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Boot Camps for Families of Troubled Teens (Both Boys and Girls Boot Camps)

Abundant Life Academy is the alternative to boot camps for troubled teens, troubled boys, and troubled girls. At Abundant Life Academy we present a Christ-centered leadership program that is built on the complete opposite premise from the boot camps. Boot camps for troubled teens are a unique military-style solution for struggling teenagers and youth that are “at risk”. The premise of the boot camps is to instill a strong discipline ethic through forced submission to authority. Military science, using discipline (hard work, harsh exercise regiment, and following authority) as the foundation, out of control youth are compelled and coerced into following the directions of authority, and receive harsh penalty for failing to do so. Many juvenile court systems throughout the United States use the “boot camps for troubled teenagers” as an early intervention strategy to prevent adjudicated youth from turning into habitual criminals as adults. The idea is to wake up the young person before they become an entrenched troubled teen, and misguided adult. In many areas throughout the US boot camps are utilized for both troubled boys and troubled girls.

The problem with boot camps is the fact that they use “outside/external forces” to pressure troubled youth into compliance with rules, policies and adult authority. This compliance is usually short lived, and once the external pressure is no longer applied, the youth has a tendency to quickly return to the old negative behaviors. Once troubled boys or troubled girls defy the authority established by the boot camps, the authority uses coercision through harsh penalties (usually exercise) to regain compliance. When boot camp participants comply, they are rewarded, and the pressure is taken off. Once the boot camp participant completes the program, and returns to regular (civilian) life, there is no pressure to comply. Thus, the troubled teenager completes the boot camp and soon is back out doing the behaviors that led him to be disciplined in the first place.

Obviously, there are participants who take advantage of the “wake up call that the boot camp provides”. Unfortunately, most boot camps do not cause internal long lasting changes within the participant. If the boot camps for troubled teenagers is utilized as an early intervention strategy, the likelihood of a positive outcome is greater. Additionally, boot camps for struggling teenagers don’t address family issues, interpersonal conflicts, restraint toward negative peer pressure, substance abuse, or academic motivation. At Abundant Life Academy we provide a cognitive, prosocial, experiential leadership driven program that changes the internal thoughts that drive behavior. Basically, we give opportunity to a “heart change”. Students at Abundant Life Academy understand the principles of “choice” (personal accountability and self-driven submission to authority), emotional intelligence, and service toward others. Students that graduate from ALA realize that they are in control of their choices, take responsibility for their actions, and no longer act as “victims”. They realize that at any given time they have led themselves into the situation they are in, good or bad. They either create success through multiple positive decisions over a period of time, or they create resistance, loss, and regret and are held accountable by authorities through a system of punishment (courts, parents, teachers, etc.).

Parents can enroll their troubled boy or girl into Abundant Life Academy, one of the best Christian boarding schools for troubled teens

or consider the following states Boot Camp solutions for both boys and girls in Alabama (AL), Alaska (AK), Arkansas (AR),  Arizona (AZ), California CA), Colorado (CO), Delaware (DE), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Hawaii (HI), Idaho (ID), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (IA), Kansas (KS), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana (LA), Maine (ME), Maryland (MD), Massachusetts (MA), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Mississippi (MS), Missouri (MO), Montana (MT), Nebraska (NE), Nevada (NA), New Jersey (NJ), New Mexico (NM), New York (NY), North Carolina (NC), North Dakota (ND), Ohio (OH), Oklahoma (OK), Oregon (OR), Pennsylvania (PA), Rhode Island (RI), South Carolina (SC), South Dakota (SD), Tennessee (TN), Texas (TX), Utah (UT), Vermont (VT), Virginia (VA), Washington (WA), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (WI), Wyoming (WY)

The following cities have families of troubled teens seeking boot camps on Google searches

New York City (NY), Los Angeles (CA), Chicago (IL), Houston (TX), Philadelphia (PA), Phoenix (AZ), San Antonio (TX), San Diego (CA), Detroit (MI), Indianapolis (IN), Jacksonville (FL), San Francisco (CA), Columbus (OH), Austin (TX), Memphis (TN), Baltimore (MD), Fort Worth (TX), Charlotte (NC), El Paso (TX), Milwaukee (WI), Seattle (WA), Boston (MA), Denver (CO), Louisville (KY), Washington (DC), Nashville (TN), Las Vegas (NV), Portland (OR), Oklahoma City (OK), Tucson (AZ), Albuquerque (NM), Long Beach (CA), Atlanta (GA), Fresno (CA), Sacramento (CA), New Oreleans (LA), Cleveland (OH), Kansas City (MO), Mesa (AZ), Virginia Beach (VA), Omaha (NE), Oakland (CA), Miami (FL), Tulsa (OK), Honolulu (HI), Minneapolis (MN), Colorado Springs (CO), Arlington (TX), Raleigh (NC)