History Main / MilitarySchool

The idea of the military school is rapidly becoming a DeadHorseTrope. Military schools were more common in ages where service was a family tradition, especially among aristocrats, and large standing armies sought new manpower all the time. They were (and are) also very common in dictatorships where the school seeks to instill loyalty to the regime (such as the Hitler Youth or the Young Baath Party). In modern America, this had once varied; in the 1990's and the late 1980's, it was considered justified for "problem" kids and delinquents whose parents were oft too busy to handle raising them in a nuclear family structure with a 9 to 5 job, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031955/http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-gulags.html but thanks to massive publicity of on site abuse, deaths of internees, and extremely harsh and inhumane treatment by both incompetent and criminally aggressive individuals, even its heads,]][[note]]The camp mentioned in question ''horrified'' the notoriously abusive Sheriff Joe Arpaio[[/note]] sending youths to military camps is viewed as borderline child abuse and most such institutions have closed.

The idea of the military school is rapidly becoming a DeadHorseTrope. Military schools were more common in ages where service was a family tradition, especially among aristocrats, and large standing armies sought new manpower all the time. They were (and are) also very common in dictatorships where the school seeks to instill loyalty to the regime (such as the Hitler Youth or the Young Baath Party). In modern America, this had once varied; in the 1990's and the late 1980's, it was considered justified for "problem" kids and delinquents whose parents were oft too busy to handle raising them in a nuclear family structure with a 9 to 5 job, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031955/http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-gulags.html but thanks to massive publicity of on site abuse, deaths of internees, and extremely harsh and inhumane treatment by both incompetent and criminally aggressive individuals, even its heads,]] sending youths to military camps is viewed as borderline child abuse and most such institutions have closed.

* ''Anime/AngelBeats'' - While strictly not exactly an military school, due to the size of SSS, one of the biggest organizations within students, all students attending there have a high chance of learning how to use firearms.

* ''Film/ChildsPlay3''. In the first movie, the main character's living with his mother [[spoiler:who ends up in an aslyum]], so in the second he's living with his foster parents [[spoiler:who die]], so in the third he gets [[TheOtherDarrin Darrined]] and sent to military school where [[spoiler:people die]].

* In "The Lost Weekend" episode of ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', Cliff takes Theo to enroll him either in military school or the Army itself, only to be turned away by a recruiting officer who outright announces to the crowd--Cliff marvels at the fact that no less than ''50'' people were there with their kids--this was NOT the place to dump off misbehaving children, as cited in "RealLife" section.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Bart get forced into one of these. Lisa ends up joining as well because she liked the rigid structure and the fact that it was actually teaching stuff.

-->'''Dad:''' Jimmy, are you going to take out the trash?.
-->'''Jimmy:''' What for?
-->'''Dad:''' Jimmy, grandma's on the phone.
-->'''Jimmy:''' She's your mother!
-->'''Dad:''' Jimmy, are you going to do the dishes?
-->'''Jimmy:''' Talk to the hand! 'Cause Jimmy ain't listenin'.
-->''Jimmy gets knocked unconscious by a flying phonebook that lands on the floor and opens up on a specific page.''
-->'''Narrator:''' "Military school." Another problem solved by Pacific Bell.

* In ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', Reinhard von Lohengramm (then Müsel) and Siegfried Kircheis attended a military preparatory school at the age of 10 and eventually graduating at the top of their class and joining the military when they were 15.

* ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} foe "The General" is a violent war obsessed kid who started causing trouble for them when he returned home to Gotham from Military School.
[[/folder]]

-->'''Col. Oates:''' Drop and give me...''infinity.''
-->...
-->'''Bill:''' Dude, there's no way I can do infinity push-ups.
-->'''Ted:''' Maybe he'll let us do 'em girly-style?
* ''Film/ChildsPlay3''. In the first movie, the main character's living with his mother [[spoiler: who ends up in an aslyum]], so in the second he's living with his foster parents [[spoiler: who die]], so in the third he gets [[TheOtherDarrin Darrined]] and sent to military school where [[spoiler: people die]].

