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Alternatives to Teen Boot Camps

With intervention and commitment you can give your teen
a second chance at success ... for happiness ... for life.
Critical Note Regarding Teen Boot Camps: Before ANY other intervention options are implemented for troubled teens we recommend a FREE placement consultation with "Parent and Teen Resources." They continually consult with professionals in the residential treatment care industry, and have much more experience than the vast majority of so-called "placement consultants" in helping parents find effective intervention options for their teens. They know the strengths and the vast weaknesses of residential programs (especially teen boot camps). Before you throw your money into residential treatment save yourself time, money, and heartache, and contact "Parent and Teen Resources." Their consultation is free, and they never charge parents for placement assistance. Take an honest look at working with "Parent and Teen Resources" as your ally and consultant in the placement process.

FOR IMMEDIATE TEEN HELP

Or to Make a Placement Inquiry
Read Below, then follow our TEEN HELP link (the "Please Help Me Now!" link)*

    Does Your Teen Struggle With the Following?

  • Always Acts Like A Victim
  • Can't Accept Feedback or Criticism
  • Refuses to Follow Instructions
  • Cannot Disagree without Emotional Outbursts
  • Rolls Eyes At or Mocks Authority Figures
  • Acts Entitled to Anything He/She Wants
  • Abuses Over-the-Counter Medication
  • Misleads Other Teens and/or Children
  • Creates a "Circus" Around Him/Herself
  • Constantly Creates Chaos and Tension
  • Uses Threats or Intimidation Techniques
  • Bullies Others (Peers, Siblings, etc.)
  • Observed or Suspected Substance Abuse
  • Serious School or Academic Problems
  • Disrespectful of Authority
  • Chooses or Attracts Negative Peers
  • Is Violent or Fights Often
  • Refuses to Accept Responsibility
  • Abrupt Changes in Personality
  • Pits Authority Figures Against One Another
  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
  • Bipolar, ADD, or ADHD
  • Eating Disorders (Anorexia, Bulimia)
  • Therapeutic and/or Learning Disorders
  • Risky Sexual Activities
  • Self-Mutilation (Cutting, Burning)
  • Suicidal Ideation or Glorification
  • Low Self-Esteem or Low Self-Image

If your teen is struggling with any of these issues, get help now.
Follow our teen help link (the "Please Help Me Now!" link) and call us for FREE assistance with placement in a residential program that is BETTER than Teen Boot Camps.

If you are considering placing your child in a Teen Boot Camp, we would like to suggest some alternatives. Although any residential program should be carefully scrutinized before enrolling a troubled teen in its services, most residential services can generally be considered better alternatives to Teen Boot Camps. Beyond failing to provide strong "therapeutic" intervention, most Teen Boot Camps fail to provide strong academic services. Worse, as you will see if you read below, money and time spent on a Teen Boot Camp will more than likely produce a teen who has successfully managed to "go underground" with his/her self-destructive behaviors. Those behaviors are destined to re-emerge once enrollment with the Teen Boot Camp is complete.

Our suggestion: Research therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, and therapeutic wilderness programs (NOT wilderness boot camps). As we state above, ANY residential program should be thoroughly researched and scrutinized prior to placement. However, you can be fairly confident that most Teen Boot Camps will fail to pass one or more rational standards of care and effective intervention. Please read below if you would like to know more. Otherwise, you can continue your research by using our TEEN HELP resources on this page.

Does Your Child Need a Teen Boot Camp?

Often when teens struggle with the numerous issues they face in today's society they become, frankly, quite unpleasant. Thousands of families throughout the country have felt that the best way to get youth back on track is to send them to teen boot camps. The idea is to both "straighten them out" and to legally punish them in the most painful way possible. However, unreported in both the media and from these programs is the fact that there is very little statistical evidence that teen boot camps have a long-term impact on the success of the child. In fact, there is mounting evidence that they are both ineffective and in many cases detrimental. But there are other options to teen boot camps. InsightPros is here to help.

What are Teen Boot Camps?

The idea of "shock incarceration" as a tough, low-cost alternative to more intensive programming brought about the establishment of Teen Boot Camps.

