Why you shouldn’t send your troubled child to boot camp (OP-ED)

Trigger Warning : I will be including couple of the cases that happened to several children which include death and self harm.

These facilities have different names such as boot camps, behavior modification facilities, wilderness therapy, and gay conversion. Many parents who feel like they need to change their child’s behavior will take them to these camps. These programs guarantee your child to learn how to manage their issues and learn coping strategies. So whats the big deal? Why shouldn’t you send you child to a behavior modification camp? Well, the short answer is because they lie to you. In this post I will be exposing what truly goes on in these camps.
Boot camps often use false advertisement when they tout their programs as a camp for troubled teens who need discipline and attitude adjustment. The program directors try to sell their program to desperate parents by telling how much they transformed rebellious teenagers into obedient mature teenagers. Many families believed they signed their children up for help, but in reality they were fooled signed them up for death. While these program directors are counting their money, these parents are crying and left with the memory of their loved ones.
Raven Nichole Keffer was 17 years old when they attended Newport News Behavioral Health Center. Raven cause of death was Medical Neglect. Nicholas Grant was 16 years old when they attended Circle C Youth and Family Services Group Home. Nicholas cause of death was a result of a beating. An Unidentified body was 14 years old. They attended Grandfather Home for Children. Their cause of death was them being downed. Dyskeha Streeter was 16 years old when they attended Divine Guidance Integrative Services. Dyskeha cause of death was lack of interest in her health by the employees. I will provide a link below if you want to see the full list of children who have passed.
I will be including a story that was shared by a boy named Daniel. Daniel posted his story on the social media app TikTok, which got over millions of views. Daniel shared his parents got him kidnapped and dropped him off in the middle of the mountains. Daniel shared how he was 15 at the time and was dealing with anxiety and depression. Daniel came out as gay and did severe self harm which led him into the hospital. In the hospital he was shaken awake in the middle of the night by two men. The two men told him the process could be easy or hard depending on how much he resisted. Daniel asked a stranger if he could use their cell to call his parents on a brief stop for food, in which the escorts threatened to put him in handcuffs. Daniel was sent into the wilderness program in Georgia where he spent 77 days living outdoors. He vividly remembered feeling cold, hungry, and dirty for weeks on end. Daniel witnessed so many teenagers attempt to run and try to take their own life.
Other formal residents have been painting a different picture of their time within these facilities, including lawsuits and criminal complaints, alleging emotional and physical abuse. These teenagers were taken when they were so young and now left with trauma for the rest of their life. One teen stated it’s hard for her to sleep at night, even though she lives on her own she is afraid someone is going to kidnap her. These boot camps treat these teenagers with cruel punishments. Many teens state they didn’t deserve such an harsh punishment for something so little that they did. A lot of parents end up regretting ever signing their kid up for these programs. These teenagers are treated like they are animals. Their “therapy” is treating them inhumane.

Link to the victims of the Troubled Teen Industry : https://1000placesudontwanttobe.wordpress.com/victims-of-the-troubled-teen-industry/
Link of Daniel and others stories :
​​https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57442175