[ENCORE] Ep. 87: The Impact of Camp Experiences with Laurie Browne, Ph.D.

Описание: Subscribe to the Sunshine Parenting Podcast
https://sunshine-parenting.com/podcas...

Visit Sunshine Parenting for more episodes & resources.

Subscribe for resources and ideas for happier, more connected families.

In this episode of the podcast, I interview Dr. Laurie Browne, Director of Research for the American Camp Association , about the five-year camp impact study being done by an external research team through the University of Utah. The study explores the lasting impacts and the ways camp experiences prepare young people for college, their careers, and their lives beyond camp.

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Laurie and learn more about the incredible research that’s finding that camp truly does have an amazingly positive impact on the development of young people.

BIG IDEAS • The ACA wants to make sure that camps thrive into the next century and that they serving more campers and in better ways.
• The heart of this five-year study consists of three major components: the youth, the staff, and leadership development. Its objective is to determine the lasting impacts of camp and the interplay between camp, school, home, and future jobs. Through this study of over 500 families, they will identify camp's role in the "learning landscape".
• The data collection and analysis is being done by an independent research institution outside of the ACA through the University of Utah.
• We discuss: • the outcomes and benefits for parents who prioritize camp.
•  the importance of having other adults to mentor our children, especially the positive influence of camp counselors.
• what families and schools can learn from camp
• having campers reflect on what they learned at camp so they can apply it to real life situations.



QUOTES LAURIE: “This is a multi-layered study which builds off itself, starting with qualitative approaches, interviews, and surveys. Then the findings were quantified and a longitudinal study was designed which is tracking campers and their families over time.”



LAURIE: “We’ve known for generations that camp does great things for kids. But I think the environment is far more ready for the type of social, emotional learning related outcomes that camp provides. We’ve known for a hundred years that camp promotes things like relationship skills, but only now we are seeing in the education, mental health, college and career readiness spaces, the value of relationship skills. We have employers saying that is the number one skill they expect in college graduates. That is harder and harder to find."



AUDREY: “Other places (school, sports) have another focus that is their most important priority (academics, sports skills) but at camp, our number one focus is on the community building, the cultural building, and training our counselors to facilitate friendships and relationships among campers.”

LAURIE: “It all layers on top of one another, the interplay between camp and school and home. All the spaces work together to create a thriving, successful child. And now we know that camp plays a very unique—even critical—role in that overall landscape.”

LAURIE: We’re interested in the family dynamic around camp. How do families choose to go to camp? How do they integrate camp with the other things in their lives? (In this study) parents are emerging as beneficiaries and have their own outcomes relating to camp. We’re specifically having parents share with us the value and benefits to them of sending their kids to camp, day camp and overnight camp. Parents are recognizing that kids come home and in many cases, are more active citizens in the family. So it improves family processes when they send their kids to camp. But specifically, in overnight camp experiences, parents are saying, ‘I’m a better parent. I get some time to connect with my partner, to engage in some of the things I don’t always get to do when I am busy caretaking.' Then when the kids come back, they are really happy so as a family unit, it brings all kinds of benefits to parents as well.”



AUDREY: “I’ve heard from many parents that it’s almost a relief to know their children are being taken care of. They can relax. They don’t need to be monitoring, following, texting. It’s a much-needed break for parents who feel so much pressure to be so involved with everything. For so many parents who are working and taking care of kids, their lives are so full that what often gets neglected is their own well-being and what brings them happiness.”

AUDREY: “I tell parents to use the time when their kids are at camp to have their own ‘camp’ type of well-being experience: be with your spouse, your friends, do hobbies that you don’t normally have time to do, so that when your kids come home and have all these great things to share about what they’ve done, you can share, too."

LAURIE: “We have to cultivate happiness by doing things other than work and caregiving. It’s an investment in our own well-being