WORTH NOTING ON TV

* THURSDAY

Eye to Eye With Connie Chung (CBS, 9-10 p.m.) They're sending many juvenile delinquents to those "boot camps" these days - complete with barracks, military discipline, and brow-beating. Inmates aren't in contact with hardened offenders, and they avoid the corrupting influence of prison life. That's much better than sending them to prison, isn't it?

The answer according to many is "no." One of the naysayers is a Nevada district attorney who says the tough approach is excessive. Bernard Goldberg examines the case of a teenage boy who died in a boot camp in the Nevada desert.

Alive TV (PBS, 10-10:30 p.m.) People tired of mainstream TV will find this honest and at times shocking drama quite a departure - maybe even too great a departure for some. "Punk" explores a world little seen on network prime time: that of a sexually curious 9-year old boy in South Central Los Angeles. He feels he's being stalked by the local ice-cream man and decides he has to do something about it.

The sunbaked streets and authentic interiors of the setting bring a biting credibility to this outspoken but nonexploitive film by Carl Franklin, which was the final thesis for his course at the American Film Institute. *FRIDAY

Evening at Pops (PBS, 9-10 p.m.) "The cool and the hot" are words that spring irrepressibly to mind in mentioning this joint appearance, part of the summertime series taped at Boston's Symphony Hall. Backed by her trio, jazz singer Shirley Horn brings her superbly light touch to "Come Dance with Me." With the Pops orchestra, she sings two numbers from her recent release "Here's to Life"; Johnny Mandel arrangements of the title and tune and "If You Love Me."

The hot part of the equation is supplied by jazz virtuoso Arturo Sandoval, who defected from Cuba two years ago amid much publicity. He offers Duke Ellington's "Caravan," a piece called "La Virgen de la Macarena," and - in the name of his mentor, the late trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie - "To Diz With Love." Please check local listings for these programs.