Little girl camp - TOTAL VENTING!

Now about Alyssa's camp experience.  I'm not happy. 

1) First this 1 girl wouldn't let the cabin sleep.  Even the threat of calling her parents from THE counselors didn't shut her up.  I mean, i understand they weren't going to get 10-12 hours of sleep a night by 6-7 hours a night is unacceptable and all because this girl would not shut up! 

Um...it's camp, and with a bunch of little girls.  From my camp experiences (both as a child attendee, as well as a counselor), 6-7 hours of sleep a night is completely unrealistic.  You're lucky if you get 4-5 hours.

2) then on thursday she (same girl as above) intentionally hurt another girl by slamming the door on her hand.  She told everyone (counselors also) she intended to hurt her.  she remained at camp and that night she went into the showers and strangled a girl.  She again remained at camp.  Seriously, why on earth was she not expelled after she hurt the girl in the morning?? 

The girl probably should have been sent home, but kids are mean like this everywhere; at school, on the playground, at girl scouts, etc, etc.

3)Plus, there were diamondback snakes in/under cabins.  1 of the counselors killed a 3 ft snake by chopping it in half.  From what Alyssa said they discovered 15 snake eggs mid week so they knew 15 diamondback snakes were close by. The girls who lived in those cabins had walked from the cabin to the lodge/barn - a few of them had seen the snakes plus 1 was "struck" at.  And from what i know - baby snakes venom is more dangerous because it's so concentrated. 

Again, it's camp.  Snakes, spiders, rodents, and other creepy crawly things all come with camping.  We camp with Indian Princesses (girls from kindergarten through 4th grade) and there hasn't been a single campout yet where we didn;t see/encounter snakes, etc.

4) She went to a camp called "The Mane event" - horse camp.  She rode 1 time!  I understand the other time they were scheduled it rained so it was cancelled - but come on she went to horse camp. 

This is a bummer, but if there were only two scheduled rides, and one had to be canceled due to weather, you can't really blame the camp.  Seems like the bigger problem is that you paid for horse camp and they only scheduled two riding times.   

5) instead they sat in classrooms doing "things" that didn't really interest Alyssa or her troop friends as they were activities they already did during the year with her troop.  They couldn't hike - due to snakes so they were left with indoor "things" and swimming which only happened 1x a day and then for only an hour.  They weren't even allowed to go to the archery area!  WHY NOT!??

I agree with you on this one.  They should have had a decent contingency plan for weather issues so that the kids still got their money's worth.  Although I don't get why they couldn't hike "due to snakes."  Surely there was SOMEWHERE at this campground that wasn't infested with rabid, child-eating snakes.  Sounds like they had counselors who were not suited for camping.

6) On top of it - they would not let her go to the nurse for medicine for her ecczema.  She had a break from elbo to wrist and they wouldn't let her go.  I'm putting cream on her last night and I ask her what the deep scratch marks on her arms are from and she says 'they wouldn't let me go to the nurse for my rash so i was scratching".  thankfully I snuck a small old spice container with the cream in her back pack and she would sneak into the bathroom when it got too bad and put it on.  She was afraid someone would catch her with the medicine so she didn't do ti often enough. 

This one is inexcusable.  Period.  And is reason enough to demand a refund.  Medical care should never be withheld.

So i spent over $300 for her to ride a horse 1 time and be bored with indoor activities and have to tolerate a child her posed a physical threat to her well being AND not being allowed to apply her medication when needed.  NOT HAPPY! 

Thank you for reading - I AM SOOO NOT HAPPY WITH THIS CAMP EXPEREINCE.

Not trying to be difficult or mean, as I do feel for you that the camp experience wasn't a good one for your kiddo.  And as I said above, the withholding of medical care is reason enough for you to have the money refunded.  But as to the snakes and weather issues, this is just part of camping.

1) First this 1 girl wouldn't let the cabin sleep.  Even the threat of calling her parents from THE counselors didn't shut her up.  I mean, i understand they weren't going to get 10-12 hours of sleep a night by 6-7 hours a night is unacceptable and all because this girl would not shut up! 

Thank you for reading - I AM SOOO NOT HAPPY WITH THIS CAMP EXPEREINCE.

(moved from the first paragraph of the post)
She busted her butt selling cookies to help council pay for these camps and this is how she is treated.

