Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 169, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1913 — Building Character and Muscle in Summer Camp [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Building Character and Muscle in Summer Camp

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HEN a boy has spent a season at a good summer camp It leaves an impression on his mind that time will not eradicate. At the close of

the season he has had the fun that he wanted to have, hp has taken his part in the games and contests, he has climbed mountains and sailed oh lakes and streams, he has cruised with the fellows and shared their pleasures and hardships, and he has returned home fllled with the memories of gorgeous feasts, of midnight pranks, of adventures on sea and on land, of encounters with friend and with foe, and of moments when the success or failure of a battle depended solely on his strength, his Ijkill and his valor. The influence left on a child’s character Toy a summer thus spent cannot but be important. In the first place the child is away from his parents, away from those to whom he is accustomed to go for sympathy and advice. He is placed on his own resources in a manner quite new and strange. A camp 1b not at all like a boarding school, there are regular duties and a fixed routine for each activity of the day. The summer camp means fun, freedom, frolic and a chance to do nothing if one wishes. The boarding school means ordlr, discipline, restraint: and hard work at all times. Therefore, when a boy finds himself at a camp for the first time in his life he is often &t a loss to know what to do, because he is / often left to his own choice. He has many new problem? which must be thought out alone. He has come to camp to have a barrel of fun, .and he means to have it. His first impulse is to make friends with everybody, and especially with the counsellors. It is quite right that he should do this. And it is the especial duty of the counsellors to have a watchful eye out for the new boys, to see that they do not get homesick or tire of the camp because of Inactivity. Ten weks of damp life cannot but have its effect on the character of lads who are-just beginning to feel the first impulses to do things that they have read about in books. There are no boys so bad that there is not some good in them, and there are no boys in camp so good that there is no bad in them, and some of it is pretty sure to crop out before summer is over. In many boys this badness has been lurking for years. It has not shown itself because of lank of opportunity. The boys’ camp is one of the places where the inherent badness in a lad has an opportunity to unbottle itßelf without serious injury to the boy. But camp life is of such a nature that these unbottlings are not of frequent occurrence. Before a bad habit has been fixed on the boy be is brought fO a halt and paving been shown that he has been doing wrong he learns a valuable lesson. The average summer camp is not a Sunday school. It is not intended for such. On the other hand the directors of these camps are for the most part Christian gentlemen, having high ideals. A proper respect for the Sabbath dp Is required not only for the

good of the boys, but also out of respect for the felings of the people who live in the neighborhood. Where possible the children are invited to go to church, after which they take walks, go in bathing, read, tell stories, etc. Usually a song service of g more or less religious nature is held in the evening. Often one of the directors delivers an address in the main hall of the camp. Some of the influences that are brought forcibly to bear, upon the youths are those which put a premium on honor, truth, patience, generosity, forgiveness, usefulness, politeness, sturdiness, pluck and the like. A camper 1 who is lacking in any of these qualities is soon made to feel the need of them, greatly to his benefit It does a boy a world of good to mix with a lot of other bpys of his own age, observing, as he usually will, their good traits and bad traits. The educational advantages of camp life are only less important than are the moral advantages. For the most part the school books are closed, but nature is wide open. Book knowledge is of great value, but practical knowledge is often of more value. In camp boys often get their first practical knowledge of money values. Here first they manage their own allowances and learn what it is to go broke till the next allowance is distributed. They aften compete with the native boys of the village in their efforts to earn small sums of money to tide them over or to enable them to buy coveted treasures. This is a very good experience for any boy. I have noticed that during the second year at camp a boy takes better care of his things than he does during the first year. This may be due to the fact that near the end of the first season his clothes, especially his trousers, were in bad, condition, due to carelessness, and as no new ones were forthcoming, the lad became more or less self-conscious about his appearance, greatly to the delight of his companions. Sometimes a boy’s shoes go wrong, and the parent, knowing where the fault is. makes him get on the best be can till he reaches home. At camp children learn from necessity to mend, sew on buttons, sharpen tools, and best of all they learn how important it is to keep tools sharp by practice in turning the grindstone.

More than once I have heard a tired boy exclaim: “Gee whiz! I 1 didn’t think that it was that much work to sharpen an ax.” Few city boys know the names of the common trees at sight, much less are they able to distinguish between pine, spruce and hemlock boardß. Unless they see the fruit on the trees

they do not know the difference between a pear and an apple tree. In most camps boys learn to make these distinctions. In camp boys and girl learn to wash dishes, to be economical with food and to like food that they would not previously eat at home. I have known camp life to change a boy’s appetite completely, so that on going home he was glad to eat such wholesome foods as boiled rice and Indian meal mush, which he would not touch before, Camping life will not make a child expert at any particular trade or occupation, but it serves to show him how much skill is required in doing much of the work usually performed by the laboring classes. Whenever a boy tries to perform any manual labor his respect for it increases. He has a try at rowing, swimming, sailing, fishing, running an engine, repairing a boat and sometimes in building small boats. He learns the use of tools common to country people, who are more independent of plumbers, carpenters, masons, etc., than city people are. Perhaps one of the most imporf&nt lessons for a child to learn is respect for labor. When a boy has hoed a sets hills of horn he instinfetively remarks that he would hate to keep that up all day. If he follows the hay cart for an’ hour he realises that “raking after” is not all sport. When he takes a shovel and attempts to assist in digging a trench or drain he suddenly realizes why those laborers whom he has seen in the city at the same kind of work seemed to take their time about it. After five minutes of that work he learns just where his backbone is located. There are many other educational advantages which are incidental to camp life, such as practice in singing, speech making, editorial work on the camp paper, literary entertainments, etc. The camp paper though, seldom more than a simple manuscript, is often a very ingenious production. In which the editor, together with the camp artist, succeeds in bringing home to the lads some wonderful bits of news as well as some healthful truths. The social advantages of camp Ufa are many and varied. The close relation in which boys live at camp Invariably results in the formation of permanent friendships. ,