More Zman Chofesi Please? The Never-Ending Debate of Privileges at Camp

Camp, like any organization, functions properly because everyone has a specific role, each with its own responsibilities. The upper staff and administration spend the entire year planning for the summer; the counselors, roshei aydah, teachers and staff represent the workforce of the camp; the Kerem are the “emotional” leaders, the group that other campers look up to and want to be; and the campers are the reason that the camp exists in the first place. Within each group, there exists a purpose that the members strive to achieve. However, I have come to notice that there is often a breakdown of communication that exists between the different staff categories, causing a lot of unnecessary strife, reproach, and bitterness.

At some point during the summer there is almost always a significant breakdown in communication between Kerem and the upper staff. There are few meetings that require both of these groups together,, and when they do happen, they are usually for a specific purpose. Debbie Sussman, over the past few years, has spent an hour each month on Shabbat afternoon talking with the kids about topics they care about. In these meetings, Kerem campers have the ability to raise any camp-related concerns and issues they might have . There is no question that this is a step in the right direction; however, these short meetings represent only a snippet of the kids’ true perspectives. The counselors and rosh play a critical role when it comes to the communication between these two groups, however debate over a particular issue usually erupts when either side doesn’t understand the other’s point of view. The upper staff might the decide something that upsets the campers, leaving the counselors and rosh stuck in the middle: is their role to support the desires and needs of their campers or, as employees of the camp, are they the bearers of upper staff’s decisions?

What exactly is it that upsets kids so extensively, and with such predictability each and every year? Well if you didn’t read the title of the post, I will tell you: privileges. Every year, no matter what, kids expect to have more privileges by the end of the summer. In particular, they expect to have the things that they “thought” that they saw past Kerems get because that is what they were “promised”.  One example of this comes from a member of K’08:

“One negative thing about Kerem was the way in which upper staff would react to our role in camp. At the beginning of the summer they would always say, "If you are good, you will get more privileges," but I felt that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. After consistently showing ourselves as strong leaders of the camp, we were never rewarded (at least in the ways that former Kerems were). Even after a member of our aydah was kicked out, we responded without disrupting camp's normal flow, and were never once commended on how maturely we handled the situation as an aydah.”

The following demonstrates another mentality typical of campers entering their Kerem summer. This is from a conversation with someone who will be in Kerem ‘11.

“Some privileges that I am expecting are more freedom and trust from both upper staff and counselors...I think that we should be able to have as many BBQ’s as the older Kerems had…Its a bonding time between both the aydah and the counselors.”

For me, after living on the waterfront for years, this sentiment is in no way unique. This is how campers in Kerem feel about their privileges. The problem is that campers are misled into thinking this logic is true, when in fact, they are mistaken in thinking there are “promised privileges” in the first place. Upper staff usually contends that

A)   they never promise any increase of privileges at the end of the summer besides extended curfew during Macccabiah  The kids are often drawn into this logical fallacy when their counselors mistakenly make a promise they can’t fulfill. They say, ”You will get more things at the end of the summer,” as a way to rebuke the kids at the beginning, but have to deal with angry and upset kids at the end when the promise is left unfulfilled.

B)   The current Kerem almost always have an inaccurate understanding of how previous Kerems were rewarded. They remember mostly the last week - when Kerem is up late at night for Maccabiah - not the first seven weeks when they have to be in the bunks by 1030. Both upper staff and Kerem have valid perspectives, but since only one side makes the rules, the other feels immense frustration and vents to their counselors who have absolutely no control in the matter.

It is clear to me that this situation needs to be remedied, because the same exact problem happens every year. Nobody is happy with the situation as it currently stands: Upperstaff is improperly blamed for reneging on promises they never made, campers become angry and combative toward the administration and counselors, and the counselors and roshei aydah are stuck in the middle as the intermediaries, an impossible position to please anyone.

What do I propose to remedy this predictably unstable situation? A contract. The upper staff and the Kerem rosh would create this contract at the outset of the summer, outlining the expectations of the upper staff for Kerem and also acknowledging the outcome if Kerem follows throughand meets the agreed-upon expectations. What are some of the things that upper staff would require of Kerem? For starters: good behavior, good attitude, and commitment to the mission of the camp,but should also include something that can be qualitatively measured like programming. If Kerem is able to complete their tasks, they should be rewarded.I have been told before that this idea is juvenile because Kerem shouldn’t have to be rewarded for something they should inherently want to do. However, from Gurim to Kerem, upper staff uses the idea of reward-based incentives to entice campers to complete certain tasks, for instance, cleaning the bunk. After 5 straight 10’s in Nikayon, the bunk is rewarded with an ice cream party, after 10, a late wake up, and after 15, a movie in the bunk. There is no question that this is the motivating factor in keeping the bunks spotless each morning. They know that if they succeed, they will be rewarded. In fact, this works for Kerem as well.  The prizes are a little different, (they were given steaks instead of the other prizes) but given enough motivation, the task will be completed[1]. Kerem, throughout the whole summer, has many more responsibilities than simply cleaning the bunk each morning. And in order to succeed, motivation is crucial. This motivation should be two-fold; it should specify the reward in exchange for meeting a goal, but should also encourage Kerem to feel proud of their accomplishments, . There is no question that an agreement at the beginning of the summer would make the campers more positive, enthusiastic, and motivated, and would prevent the common negative interactions with upper staff and tug-of-war effect on the counselors.. A win-win and win situation.

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[1] It is important to note that after they were given the steaks (with 3 weeks left of the summer) their cleaning habits disintegrated and it was almost impossible to entice the kids to do a thorough cleaning.