Desperate Parents Turn to 'Brat Camps'

July 13, 2005 — -- Lauren's mother tried everything she could to stop her daughter from smoking pot every day and drinking and driving. Isaiah's mother could no longer handle her son's constant fits of anger and defiance, or his obsession with fire.

In a new ABC reality show "Brat Camp," these desperate families, and seven others, turn to SageWalk, a grueling wilderness camp, to help straighten out their unruly kids.

"Parents are in crisis," SageWalk camp counselor Tony Randazzo told ABC News' "Good Morning America." "They are at the end of their rope. They don't know what else to do and they are looking. We're a last resort for a lot of folks. They are worried their children will end up in prison or dead on the streets."

Wilderness Challenges

Instead of drug and alcohol binges, anger-filled rages and fights in school, these teens are now spending their days hiking 10 miles with 40-pound backpacks in the wilds of Oregon and learning grueling survival skills for a period of more than 50 days.

It's their parents' desperate hope that, once it's over, they'll get back the children they once knew.

For their part, many of the kids find success at SageWalk by learning more about themselves and what drives their destructive behaviors.

"You can't explain how it works. The wilderness is magic, it's intense," reports Lauren.

Lauren, 17, a former straight-A student, excelled in most everything until her father suddenly passed away when she was 11. Unable to deal with the grief, Lauren turned to drugs and admits to smoking pot every day and doing whatever it took to get her fix.

Her experiences at SageWalk helped Lauren come to a better understanding of herself.

"I think the most that I came to learn about was my father's death and how I really felt about it," Lauren said. "And just how I really looked at life and how I wanted more for myself but like I really didn't care in a sense and then I kind of came to grips with my real self that I kind of just shoved way far down."

Isaiah was an angry punk rocker who was smoking, drinking and had an obsession with fire. Isaiah was verbally abusive toward his mother and blamed her for his parents' divorce. He was also constantly getting into fistfights at school.

SageWalk provided the forum for Isaiah to evaluate his behaviors.

"You realize what you are doing to yourself and what you do to others," Isaiah said.

It's not just the rigors of the wilderness camp that present these teens with challenges, but missing the comforts of home and celebrating holidays such as Thanksgiving without their families are also hurdles to overcome.

The reality show will reveal whether or not these teens will have succeeded in time to return home to spend the new year with their families.