The Q Camp was an experimental community set up in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 towards the end of the Second World War. It was envisioned as a self governing community populated by disturbed or delinquent city children who were not suitable for inclusion in the evacuation programme

Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II

Evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....

due to their behavioural problems.

Origins

It was originally a camp set up for adults in 1936 but it had been closed when the war started. Arthur Barron took over as camp chief and espoused the view that children could learn discipline by taking on shared responsibilities, but should not be under any compulsion to take any non-voluntary action.

Shut down

The community was shut down for health and safety reasons after some suppliers and parents raised concerns about the welfare of the children, who had continued in their anti-social behaviour, setting fires and destroying property, whilst continuing to reject any of the responsibilities required for the running and maintenance of the camp.

External links

• BBC News Radio Program Synopsis http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6166226.stm