| The term 'boot camp' can have a multitude of | | | | for consenting adults who find themselves unable |
| meanings, though through them all there remains | | | | to deal with particular problems alone. 'Fat camps', |
| a common theme - hard work, and no talking | | | | for instance, are available for overweight people |
| back! Perhaps most frequently associated with | | | | who have been unsuccessful in losing weight with |
| the military, the phrase has been adopted by a | | | | solitary dieting. Employing the strict routines and |
| variety of other organisations seeking to imbue | | | | rigorously filled timetables formerly associated |
| their efforts with the same no-nonsense | | | | with the military, these camps help those who |
| mentality, and as the popularity of boot camp | | | | may have been unable to help themselves. |
| type programs increases, it seems that a touch | | | | But do these kinds of programs really work? |
| of discipline is what many of us need. | | | | Some would argue that while immediate effects |
| The question of whether societal expectations | | | | are certainly seen, the achievement of more |
| have undergone a gross unleashing is not a new | | | | long-term results requires something more. It |
| one, and it is a fairly well established tradition that | | | | could even be argued that rather than bypassing |
| any generation will lament the habits and | | | | our 'blame-someone-else' culture, these boot |
| preferences of the one that follows. It is arguably | | | | camps perpetuate this mindset by using what |
| only in recent years, however, that criticisms of | | | | might be described as bully tactics to forcibly |
| the current generation's excesses have trickled | | | | change the subject's lifestyle. And while behavioral |
| down from above and younger people find | | | | therapy can be effective, can what was learned |
| themselves questioning their own choices. While | | | | in the strict environment of boot camp really be |
| debates rage on regarding our apparent | | | | translated into every day life? |
| unwillingness to assume responsibility for our | | | | Most experts agree that boot camps are not a |
| actions, an increasing number of people are taking | | | | long-term solution, but rather a stepping-stone |
| drastic action to change their lives for good by | | | | toward more permanent change. Providing a |
| engaging in boot camps of various kinds. | | | | short, sharp shock, they deal out a quick reality |
| While one of the most notorious types of boot | | | | check that can lead a person to seek out a more |
| camp must remain the one to which parents send | | | | enduring plan for change. Boot camps are perhaps |
| their errant teens, a huge number of these | | | | not the answer, but they are a good place to |
| discipline driven programs are specifically designed | | | | start looking for it. |