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Pluralism in the Camp Experience
by Joy Rosenberg, S.P.H.R.
In a perfect world, our camp communities would reflect our increasingly
pluralistic world, where campers could experience a multicultural, multinational
environment that fosters understanding, respect, and personal growth.
While some camps have made great strides toward this ideal, for many,
camper populations can look surprisingly mono-cultural. In moving toward
this ideal of pluralism, the Girl Scouts of Chicago has run a camp program
for the last several years that can springboard campers into achieving
success in a traditional camp environment.
“The essence of the Girl Scout program is about helping girls develop
the values that will guide their decision-making, and we do this by providing
them with age-appropriate opportunities to make decisions. The best way
to do that is with programs that progressively move them through the process,”
explains Cindy Tessarolo, director of outdoor program and property for
the Girl Scouts of Chicago. “We believe that this summer camp program,
which currently combines a week of day camp with a week of resident camp,
helps these girls — many who have never been out of the city before
— achieve success within the camp community. Although many girls
continue to participate in the program each summer, there are others for
whom these weeks of camp have enabled them to be comfortable transitioning
into our traditional resident camp programs, which draw girls together
from urban, suburban, and rural areas.”
The program began in 1997 when the Chicago Housing Authority approached
both the Girl Scouts of Chicago and Boy Scouts in Chicago and proposed
funding a two-week resident camp program for the children living in the
inner-city housing projects. At that time, Tessarolo worked within the
field, recruiting leaders and girls. But with extensive prior experience
in camping, she was tapped to assist with the development of this new
program. “We all believed strongly in the value of the camp community,
but it was clear that to take these children and plunge them into a resident
camp experience so far outside their day-to-day reality would set us up
for failure. We devised a program where they would move from a week of
day camp within the city learning basic camping skills and nature studies
and progress into team-building and conflict-resolution techniques. We
prepared them for the second week — a week of resident camp.”
The program — originally titled Scoutreach — was recognized
by what is now the Drucker Foundation for innovation in aligning diverse
agencies to address social issues. This model has been continually revised
to address changing campers’ needs and the development of new funding
sources. “Our first change,” reports Tessarolo, “was
to separate the girls and boys programs. We believe that girls learn best
in an all-girl environment where they have the opportunity to see women
as leaders and to take the leadership roles themselves.” This philosophy
is backed up by researchers such as Carol Gilligan of Harvard University,
who have studied how an all-girl environment promotes increased self-esteem
in young women by allowing them to take risks, feel supported, and grow
in their abilities without feeling pressured by stereotypes.
For many of the girls who come from low-income areas of Chicago, poverty
pervades their lives. In many cases, these girls are given primary responsibility
for younger siblings and housekeeping duties while parents juggle one
or more jobs. Or as the result of drugs, alcohol, or issues of abuse,
they have become “parentified” children — struggling
to protect and care for both parents and siblings.
“Families in crisis exist at every income level in our society.
Addictions or money worries are problems you can find everywhere. The
major difference is that families from higher income levels may have more
access to private therapy or employee assistance programs, as well as
fewer transportation issues,” says psychotherapist Pamela Johnson,
M.A., L.C.P.C., D.A.P.A. “What that translates into is that children
of impoverished families may be thrown into a double bind. They have more
responsibility, and their parents’ time is more consumed with the
tasks of providing basic needs like food and shelter. The development
of the child’s self-esteem or ability to sort through the peer issues
surrounding respect and learning to work together often takes second place.
The camp environment is an opportunity for these girls to have the experience
of making decisions and learning skills in a situation where guidance
is immediately available through teaching, trying something new, and ultimately
the mastery of a new skill set.” By using the knowledge gained from
the six years this program has been operational, administrators and camp
directors should consider the following:
- Paperwork The delay in completing
and turning in paperwork often causes program or operational details
to be revised up to the last week before camp. Keep it simple. Try for
one form, with one signature for permission, medication, treatment,
and photo release. Include waivers, if possible.
