Topic: Brat Camps

Harper laments the lack of formal initiation rites for modern youth, noting that adolescents often create their own "gang culture" to fulfill the innate need for tribal belonging and ordeals. He explains that traditional rites involve hardship and symbolic death to move a person into adulthood. He cites the success of "brat camps" as evidence that children actually crave the sense of achievement that comes from overcoming hardship.