Study backs up campers’ success stories
INTERVIEWS WITH 65 DIRECTORS, SURVEY AT 16 CAMPS CONFIRM IMPROVEMENT IN BEHAVIOUR, ATTITUDE
Science meets child’s play in a study of the benefits of summer camp for Canadian youth.
The Canadian Summer Camp Research Project in 2007 conducted direct interviews with 65 camp directors to determine child development through camp participation.
The interviews revealed five themes in the outcomes directors witnessed in their campers:
• Social integration and citizenship • Environmental awareness • Self-confidence and personal
development • Emotional intelligence. • Attitudes toward physical activity.
These themes were then used to create a survey during which 16 camp counsellors observed and reported on their campers’ behaviours, attitudes and values at both the beginning and end of a camp session. A research team at the University of Waterloo the examined any changes noted during the camps.
The analysis of these surveys indicated positive development in all five areas occurs over the course of a camp session. It was further revealed that camper gender, age and whether or not an individual had attended a camp previously impact of camp participation.
On average, all groups experienced significant positive growth in all five areas; but female campers, older campers and returning campers all tended to score higher on greater development.
Female and older campers also tended to experience more growth over the course of the camp session.
Significant relationships between the demographic variables and the outcomes demonstrated by the campers were found in certain areas:
• Male campers showed more positive attitudes toward physical activity and showed a greater increase in their attitudes by the end of the session.
• The age of campers had no significant impact on the overall scores or the rates of change with regard to environmental awareness and attitudes toward emotional intelligence. • New campers showed lower rates of social connections, but appeared to experience a greater increase in their social integration scores by the end of camp. This finding suggests that new campers may make more connections their first time at camp and that returning campers potentially retain the connections made previously.
The higher average rates for returning campers in all areas seems to indicate that changes experienced at camp persist beyond that individual session.
Further information about the study can be found at www.healthycommunities.uwaterloo.ca/camp/