The Other Side of the Mountain: Views on Camp for 2012

Despite my more than forty years in organized camping, I have scant experience in the other kind. In fact, one of my few forays into the world of site camping — accompanied by a long-time camp friend — resulted in a frighteningly hilarious expose of how not to assemble a tent. So much for our combined expertise in the great outdoors. Maybe we should have enrolled in that pioneering mod after all.

Then there’s the hiking part. My virgin attempt at scaling the heights of a rather foreboding mountain with friends was not without its challenges.

Though we lost valuable gear inappropriately packed for our climb (including, tragically, the cinnamon Pop Tarts we brought for breakfast), our journey up the mountain proved less arduous than the somewhat helter-skelter plunge back down. What lay in between was a cool May night huddled around a hastily made campfire — perhaps the one camping milestone conducted with great alacrity and success — and the spectacular west-facing river views emerging at dawn. It was only later that I even considered what might have been the view from the other side.

Change Is Good

As we closed the 2011 camp season, my thoughts have already turned to the next, and what changes will be in store.

At a recent camper’s high school graduation, a speaker recalled the popular year-book inscription of the 1960s and 70s — “don’t ever change” — and challenged the notion that anybody really meant that at all. Rather, he hypothesized, the intent was intended to reflect on the spirit, character, and overall disposition of the friend for whom the message was invoked, not some underlying wish that a high school classmate remain exactly as he or she might be on commencement day. That would be stifling.

Views on Camp for 2012

In considering whether the same sentiment might apply to summer camp, I can’t help but wonder what the future will hold — particularly as we consider an evolving parent-child culture that bodes for shorter stays, increased communication, and greater parent involvement.

Can such seismic shifts be so bad?

The short answer is yes . . . if we fail to adapt and adjust to the changing interests and prerogatives of our customers — parents and campers alike.

Camps everywhere are sifting through the latest feedback from children and families in order to best adjust their approaches to camper sessions, technology (especially cell phones), and parent involvement. And that is a good thing.

The Other Side of the Mountain

This brings me back to my mountain. What was that view from the other side? I don’t know. We never ventured far enough over the peak to find out. Sad, because we were so close. Unfortunate, because it may have been even better. The same can be said of the summer camp experience. It is only when we venture beyond our comfortable, scenic boundaries that we can fully appreciate whether a different view might offer a different perspective that, in turn, might better prepare our passions, our properties, and our programs for success in a rapidly changing world.

Perhaps it’s best to further embrace the “It Takes a Village” model, finding new ways to envelop parents in the fabric of what we do by creating opportunities to honestly engage in a parenting partnership that stresses our common desires and hopes for the nurturing and education of their children. Few parents today simply drop their kids and leave to return only on visiting day or closing day. Rather, they want to stay involved, need to stay in touch, and frankly, have a lot to offer by way of supporting and supplementing our work — just as we do theirs.

A Different Perspective

A common morning assembly trick at camp is to highlight the value of new perspectives on commonly held beliefs or traditions by having audience members turn around on the benches in order to face the speaker, now standing in the back of the theater or assembly space. It’s helpful for more tactile learners. The same might be true of us as well. If we venture higher up the mountain of summer camp opportunities we create and share with others, perhaps a new vista will await with a plethora of new ideas to stay exceedingly relevant in a changing-so-fast-it-makes-your-head-spin world.

As Andy Rooney famously noted, “I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.”

Stephen Wallace, M.S. Ed., author of the book, Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex — What Parents Don’t Know and Teens Aren’t Telling, has broad experience as a school psychologist and adolescent counselor. He serves as senior advisor for policy, research, and education at SADD and director of counseling and counselor training at the Cape Cod Sea Camps. Stephen’s columns appear in newspapers across the country. For more information about Stephen’s work, visit StephenGrayWallace.com.

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