A father desperate to save his son from a life of crime is begging Government to set up a boot camp at Paget Island.

Randolph Darrell approached The Royal Gazette in a last-ditch attempt to help his 14 year old who is spiralling out of control and heading for self destruction.

"He is a problem child,'' Mr. Darrell admitted. "At 14 he's smoking weed, swearing, and drinking. His behaviour has been like this for the past two years.'' He explained that he and his ex-wife have tried everything possible to help their son -- including taking him out of CedarBridge Academy where he often skipped classes and sending him to the discipline-entrenched Florida Air Academy in the US.

But after having his son kicked out of military school, Mr. Darrell said he did not know where to turn.

"I called the Education Department to try to get him into the alternative school, but everybody is on holiday,'' he noted. "I've been calling abroad to get my child in some kind of boot camp.

"I don't mind paying for the same thing here.'' Mr. Darrell, who admits putting his son out of his house for unruly behaviour, said he believed his son needed a 24-hour place where he could receive counselling and continue his education.

"I'm tired of beating him because it's not working and I'm going to end up going to prison,'' the distraught father said.

"Social Services took him for the night on the weekend because I had kicked him out. But they told my ex-wife she had to take him back because they have nowhere for him unless he commits a crime. This is what we are trying to prevent.

"He needs a place where he can stay all night and earn the privilege of going home for the weekend and eventually returning home.'' "I spent $5,000 for five weeks at Florida Air Academy,'' Mr. Darrell continued. "And I would have spent $20,000 if necessary.

"But why is Government not doing anything. They have Paget Island. Why can't they put that with the alternative school and treat it like an army camp? "They can have psychiatrists and social workers to give them counselling.

"We need a boot camp for kids who have discipline problems,'' stressed Mr.

Darrell who is scheduled to attend a meeting at Bermuda Youth Counselling Services on August 25.

"I don't know what it would cost per year. But I'm sure everybody would be willing to pay $10,000 to $15,000. That would help cover the cost of staff salary.'' Four years ago the Treatment of Offenders Board, in its report, recommended that the training school on Paget Island be reopened to house youngsters under the Protection of Children Act.

Alternatively, the board suggested juveniles be sent to Warwick Camp to be disciplined by the Bermuda Regiment.

But Harry Soares, Health and Social Services Minister at that time, said Government decided against following the recommendations -- and would revamp the Devonshire residential care facility at Prospect.

He explained the training school, designed for 12- to 17-year-olds, was closed years ago for several reasons, including its isolation.

"Numbers there had dropped way down and there were no support services, such as those provided by psychologists, nearby,'' Mr. Soares said.

"It was also felt that more young people needed to be assimilated in the community. If you take them out of the community too much, then they have greater difficulty reassimilating.'' However, current Social Services Minister Wayne Furbert said: "From time to time we will look at whether the treatments we have are relative.'' He noted that Government discussed setting up a youth corps.

Call for boot camp And he said the recently proposed alternative prison scheme -- The Airborne Initiative -- for young offenders could be expanded to incorporate people like Mr. Darrell's son before they get into trouble.

Social Services director Luelle Todd said she was not familiar with the case.

And she suggested that Mr. Darrell contact her directly.

But based on the information given by The Royal Gazette , she said: "My first choice is not to lock kids up. We will look to see what can be done short of taking this kid away from his family.

"I will first hear the situation and try to establish a plan of action. We have various facilities available to us. We try to look at what we can do with the resources we have.

"But all of the people involved have to be willing to work with us.'' Education Minister Tim Smith added that when Mr. Darrell's son returned to CedarBridge in September he will receive all the opportunities available to every student.

"There are intervention strategies which we can use,'' Mr. Smith said. "If he proves to be disruptive, then he will be a candidate for the alternative school.''