Digital detox bootcamps

November

November

Yes Sir, Captain Tightpants
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
13,184
Location
Australia
Sineya
Are these just the new troubled teen/behaviour bootcamps?
There is a segment on tv now, and it looks scarily similar. Rolling off the back of social media bans for under 16's in Australia.
I rekon the parents are the ones who need the boot... but that will never happen. What would be your ideal solution for screen addiction?
 
This sounds a lot like "conversion therapy" used to "cure" gays and lesbians. It is just a way to fleece concerned parents. My qualifications for determining the solution to screen addiction? I have been on this forum since October 2013... yeah, I can quit anytime.
 
I could loose my cell phone tomorrow and I wouldn't care a bit. Just that much less BS I would have to deal with. Same with the internet. Although I wouldn't like to give up my computer entirely as I do use it to produce and record all of my original music, but if it came down to loosing that too I would just go back to recording on tape like I did 20+ years ago.
 
Moptop said:
I could loose my cell phone tomorrow and I wouldn't care a bit. Just that much less BS I would have to deal with.
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Here at least if you want to do anything finance related, mobiles are increasingly a necessity. There are fewer and fewer physical branches - I think the closest for my main bank is now something like 70 miles away - and telephone banking seems to be getting worse. I have two or three apps that I need because the places no longer have websites, only apps, all the others are needed in order to log into their sites and in some cases there are features - like chatting to people, not AI chatbots - can only be done through the app.
 

That was the story I saw. I just dont think it looks like a good idea. Punishing kids for poor parenting. Maybe if the parents were in their own bootcamp at the same time, it might be more acceptable. But it just seems like a "behave or we send you back" situation. I just dont like it, profiting off the social media ban, making kids think its their fault for reacting. Telling them they are bad kids who make life difficult is not a great message.

I thought we'd be moving towards more compassionate methods rather than going backwards in this space.
 
Ideally, I'd handle such problems at home.

I don't get why the camp is Boot Camp. That's just going to make them miss their time with a phone or game system worse (and give them plenty to share online). I'd think Summer Camp (or equivalent) would be better as just maybe they can find some interests and new offline hobbies.
 
The 2023 report, mandated by the Commission for Children and Young People, found that teenagers at a boys’ leadership training camp took part in Holocaust re-enactments, with campers forced to dig their own graves on a beach and take a collective shower, simulating gas chambers at concentration camps.

It also found that teen leaders were woken up in the middle of the night, blindfolded and taken into a hall with harsh strobe lighting, where leaders wore electric dog collars.
A further 2023 report by a child safety expert and psychologist claimed parents had been “actively deceived about some aspects of the program” and noted the organisation “deliberately restricts access for young people’s mobile phones (due to concerns about non-normative behaviour being leaked outside), making it harder for young people to speak to parents or other supports to help them cope with these situations that are likely to test their resilience or they may find quite distressing”.

A whistleblower agreed that most parents and schools “have no idea of what happens on these camps”.

“It’s the true test of a cult. If there were no photos no one would believe it,” they said, as per the Herald Sun.

“There are a lot of good things that they do, but it is entrenched in tradition and a cult mentality causing major negative impacts.”
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These camps cant be trusted. Maybe day programs or something similar to teach kids ways to cope without phones, but cold turkey handing your kid over to bootcamp is cruel and dangerous.

We all have to use phones as adults so restrictions alone are not a long term solution. As soon as these kids grow up they'll get addicted all over again.
 
To me it sounds like manipulation tactics to make a buck.

Listen, I'm all for regulated mental health support programs for adolescents, with reasonable price points. But when I say regulated, I think it needs to be monitored by local and/or federal guidances and officials. Just like public and private schools are regulated by state/federal officials. Because sometimes parents need outside support for their students.

However, most of these "teen support" programs, in various capacities, are not regulated and cause much more harm to children. I've spent my career learning more about brain development and have some pedagogical expertise, and the adolescent years are absolutely crucial for brain development that solidifies personalities and mental, emotional and physical health for adulthood. Anyone or any institution that would harm that process and development should be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law.

But these camps CAN be good for child development, if done properly and with state/federal follow up to ensure teens are treated appropriately.
 
T
thrasherpix
A few boot camps for kids in the US got sued, typically over the death of one of the kids. Some of them just relocated to other countries. The foreign government allowed it on the condition that ONLY US kids would be accepted into their camps.
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