Happy holidays!
For many of us, 'tis the season for putting on jackets, gloves and scarves before heading outdoors.
And yet I'm getting reminders that summer is just six months away. Yesterday I got an email from the camp that Cooper attended last year, offering a discount for early registration.
Which got me thinking: Did he have a great time there last year? I'm not so sure. He came home happy enough in the afternoons, but after the two weeks were over the real story came out.
Staff members and campers alike were "rude," he said. He gave me examples of behavior that was, in fact, rude and not respectful (teasing, pushing, calling names, etc.).
Moreover, it seems that some of the kids in his group were jerks, and his counselors weren't helpful in getting these kids to behave better. Is that too much to expect from a high school or college student in a leadership role?
Perhaps.
But I always felt that kindness and respect were valued at Jameson Ranch Camp, where I spent three wonderful summers growing up, so I know it's possible for a camp to have a positive, respectful environment. (There were no "exclusive relationships" allowed at this family-owned and operated camp, where everyone -- including the 6-year-olds -- had a job on the working ranch and we lived by the saying, "You get out of camp what you put into it.")
Jameson isn't a viable option for Cooper right now; it's in California and we live in New York, and it's a sleep-away camp -- which he isn't ready for yet.
But they seem to know what they're doing there in hiring staff and encouraging good behavior among campers, so I perused the camp's website and came up with some questions I'll be posing to camp directors before writing any checks:
1. What are the expectations of staff members? How are
they communicated (e.g. in the job application and/or staff handbook)?
Ideally, a counselor should be expected to be a positive
role model and create a positive community. A counselor should also be expected
to exhibit the following values: honesty, integrity, respect for himself or herself,
and respect for others.
2. Are staff members subject to a criminal background check?
A driver’s license check?
3. Are they subject to testing for drug use?
4. Are they encouraged to be cheerful and energetic with
the campers?
5. Is offensive language permitted?
6. What are the expectations of the campers, and how
those are communicated and supported at camp? Are they explicitly told to keep
their hands to themselves, and that there's no teasing or calling anyone names?
For example, if a counselor overhears one camper insult
another, would the counselor say something along the lines of, "I think
that upset X's feelings. Is there something going on that's bothering
you?"
--
We're fortunate that Cooper's school excels at doing
what's called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). In fact,
the TA Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (established by
the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education) has a
whole manual on preventing bullying behavior in elementary schools.
"Everyone at my school is really well-behaved,"
Cooper says.
Is it too much to want the same at summer camp?
