It is an article made for fun but sadly it is too close to reality. Too many parents claimed that they didn't know the extend of abuse taking place in residential programs. Children ended up in other states or even in foreign countries:
Teen Accidently Sent To ISIS Boot Camp By Parents
The Parents of Tommy Robinson thought they were sending their troubled 14-year-old boy to a behavior modifying boot camp in Idaho. Instead, they accidently sent him to a Syrian ISIS boot camp for western children to be trained as soldiers.
The mother, Cynthia Robinson, told the Alabama Press, “We don’t know what happened. We were interested in a camp that help troubled kids. We didn’t know we were sending our Tommy to an ISIS training camp.”
The Robinson’s sought out a behavior modifying camp because of several issues with Tommy. The teenager was addicted to video games according to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson. Tommy and his parents also always argued every Sunday when it was time to attend their local Southern Baptist Church. The final straw came when Tommy was involved in a fight at school.
Tommy’s former friends said he was being bullied by another student and when he finally stood up for himself, by punching the classmate in the nose, Tommy was also punished and labeled a ‘troublemaker’ by the middle school.
The school’s counselor, Richard Highland, told the parents about an Idaho wilderness boot camp, but the Robinson’s went to the wrong website after a slight confusion in the camps acronym.
The recommended boot camp had the initials ICIC but was confused for ISIS.
ICIC stands for Independent Corrective Individual Conciseness. The Robinson’s, after an already exhausting boot camp search for their son, became confused online and accidently signed up for an ISIS camp instead.
The traditional behavior wilderness camps purpose is to instill discipline into children who display aggressive behavior and cause trouble which the parents can no longer control. They are controversial and do not necessarily help the child. An ISIS camp will definitely not help and are illegal.
The camp looked like a great deal compared to others they had researched. The father, Tom Sr. said, “It looked like this would cure our son. All the websites started to look the same after so many hours, so we didn’t look into this one deep enough. Besides, we thought it was the one the school had recommended.
“All we had to do was provide his passport information and make a two hundred dollar deposit. Then a van would pick Tommy up from our house and take him to the airport, and in three months the van would drop him off at home. Everything was included in the price. We were ecstatic. It seemed easy.”
The ISIS boot camp’s total cost was $450 USD, which was much cheaper than the other camps the Little’s were looking at. “All the American camps we saw online were over five thousand dollars, and we don’t have that kind of money laying around,” said Tom Sr. “That’s why we asked the school for a recommendation to make sure we weren’t getting ripped off. They said they had a cheaper one but didn’t specify the amount. Then we got confused.”
An unmarked van picked up Tommy August 1st, and everything seemed normal to the parents. “The guy seemed like a regular van shuttle driver to me. Didn’t speak much English but I thought he was just taking my son to meet the rest of the group at the airport,” said the dad.
When the Birmingham couple hadn’t heard from Tommy after two weeks, they tried contacting the camp but to no response. “I got a bad feeling when I realized how many numbers I had to dial, Idaho isn’t that far away,” said the mom.
After they had made the call, the FBI came knocking at their door, and that is when the Robinson’s realized they had screwed up big time. All they could do was wait patiently and hope Tommy came home safe in four months.
On November 31st Tommy was approached by the FBI when his return flight landed at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. FBI agents said Tommy now wished to be called Tabeed.
Those Weren’t Idaho Potatoes
“I can’t believe what we did to our poor boy,” said Cynthia Robinson. “Now he won’t come out of his room, and he speaks in tongues.”
Tom Sr. cried telling the paper, “He’s trying to grow a beard now and he just can’t. He’s only fourteen for Christ’s sake.
“We aren’t comfortable talking about Tommy’s current condition.”
The FBI are monitoring Tommy’s actions fearing that he has become radicalized during his four-month stay in war-torn Syria.
Tommy’s former friends say he doesn’t talk to them anymore. Classmate, Joshua Smith, told the paper, “He doesn’t even play video games anymore. He just plays on the monkey bars in the playground whenever he can.
“I invited him to my birthday party, and he called me an infidel, whatever that is. He seems way older now. That camp really messed him up. I hope my parents don’t send me there.”
Tommy’s mother wants to let other parents know to double check where they are sending their kids for camp, especially behavior camps for troubled kids. “If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.
“I told Tommy he can have all the video games he wants if he takes off his desert clothes and scarf hat for our Christmas picture, but he refuses. That’s how bad it is.”
The Robinsons are now looking at Christian camps to have Tommy attend, hoping they can reverse his new attitude. They figure none of those will be in the Middle East and won’t be tricked again.
Tom Sr. said, “I’m sure the Christian camp will snap him out of this phase. Won’t be any religious nuts where he’s going. I saw a trailer for a documentary about Christian camps that looked pretty good.”