Parent Panel Particulars

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Parent Panel Particulars
Show staff where campers are coming from

By Christopher Thurber

Chris, I struggle helping my staff members understand the magnitude of their responsibility. Everything from lifeguarding to language must be approached with seriousness of purpose, but so few of my staff are parents themselves that garnering that perspective seems impossible. Any ideas?
--Louise Fritts Johnson, Director of CampArcadia, Otisfield, Maine

Louise, your staff members are surrogate caregivers. They function as in loco parentis, both in the eyes of the law and those of each camper’s parents. So you’re absolutely right--they must understand their weighty responsibility. This is challenging, especially against the backdrop of a joyous recreational experience such as camp.

Buttering Up With A Purpose
In my years as a cabin leader (decades before I had children of my own), I learned the most about parents’ perspective on opening day. A standard part of each cabin leader’s meet-and-greet approach was to query parents: “Is there anything special I need to know about Benjamin? Any behavioral, emotional or physical factors that will help me know better how to be a good leader for him?” Besides filling parents with confidence that the staff members took their jobs seriously, this set of questions gave me (and all the other cabin leaders) a valuable parental perspective on their child and his or her functioning. No doubt this helped me understand the importance of my responsibility as a youth-development professional.

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