First off, ALL CAPS IS SHOUTING. Second, please try and construct your sentences so that they have regular intervals (i.e. no run-on sentences). It would make it
much[/b] easier to read.
Third...
Teen Dies at School Known for Strict Disciplinehttp://www.kctv5.com/global/story.asp?s ... Type=PrintKIDDER, Mo. (AP) -- Authorities are investigating the death of a 15-year-old boy at a private, military-style boot camp in this northwest Missouri community.
Jerry Banks, who runs Thayer Learning Center Boot Camp and Boarding School, said the student died Nov. 3, less than a week after enrolling. The student's name was not released.
Banks said the student apparently died of an "unexplained medical condition." Though Thayer students participate in intense physical exercise, Banks said the student was not involved in any physical activity when he died.
Without elaborating, Jeff Alsup -- Caldwell County's chief sheriff's deputy -- said the death was part of an ongoing investigation.
Caldwell County Coroner Gary Brown said Wednesday he still had not received word on any autopsy findings, including preliminary ones about the cause of death.
"There's really nothing we can tell you right now," he said.
Banks said he was unaware of the student having any prior medical conditions that required special attention, and that the student appeared healthy when he enrolled.
"We're cooperating with everyone, because we want the answer, too," he said.
Thayer has more than 100 students, nearly all from outside Missouri, and charges $4,000 a month for tuition and room and board.
Missouri law generally exempts boarding schools from state regulation and oversight, but some schools have had to fight critics who say they excessively discipline students. The schools often attract parents desperate to change their children's drug use, gang activity and violent behavior.
Thayer's Web site bills the boot camp and reform school as "a life-changing experience for teens ages 13-18," a "highly structured" place on roughly 20 acres of farm land 45 miles north of Kansas City.
"We recognize that there is a tremendous need for a positive behavior modification program for troubled teens," the Web site says. "Our boot camp will help them learn the importance of self-respect, respect for others and their property, and positive self esteem through a series of goals they will reach in the program."
"If your teen is doing drugs, defiant, disrespectful, disobedient, abusive, or needs a wake up call to reality, TLC boot camp has an opening just for him or her," the Web site continues. "It's time to stop making all your decisions based on the behavior of your teen. Our efficient drill sergeants are waiting to help put you, the parent, back in command."
This year, two religious reform schools closed following abuse allegations.
In October, Thanks to Calvary Baptist Church and Boarding Academy, near Waynesville about 130 miles southwest of St. Louis, shuttered in the wake of enrollment drops after the school's founder was accused of using excessive discipline against an Illinois teen last year.
In May, Mountain Park Baptist Boarding Academy, in southeast Missouri near Patterson, closed in light of sagging enrollment and a $20,000 jury award to a teenager who claimed mistreatment.
Religious reform school Heartland Christian Academy, in rural northeast Missouri near the Lewis County town of Bethel, has successfully fought allegations of abuse, with charges against the school's employees either being dropped or dismissed by juries. A judge recently awarded $800,000 to Heartland, saying a raid by abuse investigators was unjustified.
