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I am not sure if anyone is in this sort of situation and/or may be able to offer any suggestions. We run a program located in a very nice middle to upper class town right outside a small city. Our camp serves about 400 campers a day in a day camp setting. About 1/2 are from the suburbs and 1/2 from the city. The problem that we are facing is that about 1/4 of our campers recieve full scholarships through the United Way. That's great, but the United Way does not want to give scholarships to campers that have received them previously the years before. So we end up with 100 first time campers each session, who don't neccesarily want to be there, and are definitely not there for the camp experience. As one may imagine, other families are concerned that their campers are picking up habits from these scholarship campers and are not sending their campers back to camp.

I guess I'm interested to know if anyone else has such a disparity at their program and how do you train your staff, and structure the program so that it is not only enjoyable for all, but also beneficial.

Thanks!

My backround is in serving an extreme amount of innercity kids. My advice to you would be to promote someone in your staff that seems to be very good with the inner city youth to "behavorial specialist". This will give your staff a goto staff member that is reconized with dealing with poor behavior. We have implemented this staff member at our camp for the last 3 summers and find that it really works well most of the time.

Hi Johnny,

I know where you are coming from. My suggestion is that you offer one week out of the summer for all scholarship youth. Now, I'm guessing the United Way wants to give them the camp experience, but they also want them to socialize with kids from other backgrounds. And so the scholarship kids are spread throughout the summer.

In my experience kids want to be with other kids that they have things in common with. Kids who are from lower income families don't want to be at camp with kids who don't have the same worries and experiences. In other words they don't want to be at camp with, what they might refer to, a bunch of rich kids (even though they may be only middle class).

When I went to camp as a kid I went through this. I grew up poor and went to resident camp on the donation of an anonymous person. I couldn't relate to the other kids who had TVs in their rooms, the latest game system, went to Hawaii for vacation, etc. I hated camp and was jealous of these kids. I wanted to break their stuff or steal it. After all, I felt they could afford another one of whatever I broke or took. Fortunately, my mother raised me better than that and I just suffered through their insults and arrogance. By the way, the counselor had no sympathy for me and just told me to suck it up.

I would have loved to go to camp with kids that I could feel comfortable with, kids that were poor. The camp itself was cool and had a lot of neat things to offer. I just couldn't enjoy myself. Needless to say, I never wanted to go to camp again...and I didn't.

In our efforts to help underprivileged youth and families we rarely stop to think about what the child wants, or needs. Of course, many of us differ on our thoughts about what inner city kids need.

The other suggestion I would have is to suggest to the United Way that they find a more suitable camp. Let them know that you are not equipped to handle the behavioral issues that come with a large number of kids who do not want to be there. Parents who pay for your camp will start looking elsewhere if they feel that their kids are not safe or are being influenced by challenging behavior. If this happens, your camp may not be able to financially survive down the road. Then nobody gets to experience the awesome experience your camp can offer.

If these suggestion don't work for your situation then I agree with Alex, hire a specialist, someone who may have had the same kind of childhood experiences these kids are going through. Then put together a few like-minded counselors to create a team that will handle all the scholarship youth that come to your camp.

I hope some of this helps. Good luck.

Some interesting points...
I would like to point out the actual opposite of your point as well Curt. The chance of an inner-city kid to see a different set or moral or behaviors by socializing with kids from different backgrounds can be very influential and a great teaching tool for that child.
I would also like to mention the idea that looking too deeply into a child?s background or economic demographic could lead to unfair labeling of the child. Poor behavior is is shared with both demographics and should be handled the same way. I believe the need for the behavioral specialist would be important for relating and communicating to find a common ground for each situation between child/child as well as counselor/child. I strongly recommend from experience is to hire from with-in someone who showed strong skills in behavior management. If you are looking for someone new I think someone with a major in sociology could be a great candidate. Finding a student in that study could lead to college credit instead of staff salary and that?s a plus for everyone!
I totally understand Curt's view of the materialistic things kids can have aggression, caused by jealousy, can lead to problems. I agree with curt that having a week for just sponsored youth is an option but it does eliminate some aspects from the purpose of UW in sending the kids to the camps.
I think the overall conclusion would land on what your camp can offer. But we must be careful on labeling the sponsored youth from the gate. Behavior issues stem from all economic and socio classes and, in my experience, there are so many well behaved but only takes one to label the whole group.

You're absolutely right Alex. I was definately speaking from personal experience and we both know that personal experiences are usually biased.

I still feel that as a camp or program of any kind you have to weigh the positives and negatives of a situation. One should ask - Who is my program trying to serve? A camp shouldn't try to be all things to all people. Even if it's the noble thing to do. No camp is equipped to be everything to everyone.

Having a scholarship program for low income families where the child has been excepted based on positive behavior, grades, recommendations from teachers, etc. is great, and I whole-heartedly support it. These are obviously the kids who WANT to be at camp.

I also support the camps that cater to inner city youth. I used to be a program director for a Boys and Girls Club camp. Those were our kids. We dealt with issues pertaining to them and their families on a daily basis. It really is apples and oranges and the thing is, no matter how great your program is there's always the parents' views on what they want their kids to get out of camp, right or wrong, and they are the clients as much, maybe even more so, as the kids.

So it looks like you have some things to think about and go over with the powers that be, Johnny. Alex and I both agree that all kids, regardless of income, race, religion, handicaps, etc. should have the opportunity to experience camp. It can provide one of the best experiences of a child's life and there are so many teachable moments and opportunities that come from being a camper.