* ''Film/RenaissanceMan'' uses this is a bit of a backdrop when a new teacher played by Danny Devito has to [[SaveOurStudents save the Army students from flunking]].
* ''Film/{{Taps}}'' - a MilitarySchool is to be closed down and razed. The outraged students refuse to allow it and end up in a confrontation with the authorities.
* ''Film/UpTheAcademy'' - a comedic take. At the Sheldon R. Wienberg academy, four young teens are sent to school and learn the discipline that the school teaches. Almost immediately, they don't like what is going on. Along the way, they plan their own actions from looking for girls to holding a party without the faculty's knowledge.
* ''Film/CadetKelly'': When her new stepfather becomes the Commandant of a military school, George Washington Military Academy, Kelly and her family move upstate. Kelly has to enroll at the school, since it is the only school in the area, leaving behind her art school and her best friend Amanda.

* In ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'', this is what Neil, one of the members of the title group of youths, is threatened with by his FantasyForbiddingFather when he learns that he is playing Puck in their production of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' instead of focusing his energies on being the doctor he wants him to be. [[spoiler:The prospect of being sent someplace he does not want to go and being given no real choice in life breaks poor Neil, and he is DrivenToSuicide]].
* ''Film/TheRef'': Lloyd and Caroline's son Jesse is coming home for Christmas from one of these, which he has seemed to take over having {{Blackmail}}ed the head of his school.

* ''Brotherhood of the Rose'' by David Morrell. The protagonists are from an orphanage where the children are raised to be patriotic cannon fodder for the US military.
* ''Literature/TheConfusionsOfYoungTorless'' is supposed to be set at one of these, in 19th century Austria-Hungary.
* A ChekhovsGun in ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidTheLastStraw'' -- a rather annoying {{Delinquent}} is sent to one of these after his parents get fed up with him early in the book, as shown by a chapter. [[spoiler:It works, as we see him in his summer job as a movie usher, and by the looks of things, he's pretty much the platonic ideal of a good cadet. This is what causes Frank to seriously consider sending [[TheNarrator his son]] to it as a way of ridding his status as TheChewToy. Greg is not amused.]]
* ''Literature/TheLordsOfDiscipline'': A group of senior cadets try to force freshman cadets they disapprove of to leave their MilitarySchool, including the first black cadet who was enrolled. (In fact, "Carolina Military Institute" is an obvious stand-in for The Citadel, The Military COLLEGE of South Carolina.)
** Lords of Discipline is about more than just the Citadel. Its a fictional college that is a mash-up of Citadel, VMI, and West Point, though the author did go to the Citadel.
* ''Literature/PlanetPirates'': Part of the First Novel takes place at a Military School.
* The idea of sending a child to a military school because of its bad behavior is deconstructed in ''Literature/GiveABoyAGun'' by Todd Strasser. Brendan, who had trouble with his classmates, would have willingly attended a military school, but they didn't accept him. See "Real Life" for possible reasons.
* ''Literature/{{Hoot}}'': Mullet Fingers is mentioned to have been sent to one by his mother, who wanted nothing to do with him; he promptly ran away from it and has been living off the grid ever since.

* ''Series/DeadLikeMe.'' - A military school features as the site of a reap. Inverted in that the soon-to-be-dead cadet loves the school and constantly pushes herself to excel. [[spoiler:She dies on the obstacle course, where a safety rope breaks just as she makes it to the top of the tower climb.]]
* Arthur Carlson from ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' had a son going to one of these, 'Prussian Valley'. He learns that his son's flunking out, but lets him hold onto his TheBGrade excuse for leaving, and enrolls him in public school.

