Boot Camp, Morton Rhue

This time I want to talk about my favourite book, which is “Boot Camp” by Morton Rhue. I don’t know how many of you have read it or at least know what it’s about, but  just to give you a slight insight of the content, I will summarize the plot.

Connor Durrell, a fifteen year old boy, has been sent to a Boot Camp called Lake Harmony. His parents arranged a “transporter”, Harry and Rebecca, that should drive him to the Camp. Connor has been dating his math teacher Sabrina who is twice his age. Although his parents have forbidden him to see her, he continues dating her. Connor thinks that it’s natural being in a relationship with his teacher, no matter how old she is. Therefore he thinks he does not deserve it to be sent to Lake Harmony. After a while he finds out that he has to do what he is told to, otherwise he will be punished. Connor has often litigated with Joe, his “father” and leader. He shows him that he does not belong here, which makes him get punished even more often.
After some time he becomes friends with Pauly and Sarah. Pauly is now nine months at Lake Harmony but still on level one. He has been sent there, because his father wants him to be a tougher boy. Sarah is there since two years. She has been sent there, because she does not agree with the religious attitude of his father.
Connor is often sent to TI – Temporary Isolation – where he is forced to lie face down on the cold floor for hours or even days. Then a leader or other members of the camp beat and kick him. Besides TI, Connor is also beaten by other boys that are already in level 6, like Adam.
One day Pauly, Sarah and Connor decide to escape from Lake Harmony and therefore they have made up a plan. They plan to open the circuit breaker box and shut off the power; lock the box; set a fire; sneak out when the fire trucks come in. Somehow get to Canada with no money for food or transportation. They manage it and sneak out as the fire trucks arrive. After they have walked for miles they find out that Harry and Rebecca are chasing them. They find a boat and cross a river, but only Pauly and Sarah can make it. Connor is taken back to the Boot Camp and TI has come just after that. After he spends another few weeks at Lake Harmony he is already a Level Five and finally his mother comes to take him home.

Well, in my opinion it’s a really touching but also very scaring story, because regarding the fact that real boot camps existed as well, it’s thrilling that punishments like this were really an option for desperate parents. I am sure there would have been effective alternatives that are less brutal and also don’t cost that much, because these Boot Camps were really expensive. A crucial question is whether it’s allowed to treat young people this cruel way or not, just to achieve a better behaviour. 

The treatments for achieving a better behaviour and to reach a higher level, as it’s described in Rhue’s book, are for example the TI room. In this room you are forced to lie face down on the floor and then be kicked and beaten with a bat.

The methods that were used in the novel are very similar to those in real Boot Camps. In real boot camps this TI room is called “get-right-room”. In the novel it is also recognizable that this re-education program doesn’t really work. Connor doesn’t behave as they want him to and therefore he gets punished. The punishment doesn’t seem to be a signal for him to start to behave brave. After some time he starts to pretend to be aware of what he has done wrong, just to get into a higher level. That his friends Sarah and Pauly are already more than a year at Lake Harmony shows that the program really doesn’t work, at least not for everybody. The malfunctioning system suits with the failure of real Boot Camps that are known as being ineffective. 

As already mentioned, they are indeed good alternatives for “bad” teenagers to get a re-education. It’s really not necessary to send them to a Boot Camp where they are treated unfairly and invest so much money in it. Especially not when they are not even effective!
Maybe I’ll make another post and tell you a bit about alternatives, as I’m really interested in it :)