Are teen boot camps effective? Experts agree that a confrontational approach to teen issues is often inappropriate. Most correctional experts agree that a confrontational model, employing tactics of intimidation and humiliation, is counterproductive for most teens. The use of this kind of model has led to disturbing incidents of abuse. For teens with emotional, behavioral, or learning problems, degrading tactics may be particularly inappropriate and potentially damaging. The bullying style and aggressive interactions that characterize the teen boot camp environment fail to model the pro-social behavior and development of empathy that struggling teens really need to learn.

Positive changes demonstrated while in teen boot camps may not last when a student returns to his community. Many teens report that the program is helpful to them, and they feel more positive about their futures. It is unclear, however, whether these attitudes persist after students leave the teen boot camps, or whether they are related to actual changes in behavior once a teen returns to his community. Without significant therapeutic intervention while in the program, as well as specialized aftercare following release, teen boot camps have been consistently unsuccessful in "changing" troubled kids.

What are the alternatives to teen boot camps? Teens who need some form of treatment care require an individualized approach that takes their strengths and needs into account. Programs and policies should be family-centered, including the family in all decision making about a child, as well as culturally and developmentally appropriate. Research has shown that small, family-centered programs are more effective than teen boot camps for
long-term change.

What kinds of intervention will build the life changing self-esteem and confidance that your child needs to be successful for the long run?

A major problem facing teenagers and youth today is low self-esteem or feelings of worthlessness.

Many, if not all, of your child's destructive behaviors could merely be symptoms of this one core problem.

Be certain that the intervention you choose builds, rather than destroys his/her self esteem, instilling life-long positive change by dealing with the core issues.

An abusive or overly restrictive setting may not build the confidence and self-esteem your child needs. Television and Hollywood have glamorized the idea of "sticking it to our kids" through brat camps or boot camps. Yet entertainment isn't treatment. There are better alternatives.

If your teenager exits a program with the same low self-image that he/she entered with, he/she will continue to engage in the behaviors that validate his/her self perception.

Many parents choose to pursue interventions that address the symptoms only. Attacking the symptoms will drive the destructive behaviors underground - only to resurface at a later date. This approach wastes valuable time and resources and may even make things worse.

You have made the right choice in seeking help. The next step is to contact us. We have a great deal of experience in the treatment care industry. We have worked in the industry. We have lived in the industry. We have seen what works ...... and what doesn't.

We are personally familiar with many of the industry's best alternatives to teen boot camps.

You have made the right choice in seeking help. The next step is to contact us. We have vast experience in the treatment care industry. We have worked in the industry. We have lived in the industry. We have seen what works ...... and what doesn't.

We will guide you. We will inform you. Take advantage of our knowledge and insight. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

To inquire regarding placement in a residential program that is NOT a Teen Boot Camp, complete the contact form found by following our teen help link (above right). To speak with someone about enrollment in a TEEN HELP SCHOOL follow our teen help link and call us now.*

* The toll-free placement number and the contact form provided on this site to assist with residential placement both result in inquiries being directed to "Parent and Teen Resources," an independent organization from the organizations operated by the owners of InsightPros.Com and StrongModel.Com (InsightPros). "Parent and Teen Resources" is bound by law and by the InsightPros Privacy Policy to guarantee the confidentiality and security of your information. This teen help phone number as well as the contact form are provided for the convenience of, and a resource to our site visitors. All data passed through the form is directly transferred to a secure database, rather than through email. Both the technological and the human resources of this service are provided to you "as is" without express or implied warranty of any kind. InsightPros does NOT receive any "per placement" or "commission-based" remuneration for placements made by "Parent and Teen Resources" in any treatment program. "Parent and Teen Resources" is one among many advertisers on the InsightPros sites who fulfills their purpose by providing site users with additional resources, and may or may not assist you with placement in teen boot camps. You agree, by using either the placement phone number or the contact form on this site, to indemnify, defend and hold InsightPros.Com and its owners harmless from and against any losses, claims, liabilities, damages, costs or expense of any kind (including reasonable attorneys' fees) which arise out of, relate to or are in any way connected with "Parent and Teen Resources" and any actual or alleged acts or omissions by "Parent and Teen Resources," its employees, agents and representatives.