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Camp and Youth Development Outcomes
Parents want the best opportunities for their children. They want them
to have whatever it takes to be happy and successful — good health,
ability to get along with others, thinking and problem-solving skills, a
good self-concept. Children need resiliency skills: self-esteem, life skills,
self-reliance, and prosocial behaviors. The camp experience offers a nurturing
environment away from the distractions and, in some cases, hostile environment
of the city.
Peter Scales, Ph.D., is a senior fellow with the Search Institute in Minneapolis.
A noted educator, author, and psychologist, Dr. Scales says, "Camp
is one of the few institutions where young people can experience and satisfy
their need for physical activity, creative expression, and true participation
in a community environment. Most schools don't satisfy all these needs."
In recent years, camps have put a greater emphasis on what leaders in the
child development field have been saying about the needs of children today.
Camp activities and group living in a natural environment are the tools
used to create camp communities that provide for successful, healthy development
and a place where having fun is a daily criterion. In such a structured
environment, children interact with positive role models who have time to
listen, talk, relax, and reflect. They learn to work together, make choices,
take responsibility, develop creative skills, build independence and self-reliance,
and gain confidence. All are necessary steps on a child's path to a healthy,
productive life.
Advice from the Experts
The camp experience is recognized by child development
professionals as valuable in helping children mature socially, emotionally,
intellectually, morally, and physically.
"The building blocks of self-esteem are belonging, learning, and contributing.
Camps offer unique opportunities for children to succeed in these three
vital areas and even beyond home and school."
Michael Popkin, Ph.D., family therapist and founder
of Active Parenting
"The biggest plus of camp is that camps help young people discover
and explore their talents, interests, and values. Most schools don't satisfy
all these needs. Kids who have had these kinds of (camp) experiences end
up being healthier and have less problems which concern us all."
Peter Scales, Ph.D., noted author/educator, and Senior
Fellow, The Search Institute
Child Development Experts Endorse Concept of Camp as "Community"
for Children
Noted experts in child development have expressed their thoughts on summer
camp as a valuable resource for giving children the value of belonging to
a community of their own. This position is being forwarded by the American
Camp Association, which believes that the critically important sense of
community for children is rooted in enabling and empowering children to
be belonging, cooperating, contributing, and caring citizens.
Bruce Muchnick, licensed psychologist who
works extensively with day and resident camps, said, "Each summer at
camp a unique setting is created, a community is constructed that allows
participants to get in touch with a sense of life that is larger than one's
self. The camp community seeks to satisfy children's basic need for connectedness,
affiliation, belonging, acceptance, safety, and feelings of acceptance and
appreciation."
Bob Ditter, licensed clinical social worker
specializing in child and adolescent treatment, added, "It is in the
crucible of this community that children gain self-esteem with humility,
overcome their inflated sense of self, and develop a lifelong sense of grace
and wonder."
Michael Brandwein, noted speaker and consultant
to the camp profession, continued, "What makes camp a special community
is its focus on celebrating effort. In this less pressured atmosphere, children
learn more readily what positive things to say and do when they make mistakes
and face challenges. Brandwein also said, "The traditions and customs
of each different camp are like a secret code that allows those who know
it to feel embraced by something unique and special."
He continued, "Campers are urged to include, not exclude, others.
They are praised for choosing new partners and not always the same ones.
They are encouraged to respect the differences between people. In an increasingly
sarcastic, put-down-oriented world, camps aim to be an oasis of personal
safety where demeaning comments and disrespectful behavior are not tolerated,
and children are taught responsible and positive ways to resolve conflicts."
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, former
chair of America's Promise — The Alliance for Youth, had his own perspective
on the value of a summer camp experience for children: "It gets them
away from a neighborhood or situation that may exist in their neighborhoods
that isn't healthy . . . It teaches them how to get along with other people
— both other young people as well as adults. To give our children
a safe place to learn and grow — camp does that."
Originally published in the ACA Media Center. |
