The Bad: Drinking
The Bad: Drama
Yes, kids will get into disagreements with their peers at camp and be forced to work it out. However, the counselors are not above petty fights, either. They live in cramped quarters, too. “Overall, we got along, but there definitely were personality issues and arguments that spilled over,” one counselor recalls, saying that when it couldn’t be resolved, staffers often left or were terminated.
The Sketchy: Flings
Like it or not, when guys and gals get together, sparks tend to fly. Maybe among the kids, but definitely among the counselors. “Romantic relationships formed between some of the staff,” one former counselor reveals. “I had one of these one summer!”
The Sketchy: Competition
As a side effect of hooking up and flings, competition between girls (pining after a limited number of boys) is also common. “I remember some drama,” one counselor says. “Staff were in conflict when two female staffers were interested in the same male staff person, and this leading to problems with interacting and tension in their cabin. Some staff made remarks that were inappropriate towards one another, like name-labeling them ‘desperate’ or ‘loose.’”
The Shocking: Skinny-Dipping
While most camp counselors behave as role models in front of the kids they mentor, they’re not above some risky behavior in their downtime—here they hope not to get caught. “There was some edgy behavior by staff, especially between sessions,” one former counselor recalled. “There was skinny-dipping in the pool or lake—and yes, I did this too.”
The Shocking: Promiscuous Behavior
Believe it or not, some crazy things can happen when young people are thrown together in unfamiliar circumstances far from home. One former counselor recalls almost going too far while playing “the snogging game” on the last night of camp when she was a teen: “The camp had counselors from different countries, varying in ages from 16 to people in their 30s, and you got points for how many people you made out with; for making out with a person of the same sex, from certain countries, or who were older or younger than you,” she says. “The night ended in one big orgy. I was only 17 and participated in the game at the beginning, but had a friend pull me out before things got as crazy as they did.”
The Good: Nurturing
Lest you be scared of the aforementioned behavior by camp counselors, rest assured most staffers are ready to make them feel comfortable and welcome. “We have no connections to these kids beyond being their counselors. To put it bluntly, we are strangers to them,” says Mikaela Klimovitz, a camp counselor at Camp Bernadette in New Hampshire, who works with kids ages 6 through 15. “Yet they and their parents entrust us with the huge responsibility of caring for them during the summer.” It’s a responsibility most staff take very seriously. “We as counselors shape our campers in ways their parents may not, because we are not that much older and are not related to them,” she says. "We have no connections to these kids beyond being their counselors. These kids can be themselves around us and we know no better of them.”
