Although most of us probably caused our parents a lot of grief during our adolescence, we were just behaving as normal teens.

In fact, some of you may have younger brothers or sisters that are still driving your parents crazy!

Parents have to deal with much more than how much allowance to give their children, whether or not their daughter can date, or trying to keep their kids off drugs. They have to deal with children suffering from psychological problems.

Violence in schools has become more prevalent over the past decade. Children are acting out with violence because of emotional problems that occur as a result of habitually getting picked on, a learning disability or other underlying circumstance.

What options do parents have?

You've seen them on talk shows. Parents deal with out-of-control teens by sending them to boot camp.

But are boot camps the answer to a problem that is more severe than not fitting into the right crowd?

The following article may change your mind.

By Alexi Howk

When a juvenile boot camp comes to mind, we often think of it as a place where bad kids get taught a lesson, or two, by a belligerent army-like sergeant. In reality, most children sent to boot camps have psychological problems and do not get the proper treatment, says Dr. Kim Deffebach, a child psychologist, who practices in Melbourne, Fla.

Because of its harsh treatment, a boot camp breaks children down instead of building them up, Deffebach, said. "Boot camps are not psychologically oriented," she said. "There's been a lot of negative press in terms of their safety record, and people who don't have the proper training."

The majority of boys who end up in boot camp have troubles in their life that lead them to juvenile delinquency, Deffebach said. Some of the problems may include an abusive environment and severe learning disabilities, which cause depression and low self-esteem.

Deffebach said boys who have psychological problems externalize their feelings and act out toward other people. "Boys become verbally or physically aggressive," she said. "When a boy starts to externalize by acting out, it's psychological."

Girls tend to internalize their problems by acting out on themselves. "Girls with problems have depression and anxiety attacks," Deffebach said. "They tend to mutilate themselves. Kids say it helps them release their pain."

Deffebach said children labeled as juvenile delinquents get sent to boot camp because "the system has failed along the way to recognize their psychological needs."

Children with psychological problems who end up in boot camp often do not go through residential treatment first because they are not labeled "severe enough," Deffebach said.

Residential treatment centers, such as multi-location facilities Devereux and Charter, have highly structured and restrictive programs that provide long-term psychological counseling. "It's what psychologists would consider the most severe or restrictive form of psychological treatment," Deffebach said.

Children can live at a residential treatment center for six to 18 months. They have limited freedoms and must display appropriate behaviors in order to receive privileges.

"Because of its harsh treatment, a boot camp breaks children down instead of building them up."

Deffebach said there are few psychological services available to children because of a lack of funding. "We have a lot of elderly people in Florida who don't vote on programs to help children," she said. "We can't get any money for kid services."

Juvenile delinquents have a hard time getting into outpatient services because they are considered bad children instead of children with psychological problems, Deffebach said. Juvenile delinquents are more likely to be referred to a psychologist for depression and anxiety problems rather than behavioral problems, she said.

Instead, behavioral-problem children get sent to boot camps through the juvenile justice system, where they go before a judge. Parents have to persuade the judge to order their children into psychological treatment. "Kids who get the funding for psychological treatment are usually homicidal or suicidal, not kids showing behavioral problems," Deffebach said.

Parents often do not recognize early signs of problems with their children and wind up going through the juvenile justice system when it becomes too late for their children to get counseling, Deffebach said. "Their behaviors are set," she said. "They've never had consequences to their behavior, so they refuse to come to counseling."

Most psychologists feel that a boot camp is an ineffective approach to rehabilitation because it deals with punishment only, Deffebach said. "Certainly consequences are needed," she said. "But, the best approach is a combined approach of both behavioral and psychological treatment.

"Why not have more residential treatment centers instead of boot camps. The question is, 'Should we favor rehabilitation or punitive effects?'"

Alexi Howk is a journalism student at UCF.

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