WELLINGTON COUNTY – With summer right around the corner registering children for camps is on many families’ to-do lists.
While choosing a camp depends on the child, Wellington County director of children’s early years division Luisa Artuso said there are many potential benefits to putting children in summer camp.
“At the end of the day you want your children to be happy with where you are putting them,” said Artuso.
With more research linking negative health impacts with overuse of technology, summer camp is a great way to disengage with technology and teach children life skills.
“I am a strong believer that I think children are spending far too much time on their cellphones and on their computers,” said Artuso.
“It’s really important to keep them happy in that realm but also encourage them to be more connected with other people and engaged with other people in real time as well as exploring the nature around them and participating in sports and physical activities.”
The main concern for children is the instant gratification they receive from social media and technology.
“What I have been reading is that more or less it’s that we know that children that are young that are on their parent’s iPads and things like that, they have more of that instant gratification that they are receiving and then they start to basically expect that in life and in real time,” said Artuso.
Situations like camp, where children are taught how to work in groups and problem solve, teach children about the importance of working through a process.
“We know that children that are able to delay gratification and be more part of the process before they get an outcome, those children actually do much better as they grow older,” said Artuso.
Choosing a camp
The ideal camp will offer activities that meet a child’s individual interest, keeping them from wanting to pick up their cellphone.
“The more that the camp can really encourage the components of activity that tries to encourage the children to put the phones down themselves … to me that would be a successful camp,” said Artuso.
More importantly, Artuso advised that parents do research when considering which camp to put their children in. Specifically, guardians should be asking what kind of oversight the camp offers its staff and what kind of training its counselors receive.
“Do camp staff have High Five training? If they have a purchase of service agreement for fee subsidy then you know that our staff is going out there and they are monitoring the quality level of that camp,” said Artuso.
Most camps operated by an organization or municipality will be regulated and provide safety screenings and training for their staff.
“It’s more those camps that show up in parks and other areas that may not be regulated,” said Artuso.
Parents that are unsure whether a camp is regulated or not can contact the Wellington County office.
“We can inform [parents] as to where that camp sits as far as being an authorized rec camp,” said Artuso.
Parents should also research what level of engagement counselors at the camp offer to children. It is especially important, Artuso said, when deciding what age to start sending a child to camp.
“Every child’s needs are different so that’s where the responsibility goes onto the parent to ensure the camp they are putting their child into is developmentally appropriate. It goes as far as the child’s comfort level with being in a large group setting,” said Artuso.
“I don’t believe there is a magic age to this. Parents know their children best and they have to asking the questions to ensure that their child’s needs are being met.”
