What are the benefits of a summer camp experience?
As the school year is coming to a close, a handful of our BridgeUP + OUT students at Cardinal Hayes are getting ready to enjoy a summer at Camp Coniston. Located in Croydon, NH, this has been an ongoing, and hugely successful crossover of two of our signature HGB programs, BridgeUP + OUT, and BridgeUP Summer Camp. A sleepaway camp experience has the potential to be transformative for any child, but for underserved children from inner city areas, it can be particularly impactful. A lot of these Scholars rarely or never get the opportunity to leave the Bronx, let alone New York. An overarching goal of the program is to provide participants with a program where they can interact in “normalcy” without fear of shutting down, going home, or isolating oneself.
Having the freedom to experience a new place, where they are rid of their responsibilities from home, and just get to be a kid, is monumental. They are able to meet peers from other backgrounds, cultures, geographic locations, completely expanding their horizon of what they are familiar with. Going to Camp Coniston over the summer gives these students a sense of belonging and opportunity.
Campers engage in increased physical activity and socialization which is paired with a decreased amount of screentime and exposure to incessant simulation they get in the day to day. The kids are able to connect with themselves, others, and nature, in ways they maybe hadn’t before. Space is created for them to discover new interests or talents that they had not previously explored, which can have a profound impact on future aspirations.
“Getting away from the city or wherever you live to go to such an accepting community is an opportunity that shouldn’t be turned down. People may see two weeks without any technology as bad, but all the activities and the people around keep you occupied. A definite highlight is that everyone is accepting and no sort of disrespect is tolerated so the community remains good.”
Many of these students have had to grow up incredibly quickly. At camp, they can just be kids. They can indulge in the luxury and pleasure of not having to worry about a million different things. Being able to try new things without the pressure of exceptionalism may seem minute, but makes a world of a difference.
“Coniston is a place where depression ends, anxiety ends, and expectations end. A place where I belonged and where I learned to talk to people, not judge and love everybody.”
While a summer camp experience isn’t monolithic, there is a trend of positive outcomes seen within children who have attended. The American Camp Association conducted the first large-scale national research study to identify what kids learn from camp experiences in 2005. Among the four supports and opportunities measured by the YDSI survey, the greatest strength of camp was Supportive Relationships—specifically, the quality of relationships between youth and adult staff. In fact, these relationships are stronger at camp than in any other arena—outside the family system—in which this construct has been measured using this questionnaire. Nearly 70% of campers experienced the highest level of support (dubbed “developmentally optimal” levels) at camp compared to an average of 40% of youth in some community-based organizations and between 15% and 20% in some secondary schools. They used their findings to help aid in the development and maturation of camp programs and experiences. It was designed to measure the outcomes of a camp experience. 80 ACA-accredited camps from across the country participated in this research project, providing a diverse pool of camps and demographics.
There is a lot of evidence pointing towards the social-emotional learning (SEL) benefits of a camp experience. Kids gain valuable communication, teamwork, and leadership skills, in an environment outside of an academic context.
“Last night (at camp) they shot fireworks and I watched them and realized people are celebrating being weird. At the moment, I never felt more comfortable.”
By providing them with this unique experience, it gives them new opportunities to learn how to navigate various social and personal challenges and situations. School can be a stressful environment where students don’t always feel their most confident and comfortable. They may feel disconnected or isolated from their school and home community. By providing them a space aside from school, to build on and strengthen their social skills, allows for more nuance in their understanding of different situations and people.
In addition to SEL benefits, exposure to nature by living within it, produces valuable and tangible skills for campers to adopt. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in children aged 1-14 years old. Access to explore water safety information and learn how to swim is immensely valuable for a lot of these campers. A large number of our BridgeUP + OUT students are black and POC. Oftentimes, in their communities, they are not taught to swim. 64% of black youth cannot swim. This is mostly chalked up to exposure and access to resources. By giving students the opportunity to attend summer camp, they are in a safe space where they are encouraged to practice and strengthen their swimming skills. It is a safe environment for them to learn together.
A camp experience can be a powerful tool for empowering future leaders. By providing underserved kids from inner city areas with enriching experiences and opportunities, they are able to see that the world is so much larger than they know it to be. By investing in these children and providing them with opportunities to explore their potential, we can help build a brighter and more equitable future for all.