Effectively teaching or leading a group of peers requires a dynamic personality. The ability to demonstrate a skill is only half of the equation.
If counselors, trainers, supervisors, or coaches lack the skills to effectively communicate instructions, your campers or program participants will be put at risk. As Su Rider of Wesley Woods mentions, a special focus should be placed on
…continue reading the rest of Developing a Culture of Safety at Camp - Part 3
A drowning tragedy that took place in the Bahamas earlier this week is raising questions about the response of the waterpark's lifeguards. We encourage you to read more about the circumstances leading up to the drowning, but in short, an unresponsive five-year-old girl was pulled from the water by a waterpark guest. Another guest, who happened to be a registered nurse, immediately began providing rescue breathing. Shortly thereafter, an emergency room doctor
…continue reading the rest of Who Knows Best: Doctor or Lifeguard?Four weeks ago I met with a group of YMCA employees to discuss the implementation of a new social media policy. The question on everyone's mind was, should summer camp counselors be permitted to contact minor campers outside of Y programming? I was so enthralled with the discussion that I decided to blog about it that night. You can read more about that discussion at Social Media and the Children: A Fine Line.
After an hour or so, the meeting ended with no clear resolution; at least one more meeting was going to be necessary. So, we met yesterday. This time, we gave ourselves two hours and agreed we needed to stay focused on coming up with some clearly defined social media policies and procedures. I'm happy to announce that we accomplished that goal rather quickly. The new policy will state something to the effect of
…continue reading the rest of Social Media and Children: Implementing and Enforcing Unpopular Employment PoliciesI had the pleasure of meeting with a great group of employees from one of our YMCA partners this afternoon.The group, which included Y summer camp directors and employees in marketing, human resources, and risk management departments, was assembled to assess and update the Y's policies on social media and external communications. I was asked to represent West Bend and share my thoughts on the insurance and liability implications of any new policy decisions.
Ultimately, we wanted to reach a consensus on a single question. Should employees be permitted to communicate with minors outside of the organization's programs? After an hour of listing the pros and cons of a wide variety of ideas, we reached a consensus. The consensus was
…continue reading the rest of Social Media and Children: A Fine Line
