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The Value of a Camp Experience

By Dr. Morton Tener

Thousands of boys and girls go to camp every summer which include residential camps, day camps and specialty camps. Camping is an integral part of the school curriculum. What the magic in a camp experience is that it provides developmental values for our youth.

Of all the educational possibilities for personal growth in our present day, the camping experience stands as one of our highest. Factors supporting this statement are due to the camp setting itself, the interaction of group living, the sharing of activities and the different form of leadership offered by adults who are not parents or teachers.

A camp experience should be available to a broad scope of our young citizens. A keen look at the camping objectives will make one realize that life will be enriched and enhanced for a better preparation into adulthood:

• The camping experience offers many opportunities to develop a variety of skills such as sports, crafts, water skills, nature lore, etc. The young person can explore new interests, in addition to extending already adopted interests.
• In addition to the myriad of activities offered during a camp experience there’s the realization and appreciation of a “supreme being” as visualized through nature that can be felt in the open environment of the camp setting itself.
• Development of physical characteristics is a basic aim of camping. With diversified activities, balanced meals, trained supervision, camping increases mental and physical vigor.
• Safety is a primary realization of camping. This rests upon every member of the camp community for self and others.
• The most important skill of all is the promotion of social skills. The personal adjustments that campers have to make because of the intimacy of close living is a crucial need to be ready for our diverse, changing and demanding society. Camping develops pathways that lead to the understanding of others, such as persons of different races, economic levels, religions, gender and levels of capabilities.
• The characteristics that our schools are premised upon, democratic living, is solidified by camp life. This is so important in our current existence, especially when we exist in a multi-cultural society.

To reinforce the value of camping, the author of this article, in a previous article published in the Parent’s Guide, conducted a study between the students with, and the students without, a previous camp experience. The results illustrated that there was a lower college transfer rate by students with a camping experience than those without a camping experience. This finding supports the premise of this article. An interesting statistic is that less than five percent of American boys and girls have had any camp experience at all.

Possibly the answer may be the evolvement of school-camps, as mentioned above, supported perhaps by public school funds and operated as an integral part of our educational programs. A school camp would characterize many of the objectives of the regular academic curriculum, but it is distinguished by a completely different environment.

Camping is fun, plus it is this atmosphere that provides a needed change of pace from the academic demands of our young people today.

Dr. Morton Tener is in his 34th year at Glassboro State-Rowan University and his 45th year in New Jersey education. Prior to coming to Glassboro-Rowan University he was a teacher, basketball coach, guidance counselor and vice-principal in different school districts in South Jersey. Out of all the educational experiences, his greatest love is working with student teachers. He was also a former camp director for many years.