Teenage boot camp

These troubled teenagers are the guinea pigs in the latest social experiment to be played out on our TV screens.

The six badly behaved boys and girls were nominated to take part in the show by their worried parents, who were fed up of dealing with problems including drug taking, incessant swearing, school expulsions and violent tantrums.

They were sent to a tough camp in the wilds of Utah in the hope that six weeks' hard work and old-fashioned discipline would transform their behaviour.

Channel 4's latest reality programme - named Brat Camp - combines the confinement of Big Brother, the fish-outofwater challenge of Faking It and the physical hardship of I'm A Celebrity.

And all the signs are that the experience works wonders.

At the pioneering American wilderness camp, named Red-Cliff, the children have to ask permission for everything and work to earn basic equipment.

Poor behaviour, such as swearing, incurs tough penalties - for instance, adding a stone to the back-pack they must carry during hikes for every offensive word.

The tough regime came as a shock to the six, especially as some of them were more used to comfortable, middle-class lifestyles.

One of the teenagers, James Fonfe, 16, comes from a wealthy family in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. And Charlie Mason, 17, went to Harrow - from where he was expelled after eight days. On arrival at the camp, the teenagers each had to hand over a pair of worn socks.

This, it was explained , meant that if any of them tried to escape they could be tracked and caught by the camp bloodhound. On their first morning they were driven blindfolded into the woods, where they were left with a team of guides to fend for themselves.

They were denied cigarettes and music, and had to endure daily hikes and night temperatures as low as 30C. Their rations were dried fruit and nuts.