* In the summer 2000 show ''Series/OppositeSex'' when Jed is reluctant to go to the formerly-all-girls-school his father signed him up for, he briefly attends a military school in the area but finds the intellectual rigor less than rigorous and returns to the other school.
* On ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' there is an all-boys military school nearby which serves as the girls' counterpart (and was the setting for the PoorlyDisguisedPilot "The Academy").
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Harm and Mac visit such a school in "Into the Breech".
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': In S12, [=Ep14=] "Cadence" we learn that [=DiNozzo=] attended one his senior year. We get to visit it because the VictimOfTheWeek was also an alumnus. The archetypal unpleasantness of said academies was emphasized by the existence of Honor Corps, a self-appointed and totally unregulated student organization that hazed anybody who failed to meet arbitrary school standards, talked back to people in authority (Even if it was justified), or [[DisproportionateRetribution wouldn't date one of their members]].
* On ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', Sam Hanna's son Aiden goes to one of these. It gets taken over by terrorists at the end of Season 7, sending Sam into full PapaWolf mode.

* ''Series/MrBelvedere'' - In "The Cadet" episode, Wesley is sent to one after getting in trouble both in school and at home for the umpteenth time.
* In "The Lost Weekend" episode of ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', Cliff takes Theo to enroll him either in military school or the Army itself, only to be turned away by a recruiting officer who outright announces to the crowd--Cliff marvels at the fact that no less than ''50'' people were there with their kids--this was NOT the place to dump off misbehaving children, as cited in "RealLife" section.
* Featured twice in ''Series/ColdCase'' in the episode "The Plan", and the two-parter "The Long Blue Line".

* On ''Series/GoodEats'', in the episode "Behind the Eats," Alton explains the disappearance of his "nephew" Elton. The kid who played him grew up and went to college. The college in question? West Point.
* ''Series/NorthernRescue'': Gwen mentions that her mom sent her brother to military school (causing both kids to nickname her "the general") and once said she would have sent Gwen too if it isn't too expensive.

* The Gardens in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' are military academies. Your final exam is the tutorial mission of the game.
* ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2'' has the run down Kadamia, a village school in disguise. It's run by LaResistance, teaches combat, magic, and leadership skills, and even serves as a place to recruit new members.
* The titular Battle School of Oscar Mike's DLC Story Operation from ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'' is the training boot camp that all Mike clones must go through upon "birth". Consisting of a series of arena style battles, the Battle School must be completed before Mikes can be deployed into battle proper. In order to rejoin Mike society, Oscar Mike's trial is to go through the Battle School again. Due to General Mike exercising his Clonestitutional right to bureaucratically make things more difficult than necessary, Oscar Mike has to go through the Battle School 10 times.

--> '''WordOfGod''': It's not dedicated US Military, or even a branch. Students can sign up for credit with all of the US service branches and international students can apply their studies back to their home militaries. The JROTC corps on campus is a panoply of uniforms, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, British, French, Etc. In fact, the only 'uniform' item is the Beret the students wear which, as the fiction of the unit is a 'multinational organization' has dispensation from both the U.N. and NATO to issue sky blue UN collation force colors.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Bart get forced into one of these. Lisa ends up joining as well because she liked the rigid structure and the fact that it was actually teaching stuff.

* The Exofleet Academy in ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad''. Although it doesn't appear in the series itself, it plays an important role in e.g. Coleen O'Reilly's BackStory ([[spoiler:the Neosapien War began on the day of her graduation from the Academy and she was one of the few cadets to have survived the onslaught]]).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'': Being shipped off to one by his father was a defining element of Jake Morgendorffer's character.

* Four of the Paladins in ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' either are or were MilitarySchool students (the fifth being an actual soldier), thus explaining how [[RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude a bunch of teenagers]] and one ShellShockedVeteran are at all equipped to take on an entire EvilEmpire.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'', a kid was sent to one of these schools after CryingWolf about {{Alien Invasion}}s too many times; it looked legit until he found out it was under the control of two bona-fide aliens, Wingnut and Screwloose.

* A place like this was used as a setting in a ComicBook/SpiderMan story where he was helping ComicBook/ThePunisher uncover a GovernmentConspiracy involving a huge stash of marijuana. Turned out it was being stored there. ("Makes sense," claimed Frank. "The government has control, nobody would question the presence of munitions or "supplies" and most importantly, who'd ever suspect school children of guarding the world's largest stash?" (Fortunately, they managed to solve the problem without any kids getting hurt, but this was one case where ''Spidey'' got so angry at the guy in charge that ''Frank'' had to hold him back.)

