Dobson's World: Spare the rod and spoil the child

Teenage "boot camps" have been popular among conservatives as a response to crime among teenagers. Now that there is years worth of experience on recidivism and other performance measures of this approach, their worth is being increasingly called into question.

Then there's stuff like this from Jeb Bush's Florida: Teen lost his chance to finish turnaround: A teenager sentenced to boot camp was thriving at school, respectful at work, and - before the joyride - finally on track by Abbie Vasickle and Alex Leary St. Petersburg Times 02/12/06.

It's about a 14-year-old kid, Martin Lee Anderson, who was beaten to death by guards on his first day in a boot camp. The crime for which he was executed? He swiped his grandmother's car one Sunday morning and went on a joyride with some friends.

Imagine this. What Martin's mother experienced on her son's last day alive:

On the day she dropped him off at the camp, they shared a final embrace. "He said, "I love you' ... " Jones said.

The next time she saw Martin, he was in the hospital. Blood was running from his nose, and it looked broken, she said. His body had swollen so much that the 140-pound boy looked about 300 pounds, his father said.

Jones said the family wanted to donate his organs, but they were told they were too damaged.

The murder was videotaped, so hopefully the perpetrators will go to a real prison where sadistic killers belong. And Brother Jeb's government should be making sure that the people running juvenile prisons aren't allowed to casually brutalize and even murder their inmates.

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