In the Trenches
Dear Bob,
Our coed resident camp is in a fairly remote area, but last year “progress” found us and we now have cell service in camp. Even before this blessing we discovered campers had been smuggling ...
Dear Seen It All,
I actually encountered this same cell phone trick while visiting two other camps last summer. Obviously, it is disturbing when parents instruct their children to disregard camp ...
Dear Bob,
I have just discovered that a group of counselors—I am not sure how many exactly—have formed a group profile of some sort on facebook.com that has to do with our camp. I learned about this ...
Dear Lefty,
I hope many of your colleagues are reading, because your surprise may also be their surprise. The fact that a group of your counselors have formed a “group page” on Facebook.com that ...
The Internet has proven to be an invaluable tool for camp professionals since it has come into widespread use over the past ten years. These days it is not uncommon for camps to get up to 50% and more ...
Maybe you’ve seen her on TV. She’s the no-nonsense, matronly woman with that “don’t-even-think-about messing with me” look on her face. She is the person desperate parents call when their children become ...
Very often while I am visiting a camp in June or July, I not only hear about challenging camper behavior, but perplexing parent behavior as well. I decided to share one of these episodes as a way of illustrating ...
June and July are travel months for me. Twenty days each month I can be found in a camp somewhere in the United States listening to the tales of counselors dealing valiantly with challenging camper behavior. ...
Dear Bob,
Every summer we have campers who, when no one is looking, can be extremely mean to other campers. We have found this in our youngest campers as well as in older campers, both boys and girls. ...
Dear Dilemma,
Many camp professionals have contacted me about mean or bullying behavior of campers toward one another. Many have wondered what is causing what they see as an increase in this sort ...
Here in New England the late summer days of September and early October comprise a season unto themselves. Cooler at night, with warm, dry days, earlier evenings and the bounty of the harvest at its peak ...
Dear Bob,
We have a veteran staff member who is excellent with children. He is a school guidance counselor known for his good work with students. He doesn’t seem to have a strong peer group apart from ...
Dear Concerned,
The issue of staff contact with campers off-season is being raised by directors all over the country. With increased use of the Internet and Instant Messaging, communication between ...
Dear Bob,
I am writing in response to the “Frustrated Director” (“In the Trenches, March-April, 2005, “Respect for Authority”). I liked the article and feel that it provides a valuable perspective. ...
Dear Jay,
Thank you for your response to my column on respect for authority. With regard to your first point about addressing the Director’s question more directly, I don’t think I could lay it out ...
Dear Bob,
We had an 11 year-old boy at camp last year—I’ll call him Nathan—whom we were not sure we served very well. He had been friends with only one other boy who was very similar in his lack of maturity ...
Dear Jann,
Perhaps the reason Nathan was not able to “figure out” his pattern with the older boys is because what he was doing is not all that apparent. One possibility is that he was attempting ...
Dear Bob,
Last summer we had a camper who refused to listen to his counselor. He would not help out during clean-up and consistently pushed his dirty clothes under his bed. Getting him out of his ...
Dear Frustrated,
You have a lot of company. I hear from camp professionals and teachers around the country that children are increasingly rude, disrespectful and appropriate with adults. I truly ...
Dear Bob,
We had an upsetting situation occur between two campers during the off season that we’d like to get your thoughts about. One of our twelve year-old male campers began receiving threatening ...
Dear E,
Your situation is the third of its kind I have heard about in the last few months. Yes, children who are otherwise essentially “good kids” are entirely capable of making huge errors in ...
Dear Bob,
I happened to catch your appearance on the Family portion of the “Today Show” last July on NBC (July 7, 2004), where you and the mothers of different campers at different camps were talking ...
Dear Too Much,
It is true that many camps receive calls from parents who are overly concerned about their children’s happiness at camp. Has the Internet created this monster? Hardly. It has simply ...
Dear Bob,
We recently learned that a former staff member of ours has been arrested in a sting operation involving the Internet. Apparently this young man contacted a 15 year-old boy on-line and arranged ...
Dear Fretting,
I would advise you not to let your fears keep you from acting wisely. In my experience, every time a camp has contacted parents in situations such as the one you currently find yourself ...
The verbal and physical abuse and intimidation of campers by other campers has been receiving increasing attention from both parents and camp professionals alike. In a 1999 survey of several insurance ...
Whether you are a volunteer, a new staff member or a seasoned counselor, working with campers can be both rewarding and challenging. Children can be fun, warm, engaging and energetic. They can also be ...
Dear Bob,
I received a call about an incident that took place at a resident camp this summer that I would like your thoughts about. It seems that two 21 year-old male international staff, off for the ...
Dear Norman,
Thank you for sharing what I am sure most camp professionals would agree is an egregious case of counselor abuse. My first and greatest concern is for the male camper who was victimized ...
Anyone who has spent much time at camp knows that most activity specialists draw up lesson plans for running their periods. Well crafted lesson plans go far beyond skill instruction and include safety ...
Dear Staff,
Right about now you may be having the time of your life, enjoying the freedom of being in the outdoors in a community of good friends; or you may be wondering, “What in the world have ...
One of the tasks of caring for campers is learning to balance fun with safety. This balancing act is a central, though often subtle part of what counselors do, and it can be a formidable one. There are ...
Dear Bob,
At the end of some of our summer sessions we have campers (and we suspect some staff members) who carve their initials into the bunks or write graffiti on everything from the phone desk in ...
Dear Happy and Dreamin’,
Saying goodbye is something most of us find difficult. Many people would rather avoid or put off the sad or painful feelings that come when we leave those we have become ...