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' - The MagicKnight Cadet Classes of Ariadne [[spoiler:which Yue Ayase joins when she was trapped with amnesia in [[MagicWorld Mundus Magicus]]]].

* A place like this was used as a setting in a ComicBook/{{Spider Man}} story where he was helping ComicBook/ThePunisher uncover a GovernmentConspiracy involving a huge stash of marijuana. Turned out it was being stored there. ("Makes sense," claimed Frank. "The government has control, nobody would question the presence of munitions or "supplies" and most importantly, who'd ever suspect school children of guarding the world's largest stash?" (Fortunately, they managed to solve the problem without any kids getting hurt, but this was one case where ''Spidey'' got so angry at the guy in charge that ''Frank'' had to hold him back.)

* ''Film/TheRef'': Lloyd and Caroline's son Jesse is coming home for Christmas from one of these, which he has seemed to take over having [[{{Blackmail}} blackmailed]] the head of his school.

* Schola Progenium in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' takes in Emperor Servants' orphans at a pretty young age, so for several lower levels it's pretty much this trope, and this can be seen in a couple of the tie-in novels that [[DemotedToExtra bother to mention Schola at all]], like ''[[Literature/CiaphasCain Cain's Last Stand]]''. For older cadets already taking special courses it's more like Military Academy, though. Unlike what one might expect, the Schola is usually not a BoardingSchoolOfHorrors. The food tends to be decent, the teachers harsh but not sadistic, and the education's about as good as it gets.

* ''Series/TheSopranos'' episode "Army of One". Tony Soprano and his wife Carmela disagree vehemently over whether to send their son A.J. to a MilitarySchool after he gets expelled from his original Catholic school, Verbum Dei. [[spoiler:It turns out that A.J. gets panic attacks like his father--and, it seems, like the whole Soprano line going back generations--and couldn't go to military school for health reasons.]]

-->''Jimmy gets knocked unconcious by a flying phonebook that lands on the floor and opens up on a specific page.''

** The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. (full name: The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina), a state-supported college whose curriculum combines academics, physical challenges, and military discipline; their members are required to participate in ROTC. A veterans' program, reinstated in 2007, allows veterans to attend classes with cadets and complete their degrees if certain criteria are met. Enlisted personnel from the Navy and U.S. Marines attend cadet classes as part of a program to commission highly qualified [=NCOs=]. In 1995, Shannon Faulkner won a legal battle, and was granted admission by a federal judge. After lunch, she was admitted to the infirmary, and after remaining in the infirmary for less than a week, she quit. A later Supreme Court ruling in a discrimination lawsuit against Virginia Military Institute compelled the Citadel to revise its admissions policies to admit women.

* This trope is not TruthInTelevision for straightening out any disobedient or out-of-control minors. Military schools are very much like private schools and don't take just anybody. Like a private school or boarding school, part of the selective admissions process is an interview where the prospective student gets questioned on why they want to attend. As a general rule, many military schools will not accept defiant or clearly unwilling applicants.
** That may be the case *now* but the "military school is juvie for rich kids" trope had its' prime in the mid 20th century when there were more such institutions to the point the supply of places outstripped the demand of willing applicants.

* Another more positive portrayal is in the ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' episode "Goodbye To All That".

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Bobby attended Cotton's old military school for one episode, but it was more of a Boy Scout school than a military school. When Cotton found out how pleasant it had become, he took over so he could turn it back into a hellhole.

* The idea of sending a child to a military school because of its bad behavior is deconstructed in GiveABoyAGun by Todd Strasser. Brendan, who had trouble with his classmates, would have willingly attended a military school, but they didn't accept him. See "Real Life" for possible reasons.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

Sometimes includes an element of HoYay, due to the fact that military schools in fiction and reality tend to either be [[SituationalSexuality all-male or mostly male]].

