BOOT CAMPS

My son has had a few behavior issues over the past year and a half. He has always had a difficult time meeting people and developing relationships. He is not shy, but he seems to be overly cautious about getting close to people. As a result he is one of those kids that people would describe as a loner. A year and a half ago we needed to relocate due to my husband’s job. We timed the move so that it would be at the beginning of the school year. My daughter was upset about leaving her friends behind, but she is very out going and people oriented, so I knew that she would quickly make new friends. I was worried about my son.

I was pleasantly surprised when my son started hanging out with a group of boys that lived in our new neighborhood. He would invite the boys to our house to play games and listen to music and he would go to their homes. I had met the parents of the boys and they were nice people that soon became friends with my husband and me. We were all shocked when the boys were caught shop lifting spray paint and using it to vandalize park equipment. We never thought we would become involved in the juvenile justice system. The boys had befriended a kid that had no parental supervision and had several juvenile charges. He talked them into spraying the gang signs on the playground equipment. He thought it would be fun to watch the parents of the neighborhood get upset. None of the other boys had been in trouble before so the judge sentenced them to twenty one days at three different boot camps that are located in our state. He did not want the boys to be at the boot camps at the same time.

Juvenile boot camps are set up very similar to the military training camps. The boys are regimented to get up when told, go to bed when told and to perform kitchen duties and other chores. Time is added on for infractions to the rules. The boot camps also have the physical training component that the military has. I was concerned that this was too harsh of a punishment for our son. Given his personality I was concerned that he would become more of a loner after the harsh punishment. My husband insisted that the boot camps would be a good experience for him and he wanted to make sure that our son never did anything illegal again.

After returning from their experiences from the boot camps the boys remained close, but each of them seemed more responsible. Our son is more polite and is more willing to lend a hand to complete tasks around the house. He says often that he will never commit another crime. For these boys the boot camps were very successful.