One of those who died, emaciated and beaten, Aaron Bacon, kept a journal. His father reports:
He said that Aaron spent 14 of 20 days “without any food whatsoever” while having to hike eight to ten miles (13-16km) a day. When he was given food, it consisted of “undercooked lentils, lizards, scorpions, trail mix and a celebrated canned peach on the 13th day”. Aaron died from an untreated perforated ulcer. His father said that he had been beaten “from the top of his head to the tip of his toes” during his month at the camp. “His mother and I will never escape our decision to send our 16-year-old son to his death,” Mr Bacon said.
Another horror story:
At the American Buffalo Soldiers boot camp in Arizona, where Anthony Haynes, 14, died in 2001, children were fed an apple for breakfast, a carrot for lunch and a bowl of beans for dinner, the GAO report said. Anthony became dehydrated in a 45C (113F) temperature and vomited soil that he had eaten because of his hunger, according to witnesses. The programme closed and Charles Long, its director, was sentenced in 2005 to six years in prison for manslaughter.
The report said that five of the ten programmes where teenagers died are still operating, sometimes under different names. Between 10,000 and 20,000 American children attend the camps every year. Some charge as much as $450 (£225) a day.
Paul Lewis' son Ryan committed suicide.
A trial is ongoing now in Florida over a death there.
In Panama City, Florida, seven guards and a nurse are on trial over Martin Lee Anderson’s death. The opening day was so traumatic for his mother, Gina Jones, that she ran from the courtroom, sobbing and shouting “I cannot take it.”
Prosecutors say that the guards suffocated the boy by covering his mouth, making him inhale ammonia. The guards and nurse each face up to 30 years in jail if convicted.
If convicted, they deserve every day of the maximum sentence in my view. I have no tolerance for vicious, intentional abuse of teens or the elderly by cops or others in positions of authority.
A sampling of four of the fatalities:
- A 15-year-old girl collapsed of dehydration while hiking in 1990 and lay dead on road for 18 hours
- A 15-year-old boy refused to return to camp in 2000. He was forcibly restrained and died of a severed artery - ruled a homicide
- A 14-year-old boy punished for asking to go home in 2001 was made to sit in the desert, then left in bath to recuperate - later died
- A 14-year-old boy complained of thirst in 2002, was left in sun for an hour and stopped breathing and died. Staff thought he was faking.
I'd close every one of these camps until tough licensing regulations are drafted and in effect. Then, those that pass can open, but there should be an ombudsman or Red Cross type worker there to advocate for the rights of the kids.
I'd also consider requiring a court's approval before a parent can send a child to one of these camps. And make the camps provide the parents with five random names of the parents of former students so they can check out how other kids were treated.
