Racist kids at camp

[Anonymous]

Even if the kid didn’t really know what it means, he needs a stern conversation from his parents, explaining why it’s inappropriate.

Reminds me of a local teenager who spray painted a swastika on our neighborhood synagogue. He was easily caught by the security camera footage and when people sat down with him and explained why it’s such an awful thing to do, he started to cry and apologized.

Likewise, this kid almost certainly is just a dumb preteen and needs to be educated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if the kid didn’t really know what it means, he needs a stern conversation from his parents, explaining why it’s inappropriate.

Reminds me of a local teenager who spray painted a swastika on our neighborhood synagogue. He was easily caught by the security camera footage and when people sat down with him and explained why it’s such an awful thing to do, he started to cry and apologized.

Likewise, this kid almost certainly is just a dumb preteen and needs to be educated.

Sure, but there's no guarantee that his parents or even the camp director are going to educate him. That's not really OP's job either.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t it a “made you look” game?? That’s what I’ve always known that gesture to be. My ten year old does it as a funny thing to do, learned from his silly ten year old friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My eight year old flashed this sign in a picture! I was shocked. He doesn't spend time online, so the only thing I could think of is that he picked it up from another kid, who picked it up online or from a sibling. To him, all he knew is that it was something funny/different/cool to do in a picture.

Even if this 12 year old did it on purpose, he's likely just doing it to be a jerk, not because he's a nazi or even racist. He may not even know what it means, just that it's transgressive.

Totally agree - at this age they may have zero understanding of what they are doing. Still, if this is showing up in a camp group photo the director needs to know so that she can address with the kid’s parents and also be aware if any other parents call to complain. I mean if this were my kid I would certainly want to know so I could talk to them about it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t it a “made you look” game?? That’s what I’ve always known that gesture to be. My ten year old does it as a funny thing to do, learned from his silly ten year old friends.

Even if it is, these kids need to understand that it isn’t just a “made you look” symbol. It is a hateful gesture and they need to understand that.

[Anonymous]

Op - the director responded quickly and said she was embarrassed that she hadn’t seen it and that the photo has gone out to families. She said she would be speaking with the family today and that the camp does not stand for such behavior. They had apparently already spoken with the family yesterday about the bullying.

The bullying was not a case of kids “this age struggling to get along”. My kid actually gets along with everyone but she can be sensitive when people are mean. In this case, a group of 4 boys (including the one making the gesture) were saying that another girl was too fat to do the climbing wall because she was having trouble with it. Later, when another boy got sick (vomiting) and another girl was scared while in the lake they were making fun of both of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even if the kid didn’t really know what it means, he needs a stern conversation from his parents, explaining why it’s inappropriate.

Reminds me of a local teenager who spray painted a swastika on our neighborhood synagogue. He was easily caught by the security camera footage and when people sat down with him and explained why it’s such an awful thing to do, he started to cry and apologized.

Likewise, this kid almost certainly is just a dumb preteen and needs to be educated.

Sure, but there's no guarantee that his parents or even the camp director are going to educate him. That's not really OP's job either.

No, it is the responsibility of anyone to stand up to hate in whatever form it takes. Even ignorance needs to be called out and explained.

[Anonymous]

Definitely email the director and ask for a response with what actions they will take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the hand gesture?

+1. I suspect op is a troll and the same person who just posted about racist kids at baseball

Same. Their kid is 10yo going into 6th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the hand gesture?

+1. I suspect op is a troll and the same person who just posted about racist kids at baseball

Same. Their kid is 10yo going into 6th grade?

Op - I’m not a troll. She will turn 11 in October and her school follows the calendar year. However I think the school system where we are may have a September cutoff so most of the kids here are likely 11 or so going into 6th. They generally group kids by grade not age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op - the director responded quickly and said she was embarrassed that she hadn’t seen it and that the photo has gone out to families. She said she would be speaking with the family today and that the camp does not stand for such behavior. They had apparently already spoken with the family yesterday about the bullying.

The bullying was not a case of kids “this age struggling to get along”. My kid actually gets along with everyone but she can be sensitive when people are mean. In this case, a group of 4 boys (including the one making the gesture) were saying that another girl was too fat to do the climbing wall because she was having trouble with it. Later, when another boy got sick (vomiting) and another girl was scared while in the lake they were making fun of both of them.

Your kid is making up stories or a telltale.
This age group is like that. Wait until high school. On the other hand, if your kid is not happy, pull her out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - the director responded quickly and said she was embarrassed that she hadn’t seen it and that the photo has gone out to families. She said she would be speaking with the family today and that the camp does not stand for such behavior. They had apparently already spoken with the family yesterday about the bullying.

The bullying was not a case of kids “this age struggling to get along”. My kid actually gets along with everyone but she can be sensitive when people are mean. In this case, a group of 4 boys (including the one making the gesture) were saying that another girl was too fat to do the climbing wall because she was having trouble with it. Later, when another boy got sick (vomiting) and another girl was scared while in the lake they were making fun of both of them.

Your kid is making up stories or a telltale.
This age group is like that. Wait until high school. On the other hand, if your kid is not happy, pull her out.

Wow, no she is not. I know my kid better than you. I also know that this happened because her counselor explained that there was an incident with bullying and praised my daughter for sticking up with her friend. You must be a parent of kids who bully, if your answer is to blame the kids who are victims or their helpers.

[Anonymous]

It appears to me that the camp isn’t doing a good job supervising considering they missed (didn’t bother to look) at the group photo and haven’t noticed the bullying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - the director responded quickly and said she was embarrassed that she hadn’t seen it and that the photo has gone out to families. She said she would be speaking with the family today and that the camp does not stand for such behavior. They had apparently already spoken with the family yesterday about the bullying.

The bullying was not a case of kids “this age struggling to get along”. My kid actually gets along with everyone but she can be sensitive when people are mean. In this case, a group of 4 boys (including the one making the gesture) were saying that another girl was too fat to do the climbing wall because she was having trouble with it. Later, when another boy got sick (vomiting) and another girl was scared while in the lake they were making fun of both of them.

Your kid is making up stories or a telltale.
This age group is like that. Wait until high school. On the other hand, if your kid is not happy, pull her out.

Wow, no she is not. I know my kid better than you. I also know that this happened because her counselor explained that there was an incident with bullying and praised my daughter for sticking up with her friend. You must be a parent of kids who bully, if your answer is to blame the kids who are victims or their helpers.

PP's post was a bit of a reach, and it's understandable that you wouldn't care for it. That said, your bullying comments to the PP say a lot OP. - "you must be a parent of kids who bully"?

[Anonymous]

My son has the same issue 3 years ago. I called the camp head. Really he never had to deal with this before but had multiple complaints after Trump and he had to do specific training for counselors after that.

Since our camp was literally all white it was more “trumps gonna deport your family” comments.