The idea of the military school is rapidly becoming a DeadHorseTrope. Military schools were more common in ages where service was a family tradition, especially among aristocrats, and large standing armies sought new manpower all the time. They were (and are) also very common in dictatorships where the school seeks to instill loyalty to the regime (such as the Hitler Youth or the Young Baath Party). In modern America, this had once varied; in the 1990's and the late 1980's, it was considered justified for "problem" kids and delinquents whose parents were oft too busy to handle raising them in a nuclear family structure with a 9 to 5 job, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031955/http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-gulags.html but thanks to massive publicity of on site abuse, deaths of internees, and extremely harsh and inhumane treatment by both incompetent and criminally aggressive individuals, even its heads,]] sending youths to military camps are viewed as borderline child abuse and most such institutions have closed.

* The idea of sending a child to a military school because of its bad behavior is deconstruced in GiveABoyAGun by Todd Strasser. Brendan, who had trouble with his classmates, would have willingly attended a military school, but they didn't accept him. See "Real Life" for possible reasons.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', where a ZanyScheme to get Billy into a prestigious school succeeds, then he realizes it's a military school he'd have no interest in attend. The episode ends with a montage of him suffering in attendance, and the last shot is Billy [[NoodleIncident inexplicably]] [[BlackComedyBurst in front of]] [[BolivianArmyEnding a firing squad]].

* In the past, some countries had Cadet Corps for boys of noble families wanting to enter the military. This term is still used today for the pipils of some military academies.

* A place like this was used as a setting in a ComicBook/{{Spider Man}} story where he was helping ComicBook/ThePunisher uncover a GovernmentConspiracy involving a huge stash of marijuana. Turned out it was being stored there. ("Makes sense," claimed Frank. "The government has control, nobody would question the presence of munitions or "supplies" and most importantly, who'd ever suspect school children of guarding the world's largest stash?" (Fortunately, they managed to solve the problem without and kids getting hurt, but this was one case where ''Spidey'' got so angry at the guy in charge that ''Frank'' had to hold him back.)

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', where a ZanyScheme to get Billy into a prestigious school ends with him realizing the school that he just succeeded in getting into was actually MilitarySchool. The last shot of the cartoon is of him standing in front of a firing line.

In fiction, a rebellious teen may be threatened with one, making it a variation on the BoardingSchoolOfHorrors theme. It is also a common basis for a BootCampEpisode or OffToBoardingSchool. Compare MilitaryAcademy, which is for older students who tend to take it more seriously.

The idea of the military school is rapidly becoming a DeadHorseTrope. Military schools were more common in ages where service was a family tradition, especially among aristocrats, and large standing armies sought new manpower all the time. They were (and are) also very common in dictatorships where the school seeks to instill loyalty to the regime (such as the Hitler Youth or the Young Baath Party). In modern America, this had once varied; in the 1990's and the late 1980's, it was considered justified for "problem" kids and delinquents whose parents were oft too busy to handle raising them in a nuclear family structure with a 9 to 5 job, [[http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-gulags.html but thanks to massive publicity of on site abuse, deaths of internees, and extremely harsh and inhumane treatment by both incompetent and criminally aggressive individuals, even its heads,]] sending youths to military camps are viewed as borderline child abuse and most such institutions have closed.

* It's also generally considered that the use of military school or "boot camps" as a punishment is likely to make things worse, as more often than not a disobedient teen leaves not only with a major resentment towards their parents and adults in general, but often with the skills and knowledge to be a significantly better criminal.

* A place like this was used as a setting in a ComicBooks/{{Spider Man}} story where he was helping ComicBooks/ThePunisher uncover a GovernmentConspiracy involving a huge stash of marijuana. Turned out it was being stored there. ("Makes sense," claimed Frank. "The government has control, nobody would question the presence of munitions or "supplies" and most importantly, who'd ever suspect school children of guarding the world's largest stash?" (Fortunately, they managed to solve the problem without and kids getting hurt, but this was one case where ''Spidey'' got so angry at the guy in charge that ''Frank'' had to hold him back.)