Military school recommendations (Chattanooga: private schools, college, camps)

[lifeisgoodmrsg]

I have a 16 year old son that is struggling in school, smoking, being defiant and just overall needs intervention. I would seriously consider military school if I could find one reasonably priced or a similar alternative. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Fast Jug]

There is no such thing as a "reasonably priced" military school.

Two good boarding schools are Baylor and McCallie in Chattanooga. I have friends who sent their defiant teenager to Fishburne Military School in Virginia. It worked wonders on him.

http://www.fishburne.org/

[simcity]

My parents shipped me to Kemper Military School and College (now closed) when I was 15. It was like summer camp in a way, kids running kids with the occasional 10% supervision from adults. I never saw so many fights & physical hazing in my all my life. Extreme cleaning of our barracks became a daily routine, as did a strict regimen of marching everywhere, be it to meals, class, or parades. It definitely changed who I became, but don’t get me wrong, it did not leave me jaded. However, I’m the type of person that enjoys physical endurance training and somehow I avoided being a target of “abuse” and talking never escalated to a fight, but my nickname was muscles after all. Now my roommate was a real jarhead and he enjoyed this life more than anyone (he joined the marines after graduation).

On our first day we had to crawl across a football field in shorts and a t-shirt. If we raised our bodies up they would kick us back down, so we had to stay low. They made us run until we couldn’t and then we did pushups until failure. We didn’t get to take a bath until day three, and it was crazy itchy because of all the sweat, dirt, and grass cuts. Those that couldn’t keep up were humiliated by extreme nipple twisters or by being forced to wear dirty underwear over their head, among other unusual but non-life threatening punishments. After the 1st 6 weeks of hell the fun wore off and then it became more like the summer camp I mentioned. Basically when the new kids arrived we were no longer the targets and we became the ones dishing out the fun.

I spent every night sleeping on a concrete floor because I didn’t want to wrinkle my bed (this was normal behavior). This allowed me to squeeze in 5 hours of sleep per night since I could skip the step of ironing and vacuuming my bed for the morning inspection. During meals, we had to sit on the very edge of our chairs with our arms straight out in front AND we weren’t allowed to look at our food. This was called a “square meal”. Even the fat kids went through metamorphoses by year end. Well, there was one kid who remained overweight and he had a mental breakdown. They gave him special attention by reducing his food intake, jumping him while he was sound asleep to beat some sense into him, and just a general overwhelming poking and prodding by the chain of command. You know, military school probably stunted my growth permanently by one or two inches as my dad is 3” taller than me.

Anyways, we typically slept a moderate degree during class because functioning on 5 hours of sleep was too difficult for most of us. Surprisingly, it was not a negative experience in my life and it made me stronger and relatively fearless. It’s not like it was prison, it was military school with a high concentration of problematic kids. It will force your son to cope and adapt with his environment and he will learn to conform one way or another, they’ll make sure of that.

[Alex Libman]

*** There are private schools out there that emphasize discipline, and some even offer military-style boot-camps without being affiliated with the federal government.

[pr4rma]

I would recommend you check out www.boardingschoolreview.com. You can get an at-a-glance comparisons of all kinds, including which schools are the least expensive. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes the more expensive ones have more financial aid to give away.

Also, remember that not all military schools are designed to deal with discipline issues. I work at Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia, and we're a college-prep school, even though we have an Air Force JROTC program. From what you're describing about your son, I believe he would have a difficult time being admitted here--an admissions officer could talk more about that than I can, as I don't make those decisions. But I believe his application would be scrutinized because our focus isn't on changing behaviors, but on improving grades, providing opportunities to lead, and helping students get into the college of their choice. So research the mission of each school carefully.

Virginia has six military schools, one of which might be well-suited towards your son's needs. You can find out more about them at Virginia Association of Military Schools. Don't forget to check out other kinds of schools as well. There are plenty of structured programs out there that aren't military-oriented.

One more piece of advice: make your son a part of the process. Don't use it as a threat. This is an opportunity for him, and he needs to see it that way. Involving him from the beginning will make it partly his decision, and if he gets to have some say in where he goes, he is more likely to take advantage of the opportunities that come with a boarding school experience. Good luck!

[MilitaryCampMom]

Check out Reality Ranch Military Camp. It's not a military school, it's a summer camp. I have quite a bit of insight on some military academies, as many of the children that attend my camp have been to these academies. If you need more information, please don't hesitate to PM me.