PROMOTING BEHAVIOR

PROMOTING BEHAVIOR

THAT BUILDS COMMUNITY[1]

SETTING UP THE COMMUNITY

I. Pre-planning

A. Knowing your space

B. Knowing your camper population

· developmentally

· medical situations

· background history

C. Making sure your programs fit both your space and population

D. Cabin assignments: Different issues for different age groups

· Children – familiarity

· Junior High – security vs. breaking up cliques

· Senior High – individual personalities

· Counselor/Camper compatibility

II. Leadership

A. Start with the Director team

· Leadership styles

· Pertinent history

· Expectations

· Behavior under stress

· Problem solving

· Clear delineation of responsibilities

· Time built into schedule for reflection and evaluation

B. Training Staff

· Knowing strengths and challenges

· Clear delineation of responsibilities and procedures

· Check-in time built into schedule

· Adults modeling appropriate behavior, particularly in relationship to others

III. The Security in Boundaries

A. Expectations clear before they arrive at camp

· What to bring

· What’s going to happen

· What the physical space is like

· How it might be different from a younger camp

B. Welcome and information right away

C. Clear guidelines for appropriate behavior and consequences for not following it

· Pre-sent

· Posted in cabins

· Explained to the large group

· Articulated and enforced consistently by all staff

· Covenanting in developmentally appropriate ways (levels of involvement in developing guidelines and consequences)

WHEN THE COMMUNITY IS CHALLENGED

1. Identify the problem

· Physical

· Emotional

· Medical

· Carry over from home

· Particular to the situation

· Personality conflict

2. Directors, with staff input, decide if it is something that can be handled at camp without compromising the experience of the entire camp population or if it’s in the larger group’s interest to send the person home.

3. If the situation will be handled at camp, work out who will specifically respond and how. Staff needs to be supportive of the decisions and process.

4. If someone needs to be sent home, staff needs to be supportive of the decisions and process.

Some reasons to send someone home:

· this is the clearly stated consequence of a behavior outlined in the “covenant”

· they are a physical threat to themselves or someone else

· they have issues no one on staff is adequately trained to deal with

· they are taking a disproportionate amount of staff energy

· they are taking a disproportionate amount of energy from their peers

5. Follow up with:

· The person sent home and their family/local church or group

· The community staying at camp, both campers and staff

· The staff person or committee for the larger organization

SMALL GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING EXERCISE

In your age-specific group, reflect on the situations given. Follow the steps outlined in “When the Community is Challenged” and spend approximately 5 minutes discussing how you would handle each situation. Have someone act as a recorder for your group.

1. Children

· Hitting or repeated name calling

· Running away or hiding

· Non-participation

· Disrupting group activities

2. Junior High

· Physical or verbal abuse of others

· Disrupting group activities

· Endless supply of emotional issues (needing to be the focus of everyone’s energy)

· Inappropriate sexual behavior

3. Senior High

· Inappropriate sexual behavior

· Non-participation in programs

· Endless supply of emotional issues (needing to be the focus of everyone’s energy)

· Substance abuse issues

[1] This is part of an outline I presented in a workshop I did at a summer camp directors’ training. It has some info that might be helpful in a regular youth program

Deepening Faith: Youth Ministry Resources and Some Miscellaneous Advice

Rev. Lizann Bassham, Front Porch Spirit Press