Last night I was in Plainfield NJ speaking with a group of Foster Parents about the benefits of the Sleepaway Camp experience and how Camp Speers-Eljabar YMCA serves children and families.
We talked about some of the zany, "weird" and unique things that kids do while at Camp; wearing their clothes inside out & backwards, painting their faces, dressing as their favorite superhero, stomping in mud puddles in the middle of a rainstorm, skipping stones across the lake, telling jokes & laughing so hard that you can't get the punchline out, singing silly songs as loud as possible, ...
As the parents and I chatted, a couple remarked that the zaniness I was describing sounded like "kids being kids!" and "things we did as kids".
Camp is that oasis where kids can just be kids - where Play is the business at hand. In one of those rare out of the blue coincidents - this morning a colleague shared this link to this great article in the Surbuban Chicago News "Why playing matters for kids!" Great article. It's well worth the few minutes it takes to read.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/lifestyles/2150207,Elgin-storyteller-play-1_EL041110.article
As parents and child development professionals/advocates - we need to make sure Kids can be Kids and PLAY!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Camp Staff contact with Campers!
A call from a concerned parent today is prompting me to write today about our policies regarding staff contact with campers outside of camp. This is a sensitive subject as one of the most important aspects of the camp program is the building of positive relationships by our staff with our campers. Then as soon as a camper leaves camp, he/she becomes off limits as far as contact by camp staff, even their own counselors.
As we cannot supervise out of camp contact by staff with campers, we've established a very clear policy. Very simply - we do not allow or condone any contact in any form (in person, on Facebook, via email, texting, telephone...) of a camper by a member of our staff other than in an official capacity.
Staff know this - we review this policy upon hire and annually thereafter. Unfortunately, we have no control over staff once they are not actively employed by us. For example, Summer Camp Counselors who may "friend" your child on Facebook. We need the assistance of our camper parents to monitor and report when our seasonal staff violate this policy.
Not only does adult staff contact with minor children pose a concern for the safety of the children, the adult staff are vulnerable to allegations of abuse/misconduct.
I encourage all parents to monitor their children's contact points - texting, email, Facebook, etc... to ensure their safety. As a parent of a 14 year old girl myself, I know how much she dislikes "my intrusion" into her life when I monitor her communications. I've made access to her phone and the computer contingent on my access. She may not like it or me - but she's safer!
If you have questions, concerns or suggestions - please don't hesitate to contact me at Camp 570-828-2329.
As we cannot supervise out of camp contact by staff with campers, we've established a very clear policy. Very simply - we do not allow or condone any contact in any form (in person, on Facebook, via email, texting, telephone...) of a camper by a member of our staff other than in an official capacity.
Staff know this - we review this policy upon hire and annually thereafter. Unfortunately, we have no control over staff once they are not actively employed by us. For example, Summer Camp Counselors who may "friend" your child on Facebook. We need the assistance of our camper parents to monitor and report when our seasonal staff violate this policy.
Not only does adult staff contact with minor children pose a concern for the safety of the children, the adult staff are vulnerable to allegations of abuse/misconduct.
I encourage all parents to monitor their children's contact points - texting, email, Facebook, etc... to ensure their safety. As a parent of a 14 year old girl myself, I know how much she dislikes "my intrusion" into her life when I monitor her communications. I've made access to her phone and the computer contingent on my access. She may not like it or me - but she's safer!
If you have questions, concerns or suggestions - please don't hesitate to contact me at Camp 570-828-2329.
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