Brat Camp

A Brat Camp is a wilderness therapy for troubled teens. The term “Brat Camp” comes from the idea that bratty teens are sent to these places in order to straighten them up. However, they are really only part of the solution to teens’ problems. After all, children only stay in Brat Camp over a short period of time, and the rest of their life stretches out ahead of them. Not all Brat Camps are the same. Some Brat Camps are like military camps but most use traditional wilderness therapy. Brat Camps remove the usual distractions and means of escape that young people turn to in their everyday lives. There are no shopping centres to go to, no internet or video games to waste their time on and no other outside influences to affect their decisions.

When these teens are out in the wilderness they experience the true meaning of nature. Teens have a feel of dealing with something bigger than what they’ve ever dealt with in their life. Those who went through wilderness therapy say that they feel more confident afterwards and are able to make better decisions for themselves. One of the major challenges children have to face is learning how to socialise with other people, especially those their age. Learning how to interact with people to solve problems, express anger and learning how to trust people do not come easily to problematic teens. During Brat Camp, teens are taught how to do these things. One parent said this about his son after a stay at Brat Camp: I admire my son. I can’t tell you what a big difference the camp has made. Josh is a wonderful kid. It’s great to have conversations with him now and he makes eye contact with me. He went to Brat Camp a troubled teen and came back a well-rounded man.