Camp Counseling Does Teens a World of Good:

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Camp Counseling Does Teens a World of Good

• Results of a Study of the Ohio 4-H Camp
  Counseling Experience and Implications for
  Programming

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Niki Nestor McNeely, Ph.D.Extension
Specialist, 4-H Youth Development and
CampingTheresa M. Ferrari, Ph.D.Extension
Specialist, 4-H Youth DevelopmentThe Ohio State
University
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Justification for Study

• Magnitude of 4-H camping program in Ohio
• Benefits of camping
• Lack of research on camp counselors

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Methods and Procedures

• IRB
• 100 County response for Counselor Addresses
• Letter to Parents
• Web-Based
• 2,575 population
• 30 response rate - 791

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Research Question 1

• What are the components of the Ohio 4-H camp
  counseling experience and who are the teens
  participating in the experience as 4-H camp
  counselors?

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Duration, Intensity Breadth

• Duration describes how long the participation
  has lasted (history of participation)
• Intensity describes how often the participation
  has occurred (current participation)
• Breadth describes the variety of the
  participation
• (Baker Witt, 1996 Chaput, 2004 Chaput,
  Little, Weiss, 2004)

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Identified the components of the 4-H camp
counseling experience in Ohio

• Duration
• Years as Counselor
• Intensity
• Training, Planning, Pre-Camp, Number Length of
  Camps
• Breadth
• Teaching, Supervision and Leadership roles

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Results Duration

• Duration
• Years as Counselor
• Range of 1 to 6 years
• Mean of 2.2 years (SD1.21)
• 64 were in 1st or 2nd year

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Intensity time spent training, planning,
pre-camp prep, at camp

• Training and planning were most often combined.
• Time ranged from 2 hours to 24 hours with a mean
  of 20.3 (SD 6.1)
• On-site training ranged from 1 to 72 hours

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Intensity (continued)

• Pre camp preparation ranged from 0 to 144 hours
• Female counselors spent 14 hours (SD 15.8)
• Male counselors spent 10.6 hours (SD 9.3)
• 76 were counselors at just one camp.
• Time at residential camp ranged from 1 to 12 days
  with a mean of 4.61 (SD 1.88)

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Results Breadth

• For the purpose of this study breadth was defined
  as number of campers supervised by the
  counselors, the extent of their teaching
  responsibilities, the number of leadership roles,
  and the number of committees on which they served

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Results Breadth

• 94 had responsibilities supervising campers in
  their cabins or sleeping quarters
• Number ranged from 2 to 19 with a mean of 9.2
  campers (SD 3.57)

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Breadth (continued)

• 89.4 indicated they had responsibilities serving
  as a group leader
• The average number of campers in their group was
  18.4 (SD 7.95).

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Breadth (continued)

• 86 had responsibilities to show campers how to
  do something or learn something new
• Formal and informal teaching
• 50.1 were required to develop a lesson plan for
  topics they were teaching

• 74.9 of all the camp counselors reported that
  they taught two or more topics in a formal
  setting (M 2.46, SD 1.2).
• Camp counselors reported having taught an average
  of two informal teaching topics (M 2.65, SD
  1.1).

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Breadth (continued)

• 61.4 had responsibilities to lead a committee
  or group of counselors to plan an activity
• 88.6 served on a committee with counselors to
  plan an activity

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Results Who Are Ohio 4-H Camp Counselors?

• Gender
• Female n589 (76.3)
• Male n183 (23.7)
• Age
• Range 12 to 20 years old
• M15.7 (SD1.3)
• 15 and 16 year olds 51.9
• Grade
• Nearly equal numbers of 9th, 10th, and 11th
  graders, which comprised nearly 70

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Results

• 4-H membership
• M 7.92 years in 4-H
• 67.7 were in 7-10 years
• Experience as a camper
• Role
• Counselor or CIT
• Day or Resident Camp
• County
• Camp Facility

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Research Question 2

• To what extent do adolescents report experiences
  within personal, interpersonal, and negative
  domains associated with participation in the Ohio
  4-H camp counseling experience?

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Results

• Youth Experiences Survey (Hansen Larson (2002)
• High mean scores in personal development and
  interpersonal development domains
• Low mean scores in negative domain
• Difference between males and females on Effort
  and Social Exclusion

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Research Question 3

• To what extent is the duration of participation
  in the Ohio 4-H camp counseling experience
  related to personal, interpersonal, and negative
  domains?

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Results

• Relationship between duration and YES?
• Significant relationship between years as a camp
  counselor and Leadership and Responsibility

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Results

• Web-based survey effective tool for collecting
  information from adolescent participants in 4-H

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Implications for Programming

• Consider duration, intensity and breadth when
  developing and evaluating programs

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How Can You Do This?

• Duration?
• Intensity?
• Breadth?

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Implications for Programming

• Promote deliberate inclusion of aspects of camp
  counseling experience that contribute to
  development of personal and interpersonal skills

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What Can We Include?

• Personal skills?
• Interpersonal skills?

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Implications for Programming

• Strengthen awareness of work force preparation
  skills that are being learned as a result of the
  camp counseling experience

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How Can We Increase Awareness of Workforce Prep
Skills?
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• Address negative experiences of cliques, stress,
  responsibility load, interference with family
  activities, and controlling adults through
  training

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Participant Input

• Any ideas or strategies that you thought of right
  now
• Any questions that you have
• Door is open for other ideas you may think of
  tonight, tomorrow, in the future