Because I spend way too much time analyzing my current work and childhood camp experiences to death (and am too cheap for a paid account
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Not much detail right now but if you're curious you can ask. For the most part I loved camp.
DAY CAMP: (a) through (d), I imagine.
Until I started going to sleepaway camp I went to day camps most summers, starting from when I was in kindergarten or so. I don't remember most my my day camps particularly well: I was pretty young, and I never went to the same camp more than once, though this had more to do with the fact that my family moved every year or so until I was nine or ten. The one I remember best was a nature camp vaguely associated with the Audobon Society; we chose and used exclusively faux-Indian names. (I was Sleepy Bear; one boy--the SNES and F-Zero had just come out--was Blue Falcon; I had a childlike flirtation wth a girl named Silent Paws Cat, with whom I could talk about books.) We learned basic nature and wilderness skills: characteristics different types of plants, how to interact with farm animals, how to deal with flash floods, how to walk alone in the woods at night and feel safe. There was one sleepover night, when we built and enjoyed a reasonable approximation of a sweat lodge! I do not remember how kids were punished; the group was small. I think people just got informal talkings-to, though I would not be surprised if time-outs were an option.
SLEEPAWAY CAMP. (c), (d), (e).
The (c) was a very traditional (yet with a liberal sensibility appropriate to its mainly Boston-area clientele) all-boys camp by a lake in New Hampshire. I went for a total of not-quite consecutive five years--starting in the summer between fifth and sixth grades, I think--and hope to send any sons I have there if it's still in good shape by that time. It was pretty freeform: most days, you could choose from a pretty wide range of activities taught in small groups; my favorites were drama and windsurfing. Counselors would lead small groups of (generally older) campers on extended hiking, climbing, or paddling trips to locations all over northern New England. I don't remember any systems of punishment particularly well: really significant infractions (possession of drugs or weapons?) might be met with expulsion (though I do not think anything so severe happened when I was there); illicit candy was simply confiscated; more ordinary antisocial behavior might be met with time-outs--potentially for the length of a morning or afternoon activity--and generally discussion with counselors.
The (d) was a two- or three-week sailing program in the Caribbean; I went in high school--I must have been a rising sophomore? Oh, god, was I a hopeless, depressed high-schooler! I liked the setting but I think I spent most of that time confused and unhappy, so much so that I have trouble reproducing my state of mind. I think being on a small boat with five or six kids who were Better Adjusted Than I Was was just sort of too much for me.
The (e) was Harvard Summer School; I was a rising senior. I really liked it--I took my first philosophy class there--even though I was still pretty depressed and antisocial. It was the first time I had extended interactions with geeky people who were not even more crazy than I was. But I still approximated friendships then more closely than I'd done since fourth grade. It was kind of a rehearsal for Swat, now that I think about it.
OTHER CAMP-RELATED.
(1) I applied to be a CIT for the traditional sleepaway camp but wasn't accepted. I think I was too wimpy and antisocial.
(2) Probably the traditional camp, again. I'll always remember getting up early on the completely unstructured Sunday mornings; finding a secluded, breathtakingly-beautiful spot by the water (the groups were large enough to sustain exploring, at least when one was small) and spending hours reading before going over for the big Sunday breakfast. Along with a lot of other things.
Re SLEEPAWAY CAMP (c), do you remember which one? It probably has a reputation around here, and I'd be curious.
At the camp at which I work (where I didn't attend, and therefore not what the poll was asking), significant infractions by children are penalized by missing trips off-grounds, followed by expulsion if it continues or is bad enough. The main infraction that comes up is possession of cell phones, which are forbidden to campers.
I went to camp before people had cell phones, though there were portable video game devices (like Game Boys) which were prohibited. The rule for contraband was simple: they confiscated it until the end of camp, but I don't think they did much else. (But my memory for these things is so unreliable: I don't think I ever got in trouble.)
