Two summers later, Brian, now 6, is back at camp. He walks over to the food table by himself. “Is this my cup?” he politely asks his counselor. “Yes,” she replies. Brian pours himself a glass of fruit punch. “Thank you,” he says, as his counselor beams.
The exchange was a minor miracle for Brian, but it is what Camp Ramapo is all about. The sleep-away camp’s special program (“Mild Month”) for 92 troubled 4- to 6-year-olds is believed to be the only program of its kind. In the past two years, as the first wave of crack babies entered the schools, child-care experts have stressed the importance of early intervention to help them overcome the enormous physiological and psychological problems of addiction and abuse. The need for effective programs to help such kids makes Ramapo–with its 19 years of “Mild Month” experience–an important model.
The tan and red bus that makes the three-hour trip from New York’s inner city carries some of society’s saddest children. Forty percent of them have been sexually abused. Twenty-five percent are the children of battered women. Most are poor and many are homeless. At Camp Ramapo, they get a lot of love and personal attention. The camp is not run by professional psychologists or psychiatrists, but by educators who rely on a mixture of behavioristic principles, common sense and the enthusiasm of a large staff of college students, many of whom work only for course credit. They believe these kids need to experience success to build self-confidence, and they work hard at teaching them the skills they’ll need and then praising S their accomplishments.
In addition to the usual routine of swimming, boating and arts and crafts, counselors at Ramapo provide hours of one-on-one instruction. A private tutor sits on the floor of a small room, a little boy on her lap, reading a giant picture book. “A dog is a house for a flea,” she reads out loud. “What is a house for a mule?” “A barn,” the child answers softly. “That’s right,” cheers the counselor. “That’s a kind of barn. It’s a shed. Very good.”
According to camp director Bernie Kosberg, studies show that the most useful long-term impact the program can have is teaching social skills. During a daily “talk time,” counselors encourage children to express their needs and frustrations. But they know the value of having fun, too. Says Kosberg: “We want to provide them with a peak experience.”
Peak experiences are expensive. The one-month program costs $1,800 per child. There is, however, usually no charge to the family. The camp is supported by individual contributions and private foundations.
But will a monthlong peak experience really help 4-year-old Michael, who is returning to a foster home because he was abandoned by his mother the day before he went to camp? This fall, Camp Ramapo will attempt to answer those questions. For the first time, the camp is joining New York’s New School for Social Research in a followup study that will track some of the kids and their families for several years. In September, a three-day weekend will reunite 25 of the youngest campers, along with their parents and siblings. “I like to think of what we do as planting seeds,” says head counselor Orah Fireman, a 21-year-old Wesleyan student. “Next-year, Michael will have a really tough time. Maybe he can think back to camp, a place where he was loved and nurtured, and maybe he can remember that.”
