The ELCA offers a wide variety of outdoor ministries. With approximately 140 Lutheran camps, retreat centers and conference centers throughout the country, there are plenty of programs to choose from.
Through worship, study, games and activities, participants hear and see how active their faith can be, learning how to live and work together in an intentional Christian community. But as in any situation where children are away from home, parents need to give their kids the tools to protect them from bullying. They need to know how to handle situations and when they should talk to their counselors or other people in authority.
What is bullying?
Bullying is aggressive behavior by a child or a group of children who take advantage of the power they have to hurt or intimidate others.
Bullying can take many forms:
- Verbal abuse, including taunting, gossiping, mocking, name calling and dirty looks
- Physical abuse, including hitting, pushing, shoving and kicking
- Organized social rejection, including exclusion from activities or groups
- Public humiliation
- Threatening racist or sexist remarks
- Frightening acts
Bullying at camp
Camp is similar to school and other settings where bullying occurs. Children engaging in new activities, meeting new friends, establishing varying social groups at camp, and sharing living quarters with other campers present challenges to even the most well-adjusted child.
The good news is that camps are well equipped to address bullying and help the bully deal with counterproductive behavior, too. Proven supervisory practices, activities geared to the developmental level of individual children, and the promotion of a spirit of inclusivity and caring help children to exert higher degrees of cooperation and self-control.
How can I help my child deal with bullying?
Before camp begins:
- Discuss bullying with your child — what it is, why it is unacceptable and what your child’s response to it should be.
- Tell your child that you expect them to help a child who is being bullied or excluded.
- Encourage your child to talk to the camp staff — children need support from responsible adults to address bullying.
- Establish clear expectations about respecting others and gaining respect.
- Follow through with a consistent set of rules and consequences.
Once camp begins:
- Listen and communicate regularly once your child is at camp.
- Reinforce positive behavior with specific praise such as “Your counselor told me you controlled your temper when another child pushed you. That really helped the other campers not to get in a fight.”
What can I do if my child is bullied?
- Support your child — bullying is not the fault of the child being bullied.
- Gather information about the incident — who, what, when, where and how?
- Praise your child for attempts likely made for resolving the situation.
- Talk with the camp director about consequences for the child being the bully and help for your child with increased support from other campers and staff.
- Help your child understand that real friends are not mean to each other.
What If my child bullies?
- Try to get a full understanding of what happened.
- Ask yourself if there have been any recent changes or negative events in your child’s life.
- Discuss consequences of bullying with the camp director regarding specific episodes and the response from camp staff.
- Reinforce your rule that bullying must stop.
- Help your child understand how bullying affects others.
- Cooperate with the camp director and the staff to reinforce positive behaviors in your child.
You might also want to read:
Cyber-bullying
Bullying: ancient problem, serious issue
It’s not polite to be a racist
Where is the church when homosexuals with their radical gay agenda attack those who speak out against them....those of us who believe in standing firm against their ways...I have even been called at my office and verbally abused and even threatened with my job but I'm always wrong in my condemnation of the gay ones. I know the ELCA has long ago lost its way in standing for what is Godly and right. It has it's own agenda. The ELCA continues it's endorsement of Culture Rot, pure and simple.
Uh, Tom...perhaps the whole "power differential" piece of bullying is lost on you.
Perhaps the whole "remove the mote from your own eye" piece in the Bible is lost on you.
Perhaps the whole "Jesus loves you" piece of Christianity is lost on you.
Having "gay ones" sitting next to me on Sunday has not diminished my relationship with God, instead it has enriched our congregation. I'm proud of the ECLA's choice to follow God's teachings in extending love to all of his children (it, in fact, has further cemented my relationship with my own congregation).
I'll extend that love to you, too, and pray that the veil is lifted from your apparently hate-filled heart and that you find the peace that comes with leaving the judgment of your fellow man to God. I'm hoping God will help you live the kind of joyous life that comes with an understanding that you do not have to be gay (I'm guessing the "gay ones" are probably really happy you're not) or think being gay is the niftiest thing ever to treat all of the children that God has made with the decency and respect befitting his creations. Thinking this way must be an incredible burden for you...one I don't think God would want you to carry (though I'll not presume to know the mind of God as that kind of hubris is something, as a Christian, I try to avoid).
I'll pray that you remember God loves you...and that you consider that He loves the "gay ones," too.
Tom,
Bullying is a real problem in society. Let's listen to those who have suggestions for how to deal with these issues as they arise.
Your comment about the ELCA endorsing "Culture Rot" seems rather like an anti-Christian label on what God creates.
Bruce