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by Bob Ditter
Concerned
Camp Director
Dear Bob,
With all that has changed as a result of the events of September 11, 2001,
I am wondering what specific impact you think this might have on camp. Do
you have any tips or suggestions for camp directors as to what we should
be doing to respond?
Concerned Camp Director
Dear Concerned,
What affect September 11 will have come May or June depends, in part,
on what else does or doesn't happen between now and then. By that I mean
both whether or not other terrorist attacks occur as well as how the
economy fares. Because of the lag time between writing and publishing,
my greatest concern was that we get through the holidays - Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, and the heavy travel associated with
them - without further incident or greater damage to the economy. With
this caveat in mind, let me share what I see as some of the areas that
camp professionals will need to look at and some steps you might take.
In times of such great uncertainty, people often experience their anxiety
in a general rather than in a specific way. In other words, it is not
that most people actually expect to get anthrax or expect that the camp
mail might become contaminated - or that some group of terrorists might
scheme to kidnap a group of unsuspecting campers on their way to a tennis
tournament or baseball game. It is more that people feel their nervousness
where they are most vulnerable. For many parents, that vulnerability
is the feeling of not always being able to protect their children. As
a result, parents may barrage you with a ton of questions about things
like - Do you have a fence around the perimeter of camp? Do you have
a security guard (and is he/she trustworthy)? Or, will you have Ciprol
in the infirmary? If you find yourself confronted with this level of
interrogation, it would be more productive to note their concern and
invite them to speak about it. Slowing the conversation down and allowing
parents the opportunity to verbalize their anxiety can avoid a lot of
awkwardness and offer relief to any unspoken sense of powerlessness.
Moving the conversation in this direction will be more fruitful for both
parties.
By now every camp should have sent out a letter to every camp family
that is enrolled or thinking about enrolling. This letter should acknowledge
the understandable concern parents may have and should list all of the
things you probably already do and have always done in regard to security.
Before September 11, this kind of letter would have put people to sleep.
Now it will be pinned to the refrigerator door!
Camp directors are also going to have to think about even more ways
to reassure parents about their child's well-being during the camp season.
I have been saying for years that the old "give-us-your-child-and get-out-of-our-way" attitude
doesn't cut it anymore - and that camp professionals need to partner
with parents in order to provide a more successful experience for the
child. This will be even truer this summer. Again, it is not that parents
have a rational concern that their children are actually in danger. It
is just that in times when we perceive that our survival and civilization
are being attacked (and they are!), people naturally want to be close
to the ones they love. For the same reason, I wanted to be home after
the attacks on September 11 - not because I was afraid of flying - but
because I wanted to be near my family.
I would suggest that if you don't already have a daily Web site photo
gallery (whether you are a day or resident camp) that you seriously consider
developing one. Except for being with the child in person, there is nothing
more reassuring to a parent than seeing a photo of their son or daughter
happily swept up in pursuits of camp. For resident camps, I would also
investigate one-way e-mail, both as a way of cutting down on your incoming
USPS mail (simultaneously making a gesture toward the notion of reducing
any risk associated with the mail) and allowing parents the convenience
of sending a note whenever they have a moment. There are Internet services
that can help you set this up so that the e-mails all get delivered during
down time (the middle of the night) and get printed and sorted by cabin,
etc. Camps with these services have found that parents log on in great
numbers (from work as well as at home) and find them extremely valuable.
These and other methods of increasing contact with parents while preserving
the integrity of your camp program should be explored.
Extending this further, families can be expected to take fewer overseas
vacations (possibly good news for camp enrollments), but more "here-in-the-States" driving
vacations (possibly bad news for camps with 7- or 8-week sessions). Furthermore,
lower income folks who send their children to camp will continue to do
so, as will upper income folks. Families with new (dot-com) money or
those in the service-related industries may feel the economic pinch and
may not be able to afford camp in 2002 as they did in 2001. Parents who
fly their children to camps over some distance may be reluctant to do
so this summer. Likewise, many parents may be less than comfortable with
their teens in travel programs and may look to more traditional camp
programs, both day and resident.
This is just a partial summary of how recent events might impact camp.
You can find a more in-depth review and the answers to a score more questions
in BunkChat, my new newsletter at www.bunk1.com.
Hesitant Camper
Dear Bob,
Every spring when we start to enroll campers I have at least a half dozen moms
tell me their campers do not want to return to camp. The interesting thing
is that these campers loved camp the summer before . . . and now for some
mysterious reason they do not want to return. Both the moms and I are confused.
Do you have any advice I can give them? Should I sign them up and just hope
they like it again? Thanks for your thoughts on this.
Sarah Horner
Tom Sawyer Camps
Altadena, CA
Dear Sarah,
Many kids have second-year hesitations when it comes to camp. I hear
about this from both resident and day camps alike, all around the country.
You might share this with your parents, as it might help them worry less
that their child is exhibiting something highly unusual or "abnormal." (Remember
that it is almost always a relief to parents to know that their child's
behavior is within the range of what is considered "normal.")
There are several explanations for this display of sudden hesitation.
Some children worry that the coming year won't be as good as their first
year, while others are just having a little bout of the ambivalent blues.
(You know, "I love it; I hate it.") The most probable explanation comes
from understanding that children, especially younger children, are very
much "creatures of the immediate moment." When they are at home, contemplating
another separation from Mom and Dad and the safe surroundings of the
familiar, they can't, in that moment, imagine leaving and being at camp.
Once there, caught up in the fun and friendship of the camp experience,
they can't remember, in that moment, a time when they ever didn't want
to be here. This phenomenon is observed every day by pre-school and kindergarten
teachers who must reassure nervous parents that, indeed, while their
child is screaming bloody murder right now, literally two minutes after
the parent leaves, that same child will act as if there never really
was a big deal about being left at school!
I would suggest that the parents use what I call the "feel, felt, found" approach.
Have them tell their children it is normal to feel the way they do; lots
of kids have felt that way and have had second thoughts and worry it
won't be as fun as last year; but what we have found is that once kids
get there and start doing all the fun things, they love it all over again!
See how that works. It usually does.
Originally published in the 2002 January/February
issue of Camping
Magazine.
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