This year more than any other I've felt the effects of the cultural phenomenon drawing young people into a career-, and resume-building mindset, and activities as they approach and move through their college years. I listen to the language of the age: "it will be good for my resume"; "I need to do this because it will be good for my career choice"; "I'd rather be at camp, but I have to do this for my resume"; "I have to do an internship". And the implication with respect to working as a counselor at camp: "camp is fun and there's no time for such anymore; this is serious and connects to my future". Obviously, I - and others who consider our work with kids at camp important - have failed to demonstrate the ultimate value of their work with kids at camp.

Kabeyun, like most camps, relies on twentysomething people to be leaders and counselors for our campers. Sure, we have a healthy age-range for our typical staff - from 18-88 I like to say, and it's only a little bit of a stretch. We have a few working teachers, older grad students, and a couple of older working professionals who are either in transition or have found a way to carve out a summer from their professional life... and we do have a man who continues to work with our boys at 88 years old. But it's the college-age folks who form the core of our staff. Usually, they are guys who have grown up with us, spending several summers as campers, working through the counseling internship program and continue to return with the expressed desire of "giving back". But we are also usually able to attract new folks, from outside of the Kabeyun circle as well as young men and women who come because they are personally connected to these guys we've known.

It has become increasingly challenging to attract college-age talent, especially males, who want to work with kids, and it has become pretty clear that the biggest reason is that they do not equate the work we do with "real work" - "real world" experience that will connect to their futures in meaningful (too often read remunerative) ways. Where are they getting the message that the work we do with kids at camp is not as valuable as a summer spent pushing paper in an office, carrying out somone else's research in a lab, or any number of the sorts of internship experiences I hear them pursuing?

I have made the decision to hone my own message to these folks, though the entire society needs to hear it. I fear that maybe we have failed to emphasize the real value of the work each summer. So here are a few core ideas.

When I hire a conselor for camp, I am hiring a young person to take care of other people's babies. It is a position that, as a parent and educator, I take very seriously. We are entrusted with their safety and well-being. I ask our counselors, regardless of age and life experience, to be parents to the boys in our care; to help grow them as surrogates. I ask them to see and understand the promise we make to families about delivering a more deeply felt experience and assume responsibility for delivering that promise. We ask them to learn how to manage groups, teach problem-solving and conflict management; to be aware of the demands of special learning needs and to become effective instructors; to manage a variety of social challenges kids are coming with and teach tolerance and peaceful living; to accept responsibility for the physical and emotional safety of the kids in our care. Counselors must live and work closely with a varied group of about 50 others; create their own lesson plans, maintain their teaching environment, order supplies, communicate with parents and each other, solve problems on the fly, adapt set plans to changing conditions with only a moment's notice, make hundreds of judgment calls and decisions every day that affect the lives of others. Counselors are asked to open themselves to others, younger and older, who may not be like them at all; reach out to others with whom they may feel tension, or with whom there may be very little apparent common ground. They are asked to be prepared at all times to put others' needs before their own, to sacrifice their own wants for the sake of the community, or the needs of a particular boy in our care.

I could continue. The point is that I challenge any employer in any business, or industry, or profession and look at even that incomplete list and tell me honestly that these things do not help to create stronger workers, employees, partners, human beings. I challenge any parent to tell me honestly that an internship in an office is more valuable to the growth of their twentysomething than being faced with these challenges and experiences. I challenge an counselor in any school career counseling office to tell me that the skills required and learned by being challenged in these ways is not equal to ANY other experience they might recommend as "resume building".

I understand that these young people are also being drawn to other types of experiences that were never as available to my own generation: adventure in foreign countries, volunteer opportunities with the poor, opportunities in the burgeoning outdoor education field that appeal to their sense of adventure... it is hard for me not to cheer them on as they pursue these other options even as it means losing them at camp.

But camp counseling is a serious pursuit, equal to or surpassing any of the above in both in-the-moment, and future value. I want it recognized as such by parents eager to see their children grow and succeed; employers eager to recruit new talent to their own businesses. I wnat them all to recognize and promote the qualities cultivated by our work with kids: dedication, flexibility, initiative; the ability to work long hours, see the bigger picture and work toward supporting the mission and philosophy of an organization; empathy and compassion; decision making, planning, and problem solving skills.... Are these not the qualities and values we dream of in our employees and society's work force?

