likewise give stress in practicing bodily exercise as well as mind control.
Teen boot camps, in addition, are also establishing equality among its members. The teenagers in these camps are compelled to do without any contact to any of their family and friends. Members also wear their uniforms, and in several teen camps, the members shaves the heads of the children to build more synchronization among them.
Moreover, inside of these boot camps, the supervisors do not tend to call the members by their names to avoid the impression of giving distinct importance to anyone of them. The moment the teenager spends a bit of time inside the boot camp this will be followed with the assistance of aftercare.
Aftercare is the period of mentoring; here the troubles of the teens are discussed, then drawing a solution after. During this phase, the members may also be taught several job-training abilities.
However, these teenage boot camps are encountering many controversies; one of these is the claim that boot camps do not do anything to develop these teens, that instead of helping the teens; they are causing them more harm.
According to some critics, the results of boot camp training to teenagers are only short-term and are often forgotten the moment the camp is over. They also claim that the teenagers who join the camps can possibly to become more rebellious after a while.
Some experts also argue that teenage boot camps do not moderate their tendency to recidivism. These offenders after spending their time inside the boot camp may probably slip back to their original behavior the moment they went out.
In addition to these, critics do not see these boot camps to be friendly to the government when it comes to money. The budget required for running these boot camps are quite high. That though boot camps only require a short time for teenage offenders to be provided with corrective measure, these are not yet feasible to the monetary investments of both the government and the parents.
