Category Archives: Camping

Camping

Debunking Six Myths About Kids Summer Camps

While kids camp can be a fun and rewarding experience for most children, most kids summer camps are avoided because of the myths that surround them. Since most of the things that are believed to be true about these camps aren’t true, it will be important to debunk them.

Myth # 1: Kids Summer Camps are Too Expensive

The truth of the matter is that the camps you can send your child to will be very cost effective. The cost of the camp includes meals and constant supervision. If you are sending your children to daycare while you are working, you will quickly find that the kids camp will be better priced.

Myth # 2: Children Hate to Be Outdoors All Day

While kids love their video games and television, they also like building forts, hiking and camping. It is true some kids won’t anticipate having fun when they first arrive at camp, but they will quickly find quite a few activities that will change their mind about being outdoors.

Myth # 3: Kids are Bullied at Camp

A common theme in stories and films is that most children are bullied during their time at kids camp. The truth of the matter is that bullying is not tolerated and camp counselors will ensure that all children have a fun and rewarding experience, without being ridiculed.

Myth # 4: Bugs, Snakes and Other Dangers Plague Campers

While you will find bugs and wild animals at camp grounds, it doesn’t mean that they run rampant. In most cases, encounters with bugs, snakes and other woodland creatures will be minimal. Best of all, there are no serial killers in hockey masks that stalk campers either.

Myth # 5: The Weather Ruins Kids Summer Camps

Here’s the thing, depending on where the kids camp is located, they have already taken weather into account. In hotter areas, outdoor activities are limited to the morning hours, while indoors

Crafts and experiences are usually focused on.

Even in areas where it might rain quite a bit, there are both indoor and outdoor activities that are planned out. That way, children have the best experience possible in the area that they live in. All this is done without having to be worried about the entire experience being ruined.

Myth # 6: Camping Teaches Children Dangerous Skills

From archery to building campfires, some parents believe their children will be taught dangerous skills for future anarchy. The truth of the matter is that the things they learn in camp are:

Teamwork

Integrity

Self Worth

Survival Skills

There is quite a bit of mythology that surrounds kids summer camps. From the outrageous claims of danger skills being taught to the fear of boredom, you are going to find that neither is true. In fact, the only thing children end up finding in camp is that they have a great time and make new friends.

Camping

Boot Camps For Teens – The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Boot Camps for Teens. Is this a viable solution for your teen who is disrespectful, rude, bad-mannered, temperamental, uncivilized, violent, and curses like a rapper on a YouTube video? You’ve thrown up your hands in frustration, because you don’t know where to turn to. You’ve tried the parent teacher conferences, you’ve talked to mentors, friends, counselors, and still you feel that the situation is just hopeless. So you decided to try one of many of these teen camps. Although there are many to choose from, this posting will give you the good, the bad,and the ugly about these camps.

First, are you sure you need a boot camp for your teen? Maybe they’re just bad. Maybe they just need someone to sit them down to have a stern conversation with them. Mischievous behavior does not always equate to juvenile behavior. If it is juvenile behavior, it should be focused on and rooted out. This is the type of behavior that will turn criminal if not checked early in a teens life. Once you have established that you do indeed need a structured intervention like a boot camp there are a few things to know that will help you as a parent make the right decision.

Let’s start with the ugly–Teens have died at boot camps–In a recent news report by CBS/AP “A 14-year-old boy kicked and punched by guards at a juvenile boot camp died because the sheriff’s officials suffocated him, a medical examiner said; this contradicted a colleague who blamed the death on a usually benign blood disorder.” These are the type of boot camps that you want to stay away from. And although this is an isolated incident, it still brings up an important point. A lot of these military, in-your-face, drill sergeant type discipline camps isn’t the setting you should place your teen into unless you’ve tried all alternatives.

We’ve dealt with the ugly now here’s the bad–Boot camps for teens are expensive. On average these camps can easy run in the $40,000 to $50,000 range. In some cases, the state will cover the charge of a boot camp. But you would have to prove hardship and low income levels, and even if you do prove hardship, you still may not qualify. And even if you do have the money to get your child into one of these camps, waiting list are common. There seems to be more kids who need boot camps then there are instructors who offer these services.

So we don’t end on a sour note, we do have some good news about boot camps for teens. They do produce results for teens who are on the verge of joining the incarcerated populations throughout the world. I recently spoke to a woman who enrolled her son in a camp five years ago. She told me he had been skipping school, robbing elders, and hanging with the wrong crowds. Today he is in college working on his Associates degree. But in this case she had tried all other avenues for her troubled son, and boot camp was her one and only choice. In this case, it worked.