This is what the value is to the counselor at our camp, and above all, perhaps is the opportunity to really make a positive difference in another person's life. These are things that stay with us forever and enrich our experience as humans in a complicated, fast-paced, challenging world...

This fall I re-read Alvin Toffler's Future Shock, a book that is almost forty years old, but that in many ways still rings true. A lot of what Toffler talks about is the accelerated rate of change in our culture and its impact as a stressor on the human psyche. And of course, I thought about Kabeyun. If you read my appeal letter for the Annual Fund last fall you’ll know that change has been on my mind.

With the exception of the office building, a new cabin and a remodeled kitchen, a slightly larger dining hall and a new trips shack, all changes that took root around the celebration of Kabeyun’s 75th anniversary in 1998, it is still the same camp I ran around in as a kid through the 1970s. We do more kayaking now than we did in the 70s and before; we rock climb and we have a challenge ropes course now.With the exception of a couple of unsteady years in the early 70s Kabeyun has only really known four directors, and one was John Porter who conducted camp himself until the early 1960s. With the stability of administration has come also a stability of philosophy and mission, maintained by a caring board of trustees since the inception of the Porter Foundation in 1973.

To sense other changes one would have to look very closely, and spend more time with us. At this level I think more in terms of strengtheners than changes. The physical plant is maintained to provide a safe and comfortable environment; equipment is continually updated. We know more and more about how best to work with kids; how to meet their shifting needs over time. Our counselors are sensitive to the challenges kids face during their school year; our staff training program stays current with changing demands of our culture. And as we begin to anticipate our 100th anniversary, we are taking a close look at several areas of need in the near future: improving the stage and backstage areas for the drama department; an improved woodshop; a remodeled photography shack.

So, is Kabeyun still the same camp? Just ask anyone who has visited after time away, be it five or forty years. Their comments consistently note a sense of coming home: That feeling in the gut as we make our way down the camp road through the mottled forest light on a road still strewn with pine needles; the view of the waterfront – Town Class sailboats coming and going, swim lessons, canoeists and snorkelers; the Lodge and its stage, the cabins, the junior ball field; Pine Point and Charcoal Ceremony. Often, a visitor from as far back as the 1950s will meet a familiar face, too. The overriding sense? That nothing changes. Far from stress caused by the challenge of adapting to accelerated change, this knowledge brings comfort, even relief.

Our campers feel the same sense of comfort every summer as they continue to return. Kabeyun is a place they can count on. I don’t need to take more space here to describe for you the pace and fragmented nature of their lives as they navigate the world of school and sports; music and dance classes; social networks – in person and on the internet; and as they attempt to filter the terrific avalanche of information and media that assaults their senses on a daily basis. It really is different for kids today than it was for us – far more different than it was for us relative to the world of our parents. Future shock? These kids are living it now. Maintaining Kabeyun is such a way that it can grow ever stronger without losing the heart or the meaning so familiar to so many remains our first and best priority.

I’ll say again then, when I am asked this year, as I am asked every year, “What’s new?” I will enjoy the comfort in my response when I say, “Not much of anything at all. Isn’t that wonderful?”

We've been attending a number of camp fairs again this winter and I've been struck once again by the breadth, though not the depth, of summer opportunities out there for our kids. There are sports camps, e-magination camps (whatever that is), computer camps, performing arts camps, day camps, overnight camps, sports camps, travel programs that take kids to Peru and Africa, teen camps....

Camps, camps, camps. Seeing the word in action has also got me thinking about my desire to see a language police out there, combing the streets, the internet, and the school cafeterias for mis-uses and abuses of the language. Maybe I'm just being over-sensitive, but I think it's time we camps - the REAL camps - take back the word! Is spending a week on a college campus, living in a dorm and eating cafeteria food, playing soccer and/or basketball and/or lacrosse every day all day "camp"? Is sitting in darkened rooms working on computers, or shooting videos during the day and going home at night... is that "camp"? I think not. What makes a camp a camp?

For parents looking for meaningful experiences for their kids, it has to be confusing. The waters are clouded and cluttered. Experience talking with parents at these fairs indicates to me that such language abuse (!) re-enforces our culture's penchant for focusing on "keeping them busy" through the summer months. I had a mom stop by at a recent fair who stated very clearly, and without so much as a how-do-you-do? that what she needed was care for her seven-year-old, after August 15. "July and August are covered; I just need something after the 15th of August."