This was Alyssa's second summer of camping with Girl Scouts - although different camps within 1/2 mile of each other.  last year there were plenty of outdoor activities with positive understanding of all girls on expected behavior and decorum and was GREAT expereince.

I have heard from all 4 girls in the troop who went and with few exceptions the sotry is the same.  the girl was a PITA, snakes were w HUGE problem, boring activities, and disappointment that horses weren't ridden more then 1 time.  Now Alyssa was the only one with an on-going medical issue that require frequent attention - not the 1 stop at night kind - so the other girls didn't expereince that but they all said that yes Alyssa asked many times to see the nurse with blood on her arms from scratching and she was denied permission.  On top of it they all told their mother that they were continually yelled at by the counselor.

Frankly, the camp hired Poor counselors who were unprepared to have 12 - 8 year olds.  Period!  letter is being written and sent this week.  I'll site everything but based solely on the lack of medical need Alyssa received I'll ask for a refund.

On top of it they all told their mother that they were continually yelled at by the counselor.

Frankly, the camp hired Poor counselors who were unprepared to have 12 - 8 year olds.  Period!  letter is being written and sent this week.  I'll site everything but based solely on the lack of medical need Alyssa received I'll ask for a refund.

Were all of these girls in the same cabin? The cabin where none of them slept - which, as others have pointed out, is basically the whole point of sleepaway camp if you're 8-years old, which is to stay up late and chat with your friends, b/c you're not allowed to do that at home? Not trying to play Devil's advocate here, but if they were screwing around all night and their counselor kept telling them to stop, that does not mean that the counselors were unprepared, nor does it mean that they weren't just complaining b/c the counselor was "ruining their fun". It's hard to know because you weren't there.

Just a few thoughts about the camp experience:

1.  Wildlife will be there, it's not a sterile environment.  It's a great educational experience for the kids to be taught about snakes and the other wild inhabitants they may come across.  They should be taught respect, not fear of these creatures.  It's totally unrealistic to expect your child to be sheltered in a camp environment, and stings, cuts, bites and bruises are likely consequences.

I understand that and accept that BUT when the camp made a big issue by not allowing the girls to enjoy outdoor activities it was the camp who made the fear present.  And YES she did see and hear rattlers.

2. Camping should be about kids being kids.  Late nights are a given, and chances are, it's not just one child initiating the late night conversations - takes two to tango, so to speak.  If the kids don't get enough sleep, so what, maybe they are tired the next day?  No big deal! It's a vacation, and it's supposed to be fun.

3. Organized activities are ok, but what's wrong with the kids entertaining themselves?  Why does everything have to be planned, why can't they just let the kids have time to explore and play on their own.  Of course there has to be some supervision, but honestly, kids can be pretty creative on their own without the need of a structured activity time.

The problem was they had NO activities for the girls other then running around indoors which made the counselor yell at the girls to stop running around indoors  The camp was set up for outdoors activities and yet the girls were not allowed outdoors.

4. A medical disclosure would have been helpful to avoid the issues with your daughter.  Did you inform any of the camp staff of her rash, and indicate to them that you had sent along the cream?  I would think most camps would be cooperative with any special medical issues like allergies or asthma, and make sure any medications were sent with the children and administered if necessary.  Perhaps they weren't aware of her condition.

Medical disclosure forms - bag of medication, notes to counselor etc. etc. etc  ALL PROVIDED!  So why on earth did they not allow her to seek medical treatment when everyone knew!  No excuse!

In all, I think the only complaint here is an unrealistic expectation of what a camp experience is.  As someone mentioned above, this is not a 4-star resort.  Combine that with a child who may not enjoy a true camping experience, and that can be a disappointment as well.  I understand you feel slighted by the experience, but I don't think it's to be blamed on the camp. 

Neither I nor my child has unrealistic expectation of camp.  it was a horse camp theme and she only rode 1 time (was suppose to be every day).  The brochure said hiking and archery and that wasn't allowed due to "envirnomental" issues.  The camp was ill prepared to have to handle 160 girls who were limited to indoor activities. 

Just a few thoughts about the camp experience:

1.  Wildlife will be there, it's not a sterile environment.  It's a great educational experience for the kids to be taught about snakes and the other wild inhabitants they may come across.  They should be taught respect, not fear of these creatures.  It's totally unrealistic to expect your child to be sheltered in a camp environment, and stings, cuts, bites and bruises are likely consequences.