Day Camp Issue

Hi J.,

In my mind, hitting is hitting and if the camp personnel can't protect ALL the campers, it is time to demand money back and find other childcare arrangements. Most concerning is not the hitting but how it wasn't handled. If the special needs kid or any other is hitting and that hard, then the child needs arm's reach constant supervision. The camp could even require that the family provide or pay for someone to one-on-one supervise their child to ensure the safety of all the campers.

I'm pretty protective of my kids and that is my opinion.

Good luck with your camp situation.

L. C.

I am really sorry your 6 year old was hurt. It looks to me like you did everything right.Go back to the director with the "Rules and Regulations" in hand and point out the rule. Then take your children out of camp and ask for a refund of your money. Money talks!!!
I understand this sounds harsh. Unfortunately in our world money runs behaviors.The director may have not been informed by the staff, not good enouph. Money talks, take your son and go.

Yes, you should go to a supervisor on this. First of all, if your child was hit so hard that it still hurt the next day, obviously they had to know about it at the time. If he didn't cry, he at least showed signs of being in pain. You should have received an incident report on this, or at least a mention of it when you picked him up. That's the first violation, and one I would be very concerned about.

Second, bravo to the camp for allowing a special needs child to attend. However, if they are not able to provide for his special needs, and ensure the safety of the other kids, they have no business keeping the child there. That does not do anyone any good, even the special needs child. No one is doing this kid a favor by allowing him to hit and bully. If they don't have the staff or expertise in place to prevent this from happening, he needs to be sent home.

I would take care of this sooner than later. Good luck.

Jamie,

As an educator, someone who has worked in various situations that involves groups of children, and a mother of three (17, 14, and 9), I definitely feel that you have a serious issue with this particular day camp. There is no reason to subject your child to that kind of cruelty. Hitting is unacceptable no matter what the "special need" is. If the administration is making excuses, what other types of behavior will they excuse? Yes, you should go up the chain of authority, but I would consider a different environment altogether for your child, especially if this problem persists.
Good Luck!

D. D.

good morning-

i hate to admit i have been on the other end of this issue. my ss, at the time six, hit another kid at camp. the boys were rough housing- which is no excuse. the camp emediatley took action. it was handled well by the camp. my ss got in big trouble and was given a written warning at camp. he was in even bigger trouble when he got home. after a couple of warnings the offender is not welcome back.

my sis teaches special ed and has kids with iep's who have a different set of "rules" than the other kids in the school. i understand that at a public school, but at a camp that is voluntery and you have to pay for is absurd. i would take this matter up with some higher up in the camp. other kids rights, and safety are being violated for this one individual. it does not make sense.

forgive my spelling errors this a.m.

J.,
I also had the same problem yesterday. My son also started day camp on Monday and came home very happy, he loved it. Then yesterday when I picked him up he was very upset because another child in his group had been hitting him. We teach not to hit back, which doesn't always happen, but in this situation thankfully he didn't. I went to the counselors this morning and made them aware of the situation hoping that they will keep an eye on this other boy. I am going to give it another day and see what happens.

My suggestion would be if it happens again, definately go higher up. Even if he is "special needs", your child needs to be safe and feel safe. I would not let it go. Good Luck and let us know what happens.

You are obviously protecting your son which I understand. There are some special needs kids that look like everyone else. My son just got diagnosed with ADHD and I always thought that it was crazy until I really did some research. It is a well-understood medical problem that is diagnosed by a MD most of the time. I personally think that something should be done about a child who hits 3 different kids and I know they can't tell you everything due to confidentiality stuff. I'm not sure what you can do except look for another camp if your concerns aren't being addressed. I don't think I was much help but I needed to respond as the mother of a special needs kid

I know the same thing happened to my Grandaughter in day camp and the price they charge for this camp should mean safety first. If this child has special needs he still needs to be controlled. If they cannnot then the facility is not equiped with the proper training and should not accept children that require those needs. There are other camps that do have qualified teachers.
Anyway my grandaughter was called racial names and punched at 8 and it almost ruined the experience. I suggested they have a proffesional come in and speak about racism and that it runs many ways she is caucation and has really taking alot lately from school and camp on this issue. We are all moving from North county soon. She had a knife pulled on her by another 10 year old and she was only suspended for a week. we too thought there was a zero policy for violance and bullying. I guess it depends on who is doing the bullying. I would certainly not sit back and wait for it to happen again and their excuse is not acceptable. They cannot expect your child or any other to be a target for this child or any other until someone gets really hurt. First I would be angry they did not call you. They failed to call us as well. Good luck.