Alternative boarding school offering troubled teens programs and boot camps providing teenage help and parenting advice and tips.

Are you looking for a boot camp? Teen boot camps are one of the most widely known alternatives for kids who are struggling in life. A juvenile boot camp is a resource that many parents pursue to provide structure and discipline for their teen. These structured troubled teen camps do just that. Introduced in the early 1980’s, boot camps have long been an alternative that judges have used in lieu of jail time for offending juveniles. Recently, in the last ten years, boot camps have become more known for the behavior modification of teens and have been featured on many different television talk shows. Parents, without the help of the state, send their teen to private boot camps to change their behavior. The results of how well these programs work are inconclusive.

Benefits/Downsides of Wilderness Programs for Troubled Teens:

There are many benefits to sending your teen to a wilderness program for at-risk youth, and also a few downsides. The outdoor therapy that wilderness treatment programs offer is very effective in helping troubled teens to appreciate the luxuries of life and to help them to start thinking about what is really important. The outdoors offers powerful therapy that will help almost any lost teen to find a good direction in life and make parenting teens easier. Unfortunately, many wilderness programs are very expensive (usually $15,000.00 to $20,000.00+) for a six-to-eight week length of stay and usually require that the troubled teen goes on to a more long-term Boarding School or Residential Treatment Program after completion of the wilderness program. If you as a parent can find a long-term boarding school or residential program that utilizes the outdoors and offers similar structure and outdoor experiences as you will find in a wilderness program or a troubled teens camp, you will save time and money.

There are several private and state-funded initiatives that address issues of juvenile delinquency. The effectiveness of these programs, however, have always been under scrutiny by behavioral analysts and experts.

Boot camps have recently been facing many controversies and questions about whether they are effective or not. It's probably better to put things into perspective when thinking about sending your teen to boot camp or not.