I need to correct a typo my original post: I meant to write "the GROUNDS were large enough to sustain exploring, at least when one was small." I wonder what it means, neurologically, that most of my unconscious writing errors come in the form of pretty different but phonetically nearby words.
DAY CAMP: (a) through (d), I imagine.
Until I started going to sleepaway camp I went to day camps most summers, starting from when I was in kindergarten or so. I don't remember most my my day camps particularly well: I was pretty young, and I never went to the same camp more than once, though this had more to do with the fact that my family moved every year or so until I was nine or ten. The one I remember best was a nature camp vaguely associated with the Audobon Society; we chose and used exclusively faux-Indian names. (I was Sleepy Bear; one boy--the SNES and F-Zero had just come out--was Blue Falcon; I had a childlike flirtation wth a girl named Silent Paws Cat, with whom I could talk about books.) We learned basic nature and wilderness skills: characteristics different types of plants, how to interact with farm animals, how to deal with flash floods, how to walk alone in the woods at night and feel safe. There was one sleepover night, when we built and enjoyed a reasonable approximation of a sweat lodge! I do not remember how kids were punished; the group was small. I think people just got informal talkings-to, though I would not be surprised if time-outs were an option.
SLEEPAWAY CAMP. (c), (d), (e).
The (c) was a very traditional (yet with a liberal sensibility appropriate to its mainly Boston-area clientele) all-boys camp by a lake in New Hampshire. I went for a total of not-quite consecutive five years--starting in the summer between fifth and sixth grades, I think--and hope to send any sons I have there if it's still in good shape by that time. It was pretty freeform: most days, you could choose from a pretty wide range of activities taught in small groups; my favorites were drama and windsurfing. Counselors would lead small groups of (generally older) campers on extended hiking, climbing, or paddling trips to locations all over northern New England. I don't remember any systems of punishment particularly well: really significant infractions (possession of drugs or weapons?) might be met with expulsion (though I do not think anything so severe happened when I was there); illicit candy was simply confiscated; more ordinary antisocial behavior might be met with time-outs--potentially for the length of a morning or afternoon activity--and generally discussion with counselors.
The (d) was a two- or three-week sailing program in the Caribbean; I went in high school--I must have been a rising sophomore? Oh, god, was I a hopeless, depressed high-schooler! I liked the setting but I think I spent most of that time confused and unhappy, so much so that I have trouble reproducing my state of mind. I think being on a small boat with five or six kids who were Better Adjusted Than I Was was just sort of too much for me.
The (e) was Harvard Summer School; I was a rising senior. I really liked it--I took my first philosophy class there--even though I was still pretty depressed and antisocial. It was the first time I had extended interactions with geeky people who were not even more crazy than I was. But I still approximated friendships then more closely than I'd done since fourth grade. It was kind of a rehearsal for Swat, now that I think about it.
OTHER CAMP-RELATED.
(1) I applied to be a CIT for the traditional sleepaway camp but wasn't accepted. I think I was too wimpy and antisocial.
(2) Probably the traditional camp, again. I'll always remember getting up early on the completely unstructured Sunday mornings; finding a secluded, breathtakingly-beautiful spot by the water (the groups were large enough to sustain exploring, at least when one was small) and spending hours reading before going over for the big Sunday breakfast. Along with a lot of other things.
Thanks for the chance to reminisce!!
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At the camp at which I work (where I didn't attend, and therefore not what the poll was asking), significant infractions by children are penalized by missing trips off-grounds, followed by expulsion if it continues or is bad enough. The main infraction that comes up is possession of cell phones, which are forbidden to campers.
Reply
I went to camp before people had cell phones, though there were portable video game devices (like Game Boys) which were prohibited. The rule for contraband was simple: they confiscated it until the end of camp, but I don't think they did much else. (But my memory for these things is so unreliable: I don't think I ever got in trouble.)
I need to correct a typo my original post: I meant to write "the GROUNDS were large enough to sustain exploring, at least when one was small." I wonder what it means, neurologically, that most of my unconscious writing errors come in the form of pretty different but phonetically nearby words.
Reply
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