Membership

What does the “camping experience” do for youth?

by Sandee Williams

A favorite activity for Girl Scout members is camping! At Girl Scout camp, girls explore nature, take hikes, swim and canoe, ride horses, create crafts and art, sing around campfires, cook those famous foil dinners outdoors, put on skits and talent shows, and play games. In short, they make memories that stay with them for the rest of their lives. Besides from filling their days and nights with one wonderful activity after another, what does the “camping experience” really do for young campers?

Motivated by a desire to better understand children’s experience at camp, the American Camp Association (ACA), initiated the first large-scale national research project designed to measure outcomes of the camp experience. In a *2003 and 2004 study involving 80 camps and 5,000 families, the American Camp Association (ACA) found the results from this landmark study provide supportive information that camp, a unique educational institution, is an extremely positive force for youth development.

Some overall results of this study suggest that a stay at camp typically benefits campers in the following areas:

• Independence - Research suggests that although mild homesickness is common, it is soon overcome by a sense of self-sufficiency. Campers are challenged to step out of their comfort zone and to take healthy risks. When children meet challenges in a supportive camp environment, they can become more independent and they welcome the renewed sense of autonomy.
• Leadership - Camps can play a critical role in fostering leadership by giving young people responsibilities unavailable in other settings. At most camps, for example, the campers themselves are responsible for keeping the camp neat and clean by making sure their personal belongings, cubbies, and bunks are in order. Older campers often assist with younger campers in “little pal” programs and sometimes are involved in designing their activity schedules. Of course, in all cases, campers are always responsible for their own behavior and good behavior produces good leaders.
• Friendship Skills and Social Comfort - The relationships that children form at camp can help erode their stereotypes, build trust and respect, and push them to be better people themselves. In the absence of cliques, bullies, and materialism, the camping experience creates an environment where friendships can blossom. Camps intentionally work to create cultures devoid of negative social pressures that exist in other settings. Campers can be “more themselves” at camp and this translates to feeling more socially comfortable.
• Peer Relationships - Keeping friends is just as important as making friends. The camping experience assists youth in learning how to appreciate differences, forgive faults, and resolve conflict. Peer relationship skills among campers often improves because when disagreements arise or when decisions have to be made campers are most often included in the mediation process.
• Environmental Awareness - Many camps are located in beautiful, rural settings that play a significant role in enhancing a camper’s awareness of nature and becoming comfortable developing an excitement about living outdoors. The camping experience teaches youth simple things such as learning not to pull leaves off trees, how to identify poison ivy, and how to practice recycling. Such education goes a long way in helping youth to recognize humanity’s vital role in conserving the earth’s resources.
• Adventure and Exploration - Every day’s schedule is packed with challenges at camp! Campers learn to take healthy risks and try new physical activities. The power of learning new physical skills like repelling or completing a ropes challenge course helps them discover their personal abilities and increases their self-esteem and self-expression.
• Values and Decisions - Whether it’s stated or implied, all camps have standards for their campers when it comes to how one person should treat another, how collaborate decisions are made, how the virtues of unselfishness are practiced, and when one should experience the consequences of one’s

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