Teens who want to strengthen their confidence and independence this summer can get a boost from leadership programs offered by camps around the Lower Mainland.The YMCA has several youth leadership programs, including two through Camp Elphinstone, the YMCA’s residential camp on the Sunshine Coast.
Once kids finish one regular year at camp, they can enroll in the Leadership Development Programs – one for 15- to 16-year-olds (LD1) and another for 16- to 17-year-olds (LD2).
Adim Hébert, supervisor of outdoor education and summer programs at Camp Elphinstone, said the programs “turn insecurities into confidence.”
“They help to improve the areas that you may not be aware that you want to improve... We hear a lot of kids say, ‘I wish I could do that, I wish I was better at this,’” he said. “These programs are what allow you to fulfill those wishes.”
The camps offer traditional activities, such as campfires and canoeing, as well as support from peers who recognize challenges in other campers and work to help them overcome those.
Hébert remembers one camper who “self-described as invisible in groups” turning into “this young woman who was willing to let you know what she thought and willing to take the initiative on a project.”
“It was pretty incredible to see how, one step at a time, she put one foot in front of the other and got to where she wanted to be,” he said.
The leadership programs run from June 28 to Aug. 21.
The Youth Excellence Society (YES) also runs summer leadership programs for 14- to 18- year olds from all over the province at Cowichan Lake on Vancouver Island.
Each program is a week long and focuses on building resilience and self-esteem. Chelsea Lake, the camps’ director, said the camp has a good success rate at turning kids’ lives around.
“When they come to the program, we see them transform from being really self-conscious, nervous and not really sure what they’re doing, to being really excited about themselves and [their] lives.”
The teens come to camp from a wide range of backgrounds and lifestyles, Lake said. But they end up forming a tight community, she said.
The camps have “free zones,” which let staff and campers to brainstorm good and bad things they want to keep in and out of camp. The kids do a good job of keeping each other in line, said Lake.
“Over the 16 years that I’ve been involved with this program, it’s incredible how little disciplinary work we have to do.”
She said occasionally rules are broken, but the camps are “self-policing.” Lake said the kids can go back home and take what they’ve learned at camp and implement it in their personal relationships.
“[They can say] let’s skip all that low-level, gossipy, negative behaviour,” she said.
Lake would know. When she was 14, she went to one of the YES camps. While there she realized it was possible to change negative thinking and foster positivity, and ended up taking more leadership roles in her hometown.
Lake said most of the volunteers at YES camps are former campers and they understand the programs on a personal level.
“For us, it’s amazing because they come already knowing the magic and practice of the program, but they’re also people whose lives have been changed greatly from the program. So they want to give back that experience to more teenagers.”
The YES camps run from July 5 to Aug. 29.
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