What benefits camps offer for youth?

Thousands of boys and girls go to camp every summer, which include residential camps, day camps and specialty camps. Camping is an advised experience for youth by educators and child experts as it provides developmental values for our youth.

Camping provides educational possibilities for personal growth, independence, interaction of group living, sharing of activities and the different form of leadership offered by adults who are not parents or teachers.

Experiences that camps offer are important preparations for youth into the adulthood life. Its experiences offer many opportunities to develop a variety of skills such as sports, crafts, water and nature skills. In addition to that, the young person can benefit from exploring other areas and adopting new interests.

Camping is a great way for young people to connect with nature. They have the opportunity to build a relationship with their surroundings, and be taught many useful life skills. Moreover, for young people to be challenged to use their wits and count on themselves rather than gadgets and computers can surprisingly be a useful tool for their self-esteem. They will discover qualities about themselves that they did not realise they had. Natural leaders will instantly discover their new leadership qualities and take charge in difficult situations and when needed, and naturally followed by others.

Safety is an important element when out in nature. It is not enough to take safety briefing from the camp staff to stay safe!

Quickly the youth realise that they need to be alert when out and about and be aware of each others safety as well as their own.

This skill is so important for young people as it teaches compassion and team work. It also creates a strong brotherhood bond between the youth. It always amazes me to see the quick change that happens after a couple of weeks from joining the camp. The rebelling attitude they carried when first joined, changes into discipline and they start setting their own rules that they rarely break (not counting of course the occasional harmless mischief!) The secret here is the bond the youth have created together; they feel responsibility towards each other and will not easily risk disappointing their other team members.

The social skills the young people benefit from camping is far from to be taken lightly. To be socially able to relate to other people, be responsible, build friendships, and more importantly TRUST is a massive skill for young people to have especially now a day when social skills are a struggle and a rarity between the youth.

If you liked this subject and would like to read more keep checking our blog as in the next few days we’ll discuss what ages are considered appropriate for camps and what themes and motives might be beneficial skills for each age group.