13 Things Your Kid's Camp Counselor Won't Tell You

Sending the kids off to camp this summer? We granted anonymity to insiders from camps in Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin so they'd share some of the secrets of their profession.

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Summer Camp Secrets
Keith Brofsky/GettyImages
There's a lot that goes on at summer camp that your kids don't tell you about.
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1. For the first week, the cries of the homesick are almost unbearable. After that: "Mom? Who's Mom?"

2. Your kid is a lot less shy and a lot more competent than you think.

3. Your son will shun clothing and may well go without showering for weeks. "It's like a frat you join when you're ten."

4. Don't bother with the labels--everything's going to get hopelessly mixed up anyway.

5. As long as he or she is eventually found, we're not going to tell you about all the times we had to call a search-and-rescue for your child.

6. Some of us are hung over every morning and rigidly enforce afternoon naptime not because the kids need the rest but because our heads hurt.

7. Even if it's not a coed camp, your teen is going to learn more about the opposite sex (accurate or not) than you want to know.

8. If they want to eat peanut butter and jelly for weeks in a row, there's really nothing we can do about it.

9. We confiscate the "illegal" candy you send and eat it ourselves. For the kid's own good, of course.

10. Your kids will be plunged into icy water, submitted to exotic "tortures," and scared witless countless times--just because we think it's funny. ... Oh, and they'll love it.

11. According to the American Camp Association, the typical camper return rate is about 60 percent, and 92 percent of campers surveyed say the people at camp "helped me feel good about myself."

12. For weeks after coming home, your child is going to speak in incomprehensible camp slang and pine for people named Lunchmeat, Fuzzy, and Ratboy.

13. We actually do this because we love your kids--and we'll probably do it again next year. (According to the ACA, the average return rate for staff is 40 to 60 percent.) Camp is worlds more fun as a counselor than it is as a camper.
From Reader's Digest - July 2008
 
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While in college I once wrote an article about a local school district and its apparent poor treatment of students. I spoke with 4 teachers in depth about the alleged treatment and passionately developed a scathing story. I felt it was an excellent paper and proudly submitted it. The next week I received an "F"….and I deserved it. I deserved it because I only spoke with 4 teachers out of 556 and my conclusions were grossly inaccurate. I now write for a national paper and know, withou

By jb5764, on 07/15/2008

While in college I once wrote an article about a local school. I spoke with 4 teachers in depth about the treatment of students. It was an excellent paper. I received an "F" and I deserved it. I deserved it becasue I only spoke with 4 teachers out of 556 and my conclusion were inaccurate. Shame on you RD.

By jb5764, on 07/15/2008

If each of these comments comeS from a different camp (which I seriously doubt) and if each of those camps are ACA accredited (which I seriously doubt) then this "article" still only represents less than 1% of the over 2500 ACA camps in the country. I was a camper & summer staff member at an excellent camp where none of this would have been tolerated. I am noW a professional camp director and I would fire any staff with the attitudes represented in these 13 quotes. Very poor "reporting" R.D.

By campdir, on 07/11/2008

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