By nature, boot camps are semi – penal institutions that have a military – style of living.  Boot camps can be likened to rehabilitation centers in the fact that these are facilities meant to help troubled teens.  But unlike conventional rehabilitation centers, there are no therapy programs or psychological interventions being practiced here to address any underlying causes of behavioral problems.    Boot camps operate on the theory that a quick “kick in the pants” will turn things around for a troubled teen.

Boot camps aim to instill discipline through military exercises and drills and painstaking physical trainings.  The objective is to “break” a rebellious teen, straighten him up so he can return home a “reformed” person, likened to a “good soldier” who will conform to authority, abide by the rules, and improve general behavior and conduct at home and in school.    There are several types of boot camps.   There are state – run facilities which are more of a substitute for juvenile jails.  Then there are the privately – run “get tough” facilities which are intended to challenge troubled teens and straighten them up.  Boot camps are like military boarding schools but for a shorter period of time.  

There are facilities for boys and there are Boot Camps For Girls.   Boot camps are common for boys as compared with girls.  However, desperate parents with troubled teenage daughters, would send them to Boot Camps For Girls in the hope that the facility will ‘knock some sense” into their heads.  Is it the right choice?

In order to decide whether a Boot Camps For Girls is the help your daughter needs, assess your goals for sending her to such facility.  Is it for punishment or for behavioral change?  While boot camps can give your daughter a strong message of punishment for her wrongdoings and that she has to change, boot camps do not offer any therapy programs that can teach them life skills and experiences to make a more lasting behavioral change.    Boot Camps For Girls may be effective in temporarily scaring your daughter to change for the better but it can make your daughter feel resentment and bitterness towards you in the end.

There has been debate on the effectiveness of boot camps.  Many therapists do not agree that such methods create well – adjusted and responsible adults.    A certain study has shown that teens that come from boot camps are more likely to turn up otherwise.   Boot camps have also had their share of controversy such as abusive staff members and assaults.  It is no wonder that boot camps have had their share of lawsuits over the past decade.