Bullying 101

The importance of the physical and emotional safety of each and every camper and staff member is paramount at Coleman Country Day Camp. We take the issue of bullying in today’s culture very seriously.

At Coleman Country Day Camp, bullying is inexcusable, and we have a firm policy against all types of bullying. Our camp philosophy is based on our mission statement, which ensures that every camper has the opportunity to become a stronger, more compassionate, and more competent person. We work together as a team to make sure that campers gain self-confidence, make new friends, and go home with great memories.

Unfortunately, people who are bullied may not have the same potential to get the most out of their camp experience. Our leadership team addresses all incidents of bullying sternly and trains staff to promote communication for kids to be comfortable in alerting us to any problems. We also work diligently with our staff to make sure they identify even covert acts of bullying and deal with them promptly and consistently.

By training our staff and backing them up, we know that we can reduce the amount of bullying. We teach our staff members to go after every single comment and to use their own empathy to help kids “clean up” their feelings with one another. We also give “victims” the tools and the support they need to combat the negative behaviors they may have tolerated in the past.

We do not subscribe to the theory that bullying has to be a part of growing up; rather, we are extremely proactive in redirecting intentionally hurtful behaviors. We participate in the American Camp Association initiative “Camps Take a Stand,” and we were pioneers in creating and implementing the “Don’t Laugh at Me” camp curriculum, which continues to be a touchstone of our camp culture.

Bullying is when one or more people exclude, tease, taunt, gossip, hit, kick, or put down another person with the intent to hurt someone. Bullying happens when a person or group of people want to have power over another and use their power to get their way at the expense of someone else. Please know that we will deal with the subject of bullying firmly and justly, whether it is physical, verbal, or relational.

Camp is a great place to teach kids to be authentic and genuine, to point out to them that being a bystander is the same as being a bully, and to back them up when they are plagued by relational litter. After all, at camp we celebrate relationships! And at Coleman Country Day Camp, everyone knows what is not acceptable: bullying attitudes.