What are we doing?!

As I think I've spouted elsewhere, let's begin the conversation with, who is your kid and what do you want for him or her in a summer experience? The length of the session is a detail after the type of experience promised by a particular program. But I bet, if anybody is reading this, I'm talking to the proverbial choir...

I do know this: camp means something to us at Kabeyun, and I know it means a great deal to many worthwhile programs out there. A new Kabeyun parent recently sent me this quote:

In the early 20th century, Charles William Eliot, then-President of Harvard University, called summer camp, “...America's most important contribution to the field of education.” In the same treatise, he wrote, “I have a conviction that a few weeks spent in a well-organized summer camp may be of more value educationally than a whole year of formal school work.” Eliot observed the many benefits of camping - heightened self-esteem, increased self-confidence, skill development, opportunity for socialization and enhanced physical fitness, to name a few - that continue to attract families to resident camping today.

More valuable than a "whole year of formal school work". He's not talking about a week of computer work; he's not talking about two weeks of lacrosse, or soccer. The plethora of fragmentation programs available now were simply not in existence back then. He's talking about eight weeks in the woods, away from parents and in the care of skilled craftsmen and woodsmen and adventurers; he's talking about a solid period of time, an extended period of time within which a young person can be himself; find himself; and learn skills that are not available to him during the rest of his year. Canoeing, hiking, working through conflicts without the watchful, protective eye of his parent; working on a project of his own design, learning new skills, accepting new challenfges and taking personal risks under the watchful eye of OTHER caring adults; making friends and living with others who could never be their friends...

He's talking about Kabeyun! I want to shout these ideas from the mountaintops in an effort to educate families. But wouldn't it appear merely self-serving to do so? Where are the voices in our society standing up for the value of these experiences? They are out-shouted by the sheer number of "summer opportunities" looking to keep them entertained; looking to extend the school year; looking to provide a service they perceive as needed - fancy child care, child care with a focus, be it video production or soccer or tennis. If we can keep them busy, we can last until the family vacation (a good thing) or until school begins again.

Kabeyun, and other Camps with a similar mission, seeks to strengthen and support the growth of each child, working in a thoughtful partnership with parents and families to do the best for each child. For certain, any summer opportunity out there can say the same thing, and they do indeed, but what does it really mean? What does it really look like beyond the words? What do we really want for our kids? What kind of experience will serve them best?

I'm interested lately in voices and values - the way that organizations and institutions seem to have the power to control individual and family value sets simply by shouting out their own agendas... schools and colleges seem to be behaving more like a lobby group for more academic (read "seat") time for kids; school counselors tell them they must go to school all summer, must take more standardized tests more often, must seek resume building experiences by seeking job-focused opportunities like internships earlier and earlier, younger and younger. Whither childhood?!

I feel this strongly as I watch kids and families struggle with how they want summers to look. The message they get is that the camp experience doesn't fit... meanwhile, employers are saying that what they need and look for are people who can work and get along with others, problem-solve, think critically, lead with compassion and a strong work ethic - all qualities that are fostered by experiences like Kabeyun's!

I spoke with a family the other day who spoke of the need for their 11-year-old son to have academic enrichment during the summer because the college application process is so competitive; another mom told me of the intense application process surrounding the very competitive pre-schools in her area; I heard yesterday from the mother of a boy who has been with us for two summers; he's now 16 and wants very badly to come to Kabeyun this summer as a part of the counseling intern program - school counselors have told him that if he wants to get into Harvard, he should begin looking for some different experiences during the summer - he's attending an academic summer program in Cambridge; several summers ago I had a father tell me that his eight-year-old couldn't attend more camp because he was signed up for a hockey camp "to keep his edge"...

It goes on and on. The experience of spending a summer at Kabeyun is important to the cultivation of a strong character and self-awareness, whether as a camper or a counselor. Campers learn invaluable lessons about how to live peaceably with others who are different from themselves; they learn how to work through problems both with other individuals and within groups; they learn tolerance, compassion; they learn about personal potential and how to accept new challenges; they learn how to set personal goals and how to work hard to accomplish those goals; they learn what it feels like to be connected to a community, to be a part of something larger than themselves; they learn how to compromise. Are these not characteristics that any school or business will desire in their own members? Are these not the values we celebrate in a healthy society? For counselors, add to this list the leadership skills required of them every day; how to work with a group of others toward a common goal; how to lead others through conflict; what it means to work hard and to feel the pleasure of the benefits of hard work...

