Is this just us, or this just dumb...

Okay, so I was talking to my friend who just got back from Europe about camp. I was telling him about how it was much easier than the camp we always went to on our mission trip, but there's also some things we do differently that I think are just plain pointless and dumb, to which my friend agreed with me.

Here's two things that for the life of my I don't understand that we do here at camp....

1) We have to meet together to go ANYWHERE. Meaning: after swimtime, we would meet up at the pool, then walk back to the dorm together, change, then meet in the lobby and walk together to classroom time. This caused us to be 15 minutes late the first day, I pointed this out and was changed by the end of the week. Here's the real kicker...

2) We have to help them shower! Meaning this: If they need nobs adjusted, we have to reach into the shower and do it for them. By the way, we turn on the nobs before anyone starts then turn them off when they are done. Once they get in the shower, we have to put their towel on the shower rod, and hand it back to them when they are done.


By the way, these are going into 4th - going into 6th graders.

Am I reading this wrong?

You have to be in the shower room with 4th-6th graders?

Oh.... I dont see any problems every arising with this method.  :sarcasm:

If people tried that when I was in 4th-6th grade someone would have been hurt. I can adjust my own shower knob, thank you.

As for the meeting to go anywhere, That makes sense as it keeps everyone in a group while out off camp grounds.

I hated it when I was in a military school and its how they ran it, but if anything happens (someone going off on their own) they (Camp, school etc.) are legally responsible as the "guardian" of those kids.

It's annoying but that part makes sense, the shower thing is just flat out creepy if I read that right.

Toro wrote:

Am I reading this wrong?

You have to be in the shower room with 4th-6th graders?

Oh.... I dont see any problems every arising with this method.  :sarcasm:

If people tried that when I was in 4th-6th grade someone would have been hurt. I can adjust my own shower knob, thank you.

As for the meeting to go anywhere, That makes sense as it keeps everyone in a group while out off camp grounds.

I hated it when I was in a military school and its how they ran it, but if anything happens (someone going off on their own) they are legally responsible (neglect etc.) as the "guardian" of those kids.

It's annoying but that part makes sense, the shower thing is just flat out creepy if I read that right.

Well, the showers have curtains and if they need us we reach our hands in and turn the nob (the nobs are on the side, directly opposite of the curtain), we don't open the curtain and get in with them.

Still that part IS stupid. If a kid in the 4th-6th grade cant adjust their own shower.... I hate to give Darwinism any credibility, but............. some times..... people need to learn how to do the simplest of tasks on their own, even if it means they get a little hurt in the process.

I cant remember what age is 4-6th, but I think thats not that difficult of a concept to master for that age group?.... hot and cold water... adjust til comfortable. Certainly has to be a more safe issue than having someone else there. Thats not to say that you or those around you are creeps.... but they are out there.

I know when I was in military school there was a guy that watched over the dorm that fondled a guy in his sleep. (Thank the Lord it wasn't me) The guy woke up, screamed and punched the guy. Of course that man was fired immediately, but sick people are out there.

I think the shower part does sound really odd. Assuming there are no serious disabilities, 9-11 yearolds are perfectly capable of turning on a shower and adjusting the nobs themselves. I don`t think I`d be comfortable if some guy I didn`t know was reaching his arm into my son`s shower.

Meeting up sounds responsible, but I would question the shower thing, honestly.

err. this is a little....hmm  yep that's the one. These kids should know how to shower on their own...

*Moved to the General Discussion Forum*

This is one of the reasons I'm considering applying to be Head Counselor next year, even though it would only be my second year here.
- I'm the only one on staff with outside experience,
- I've already changed stuff

That is very strange about the showers. I work with 6th graders. Trust me, they can adjust their own showers. (PS. 6th grade is around 12-13 years old. Only the youngest are 11, and we usually have very few of those.)

TX_CO_Matt wrote:

1) We have to meet together to go ANYWHERE. Meaning: after swimtime, we would meet up at the pool, then walk back to the dorm together, change, then meet in the lobby and walk together to classroom time. This caused us to be 15 minutes late the first day, I pointed this out and was changed by the end of the week. Here's the real kicker...

2) We have to help them shower! Meaning this: If they need nobs adjusted, we have to reach into the shower and do it for them. By the way, we turn on the nobs before anyone starts then turn them off when they are done. Once they get in the shower, we have to put their towel on the shower rod, and hand it back to them when they are done.

If the students started kindergarten at 5 years old, they would 9-11 years old. So you're looking at an age range of 8-12 (if they have a late summer birthday).

Based off that, how far away are activites from each other? When Thing 2 went to church camp this summer, they're activites were spread out quite a bit. They had to go in the groups to get to places. Meaning, Thing 2 was in a group with another boy and two girls. They traveled everywhere together. They weren't always with a counselor but they couldn't go alone either.

Since this group is younger, are there enough counselors for one counselor to be in charge of a small group of kids instead of making the entire group wait? Or have one counselor stay behind to wait for the stragglers. I know at that age I wouldn't be particularly motivated if my entire group had to be late because of me. But let me walk into something late by myself? Horror!  

As for your second point, if you feel uncomfortable with adjusting their shower nobs, then I would definitely do everything possible to having that rule changed. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one parent didn't complain about it. It's one thing to show a chilid how to use the faucet, it's another to actually operate it for them. I think the last time I did that for the boys is when I was still bathing them. If it's a large shower room I can see being in there to supervise and make sure no one gets hurt, but to be that involved in shower time? Definitely a 10 on the Icko Meter.

I talked to some of my other friends about this, and their reactions were similar. In fact, everyone not apart of Camps that I have told about this has had the same reaction.

I talked to some of my other friends about this, and their reactions were similar. In fact, everyone not apart of Camps that I have told about this has had the same reaction.