22 CAMPING magazine • November/December 2013 successful, and optimistic; to report feeling happy; and to consider potential negative outcomes of destructive behaviors (Teens Today, November 2004). As you might guess, these young people are also less likely to suffer from boredom and depression. Why? Likely because they are engaged in meaningful activity and challenged in meaningful ways. With risk taking, as with rites of passage, a positive risk for one child may be a “walk in the park” for another, thus not representing a risk at all. A shy, introverted child probably finds that just coming to camp is a significant risk while a popular extrovert may find it an obvious choice. Other young people may have no problem trying out for the camp play but may be terrified of signing up for the soccer game. Thus, it is important for counselors to adequately gauge what represents risk for each child and then encourage each of them to engage in activities that truly represent steps outside of their personal comfort zone. Positive risk taking by young people includes social risks (such as going to camp); emotional risks (such as asking a girl to dance or sharing personal feelings); and physical risks (such as trying waterskiing for the first time). What Camps Can Do Summer camps are rife with opportunities for young people to take positive risks. And in my experience, they often feel “safer” doing so at camp than at school. There are a number of ways we can help our campers take positive risks: • Model socially inclusive behavior. • Identify and discuss emotional reactions to issues or events. • Encourage consideration of higher-level (harder) activities. • Support involvement in new activities (such as arts for the athletes and athletics for the artists). In these ways, young people may begin to internalize the value inherent in “pushing the envelope” in positive, healthy directions while satisfying their natural curiosity about, and propensity for, testing their own limits in a safe and supervised environment. Mentoring Relationships The fourth pillar of success is perhaps the most important: mentors. A review of lives of their tween and teen campers and are well advised to: • Tune into the things that seem important in their life at camp, such as friends, sports, and awards. • Ask how they feel about transitions at school and at home. • Talk about the importance of their own personal milestones (when appropriate). • Watch for signs of happiness, joy, stress, anxiety, or depression around recent or impending change. Of course, summer camps are often built around structured activities with goaloriented outcomes and recognition. They may also be infused with long-imbedded traditions that mark growth and achievement. In that sense, we’ve already “set the table” for our staff to engage the campers in casual dialogue about, or formal reward for, significant growth. Positive Risk Taking Two long-held tenets of education are that young people, particularly tweens and teens, are 1. hard-wired to take risks, and 2. if we can steer them toward positive risk taking they’ll be less likely to take negative risks (Teens Today, November 2004). The second is important because it recognizes that positive risks exist. Many adults automatically link risk taking with negative outcomes, while the majority of youth (52 percent) default to the belief that risk taking refers to positive activities (Teens Today, November 2004). In truth, there are good risks and bad risks. Negative risks and positive risks. Risks that thwart healthy development and leave children susceptible to physical, emotional, social, and legal harm and risks that actually promote well-being, satisfaction, and advancement. After all, it is quite possible that whatever sense of maturity, independence, or social status young people might find in getting drunk they might also find by learning to sail, shoot an arrow, or pass a hard-to-reach swim level. When we sort risk taking by type, we see the keys to helping young people succeed. For example, those who seek out positive risks are 20 percent more likely than those who don’t to avoid alcohol and other drugs and to cite concern for academic performance. They are also more likely than kids who avoid taking positive risks to describe themselves as responsible, conf ident, selection process revealed that many engage in certain “adult” activities for the first time. For example, more than half who reported drinking or engaging in some type of sexual activity during the visit had not done so before. Other research from SADD (Teens Today, 2005) showed that young people whose parents pay the least attention to significant transition periods are more likely than those whose parents pay the most attention to engage in high-risk behaviors. Perhaps not surprising, they also seem more prone to depression and more likely to report daily stress in their lives. Physically and socially, kids today experience a shorter childhood and an elongated adolescence. Many struggle through this vast, vague period of human development, and it is during this time, more than ever before, that they seek initiations that demonstrate their approach to adulthood. When we honor their wishes, spoken or not, we aid young people in building sturdy bridges between who they were, who they are, and who they are becoming. In turn, those connections help them with their search for meaning and purpose, all the while preparing them to be productive, contributing members of their families, schools, communities, and society. It is important to remember that there is no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to what young people perceive as an important step on the road to adulthood. Some may be obvious, like a graduation, while others may be more subtle and difficult to discern. I recall the disappointment described by a young woman who, when she proudly brought home her first paycheck, was greeted with an admonition that it was going straight into a college fund. She saw the check as an important sign of a new level of maturity and responsibility. Her parents, on the other hand, viewed it simply as a practical means to help fund her college education. Fifteen-year-old Kevin describes his important milestones as “getting a defined vision of who I am, having my first real girlfriend, being exposed to alcohol, and making my own decisions.” What Camps Can Do Camp counselors have important opportunities to recognize key milestones in the
ACA_NOV_DEC_13
To see the actual publication please follow the link above