Kabeyun and other experiences like it need to find some way of injecting this voice into the public discourse and establish values in favor of the individual. We need to remind people that, regardless of how powerless they feel in the face of these established social expectations, we have a choice! The summers for kids are growing shorter and are being carved up into smaller bites by pressures from schools and the perceived need to prepare for... whatever. Summer is the time to celebrate childhood and the balanced personal learning forgotten by schools and the institution of youth sports. To foster well-rounded individuals aware of self and community both, we need to rovide the space and time to find ourselves, on our own terms, at our own pace.

Parents complain about how over-scheduled and competitive is their children's world. We do have a choice, but we need to feel the strength in numbers and the volume of voice held by institutions and organizations. Many Kabeyun families have turned off their TVs, chased the kids outside, skipped the last few days of school in favor of a whole summer experience; they have refused to buy into the culture of deferred rewards, opting instead for cherishing each moment of childhood happening right now, focusing on providing solid growth and learning experiences for their own sake, and allowing each child's individual passions and personality drive decision-making. We are not grooming eight-year-olds to play with the Bruins; we're not preparing 12-year-olds for college admission. Instead, we're allowing the eight to be eight, with all the carefree joys that accompany that moment of life's journey...

Here's what we see: packages of all sizes coming to camp every day with toys and games, novelty items and accessories, tee-shirts and comics. Most days there is a table full of packages in the office. Regardless of our request for families not to send food and candy, many still do, sometimes going to great lengths to hide and smuggle contraband - bags of candy taped inside tee-shirts, stuffed inside teddy bears, etc. For years, we have required that the boys come to the office during their rest hour and open packages with a counselor to review the contents and confiscate food and candy. Their time in the office opening packages in the office is time away from their cabin mates and counselors.

We have been known to call parents who see smuggling candy as humorous to remind them of our rationale: we live in the woods and foodstuff attracts animals to the cabins - we've seen it happen! Fairness becomes an issue when some kids have candy and some do not: who will share with whom and why? Finally, sending candy in disregard for the rules sets up a confusing double standard for kids caught in the middle - though we have always been careful not to hold the boys responsible when we discover the hidden foodstuff, they are more often than not uncomfortably embarrassed by a package containing contraband. We believe, as you do, in clear and consistent messages in our role as caregivers. Though parents are already giving the boys a great gift of four, or eight weeks at Kabeyun, there is still a felt need in some to shower them in their absence with tokens of... I don't know what. Toys and games we find in the trash, or broken and scattered on the cabin floor; books lie unread; comics and toys become objects of contention - Who can use it next? You broke my toy! I said he could use it, not you.

Kabeyun takes great pride in providing the boys with excellent equipment - "toys" like white water kayaks, ropes course elements, tennis courts, bows and arrows, pottery wheels. This is where we all want their attention, not on the distractions of toys and games and other diversions they have access to during the rest of their year. I say "all" because I am including you, the parents. You have made a thoughtful choice in sending him to Kabeyun and know the value of the experience, the care we take in planning and designing a summer experience that gives them opportunities to step out of familiar territory, to learn about themselves in social situations and in challenging activities - they have the opportunity to do things that are different from all they have exposure to during the rest of the year. You like this and respect it; so do they. We work hard to minimize distractions: no access to computers, CD players and all electronics left at home, money left at home, no superfluous food and candy. We have maintained a commitment to limiting our session offerings and not bending to recent trends toward shorter sessions, assuring them of a stable camp community.

Without these distractions the boys are all on the same footing, all with access to the same program and amenities, regardless of their age, or background. They are not concerned with who has candy and who doesn't; you have money, and I don't; he can use my new toy, but you can't. We feed them well, including a fruit bowl available between meals and in the evenings. We equip them well for learning skills in boating, tennis and archery; creating projects in clay, leather and wood. We will refuse delivery for any package that arrives - anything larger than a regular letter or greeting card envelope.

Two exceptions will be made: Medical needs should be sent directly to the camp nurse or the director. We will also make exception for birthdays, still asking that you refrain from sending food or candy. If there is something you feel he absolutely needs, you can call us and arrange for a package to be sent to us in the office.