- Meals Be prepared for children
who may not bring a lunch or beverage to day camp. Children who did
not have breakfast may be hungry and eat their lunch on the bus in route
to camp — or, in the worst-case scenario, there might not be appropriate
items available for a sack lunch at home. At resident camp, some campers
who are new to the dining hall experience may feel the need to hoard
food — taking leftovers from the dining room to their tent or
cabin. Reassure them that there will be enough food at each of the meals
at camp, as well as letting them know that animals will seek out the
food that is kept in the cabin.
- Equipment Always assure campers
and their families that no one will be excluded from any activities
if they don’t have everything on the packing list. If your camp
does not already provide supplies, look for sources to help meet this
need. We can never presume that children from disadvantaged families
have access to things like sleeping bags and extra bedding.
Sometimes children come to camp without adequate clothing for a week
of camp — it is important to have a supply of extras to ensure
that each camper has a good time and doesn’t worry about ruining
the clothes she brings. The Girl Scouts of Chicago provides each camper
with a water bottle and T-shirt. Let the families and the girls know
up front what clothing or camping items you are providing as gifts and
which will need to be returned at the end of the session.
- Behavior Older children who participate
in these programs often crave attention and adult interaction and may
display behaviors usually seen in younger campers. Work with your staff
on understanding the regressive behaviors that may be exhibited. For
many campers, this place we call camp is the most terrifying encounter
they have ever had. No matter the work that is done in the city day
camp environment, the woods and cabins at camp are far outside the realm
of what most of these children have ever experienced. Counselors need
to understand that the sound of sirens may signal danger to them. But
when that sound punctuates most nights, it becomes comfortingly familiar.
The camp setting is a new environment for these children, and one mercury
vapor light in the camp parking lot will not light up the night like
the world they come from — and the natural nocturnal sounds of
crickets can be frightening if you have no understanding of the size
or quantity of insects creating the noise.
- Creating a safe space Adults think
of a safe place in relation to location, while the girls surveyed reported
that emotional safety is just as important. Perception is reality, and
without a lock on the tent or cabin, campers may be hesitant at first
to stay. Counselors should talk with the girls about what creates a
safe space and about making good choices. In a short week, campers will
begin to feel both emotionally and physically safe at camp, so it is
important to be prepared for anger and acting out when they are about
to leave. Preparing to return to the uncertainty that permeates their
world, campers are sometimes angry and frustrated. A focus group conducted
in mid-March with program participants found that campers thought about
camp a great deal, long after they had returned home, “because
I can get safe” or “I can be who I want to be.”
- Changes in the program As Chicago
has changed in its approach to low-income housing, the make up of campers
has changed as well. It has required the Girl Scouts of Chicago to recruit
campers in more diverse neighborhoods, and the campers who came to camp
last year reflected this trend, with 89 percent African American, 9
percent Latino, and 2 percent Caucasian. “These last two years
we have also utilized international staff to bring a more broad-based
understanding of all the world’s cultures to our campers,”
said Tessarolo. “We know from the evaluations the girls fill out
about their camp experience that they enjoy this tremendously. We can
talk about other cultures, but there is no comparison to actually getting
to know someone who speaks another language or can share with you how
their family lives. And I think it can be an eye-opening encounter for
the international staff as well. Our camp program operates for two weeks
in mid-to-late August, so these are international staff who are coming
from more traditional resident camp programs at either private or agency
camps. For many, this is a population of campers quite different than
those they have worked with the rest of the summer. I think it may very
well change some stereotypes about Americans and American culture. We
have international staff who have returned to our program because they
say they really feel as though in those two weeks they knew they had
significantly impacted a child’s life.”
The campers, too, find the camp experience to be one that has lasting
impact on their lives. Recently, a former camper was referred to a therapist,
a new and strange event in her life. With some trepidation she entered
the waiting room with her grandmother, uncertain what to expect. Within
a moment, another child waiting there approached her. They had both attended
camp last summer, and although they had not forged a close friendship
there, the commonality of that experience, bridged the current gap of
anxiety. They were soon sharing their fears, wondering what to expect
from the therapist, and remembering special events at camp — hoping
that they would see each other there again this summer.
Originally published in the 2004 July/August
issue of Camping Magazine. |
