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READING FOR CHILD AND YOUTH CARE WORKERS
 ISSUE 25 • FEBRUARY 2001

BOOKS

We have a situation

What do I do now? Challenges and choices for camp counselors and other youth leaders. Jerome Beker, Doug Magnuson, Connie Magnuson and David Beker. American Camping Association, 1996

In countries where summer camps for kids are not as widespread as they are in North America, we have missed out on the experience of a whole, rich genre of child care work. In fact, many of our colleagues in other parts of the world cut their professional child care teeth as camp counsellors. All four of the writers of this book grew up with summer camps in their blood; all four today make significant contributions to child and youth care.

What do I do now? is a set of sixty "situations" which demand some careful thought from counsellors in preparation for responsive action. The cases are grouped under work with individuals, work with groups, work with programme activities and routines, working professionally and work with parents.

Here is a sample situation:

Do It or Else!

Paul had told the boys three times not to throw stones, and he was beginning to get annoyed. They had arrived at the lake a little early, and the gravel stones had proved to be too much of a temptation for some of them as they waited for the lifeguard to unlock the rowboats and canoes. Whenever Paul looked away, stones somehow seemed to fly over the boats and toward the water. Unfortunately, some of them didn’t quite make it over the boats and bounced off the hulls with loud bangs. Finally, Paul lost control. "I’m going to drown the next person to throw a stone!" he yelled. That ought to stop it, he thought. Less than a minute later, he turned just in time to see Justin slinging a rock as far as he could. Insulted that the boy did not take him seriously, Paul marched over to Justin, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him into the water. Justin began screaming and struggling, but Paul pulled harder. As he was about to dunk the boy, he felt a hand firmly grab his arm. "That’s enough, Paul. Stop it!" Jack, his co-counselor, who had just arrived, was pulling him back. Paul paused, but he was tempted to continue anyway. His fury was making it difficult to think. Reluctantly, he released his hold on Justin, who scrambled to safety. Paul looked around, shrugged his shoulders, and slowly waded back to shore, where Jack and the boys were watching to see what he would do next. As the depth of the water decreased, his embarrassment increased.

 

Answers

The book offers no answers. It is intended rather as material for discussion amongst co-workers, but it successfully points discussion towards issues of good development, individual and group work skills, practice ethics and teamwork. It does this by offering in an appendix a number of questions. For the above situation it asks:

  • Other than telling them to stop, what might Paul have done to avoid this situation – before or after the group arrived at the lake?
  • What should Paul do now? Why?
  • Did Jack play an appropriate role? What should Jack do now? Why?
  • What are the pros and cons of using ultimatums to control camper behaviour?

Staff groups are thus invited to make what they will of each case, and this helps them to project their own working context on to the discussion, and thus identify more easily with the situation.

Meaty material

The first part of the book discusses the case study method in the guidance and supervision of those who work with children, and offers a seven-step process to case analysis. It then devotes a whole chapter to walking the reader through an illustrative case which demonstrates this process.

Don’t be put off by the summer camp background. The material is meaty enough, and very relevant to daily work within any child and youth care setting. An accessible volume for any child care worker to use for a quick mental "warm-up" – but with considerable added value if used by the team leader or trainer in staff groups.

– BG

The book costs $15.95 from American Camping Association, 5000 State Road 67 North, Martinsville IN 46151-7902, USA. You might e-mail them at bookstore@aca-camps.org to enquire about postage rates.