https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/big-eight-other-culinary-menaces-camper-society

“The gluten-free cinnamon rolls are amazing!” Those emphatic words are emblazoned in my brain, stamped into my memory. As tears began to well in her eyes, Annalise, one of our counselors, looked...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/moving-mainstreaming-outsourcing-what-everyone-can-learn-working-different-needs

I run two different camps for kids with different needs, including a resident camp for kids with autism. A concerned parent called to talk about how she wanted her son to be “mainstreamed” in the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/transgender-youth-role-camps-might-play

You may be asking yourself, "What does a discussion about transgender individuals have to do with me? Why am I reading this in Camping Magazine?" We've had the conversation about the LGBTQ community...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/campline/medical-marijuana-current-issues-camps

Introduction A call recently came into the American Camp Association (ACA) Crisis Hotline from a member camp: Three adults attended a family camp and brought medical marijuana with them. Upon...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/out-about-creating-safe-environment-lgbtq-campers-staff

It was June 2006. I had been conducting staff training at a coed camp in the Northeast. I had already spoken to the entire staff about the “real work” of camp, which I see as helping campers use the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/moments-truth-things-you-say-things-you-do

Kevin Kevin was nine years old when his parents sent him to summer camp in Minnesota. He was overweight, not athletic, not very confident — and more than anything, not wanting to be there!...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/camp-no-place-bullying-behaviors

Social cruelty, or bullying, has reached the level of “life and death.” With summer 2012 now here, parents are asking questions about how camp counselors and staff are being trained to keep their...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/lets-be-friends-paradoxical-approach-bullying-prevention

Despite years of study and progressive program development, bullying behaviors (or “peer mistreatment”), especially among school-aged children, remain a significant public health problem, says the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/four-simple-words-better-communication

One of the main challenges of being on staff at camp is the degree to which you suddenly have to communicate with so many people. Because you have decided to accept the awesome responsibility for the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/wanton-words-curbing-verbal-crudeness-cruelty-camp

I love language. The beauty of a poem, the lyricism of a novel, the passion of a political speech, the sentiment of a heartfelt toast, the humor of standup comedy, and the simplicity of a handwritten...