A Nightmare Experience! Please Read!
Written: Jul 16 '03
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Pros: Campers and staff do lose weight; Friendships are formed (comfort in misery)
Cons: Nutrition inadequate; health/safety hazards; many campers/staff members were "returners" yet still had weight problems
The Bottom Line: Save your money. Go to www.eatright.org. Download the revised food pyramid. Enlist the help of a registered dietician. Get the whole family involved in a lifestyle change.
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| nutrion1st's Full Review: Camp Shane |
I was a staff member at Camp Shane for one solid month this year. After this point, my sense of ethics and morals had me packing my belongings and taking leave of what was to be my job for the duration of the summer. I should have trusted my instincts and steered clear of an establishment that did not check my references (I had 3 quality references), nor did they do any background screening to my knowledge. A telephone interview was all that was required for the position I ultimately accepted. Too bad hindsight is 20/20.
The owner/director is a slick, money-hungry individual that clearly channels much of each summer's revenue to his advertising and PR representatives. It is clearly not put back into the business, as the facilities were run down and even essentials, such as drinking fountains were missing from key sports areas. This caused problems on many occasions when the children needed to obtain more water during a game on a 100 degree day, with no water to be found in the remote area.
The cabins seemed in many cases to be the original unaltered structures that were built when the camp opened 35 years ago. The showers were shoddily erected. On one occassion, the entire structure collapsed on one unfortunate 11 year old as she began her evening shower. There were too many campers per bunk in order to maintain any acceptable level of sanitation and the sewage system was inadequate to handle the number of people in the cabin. Campers and staff alike were required to clean the cabins themselves (which was fair enough), HOWEVER, supplies were hard to come by, no gloves were made available and I spent a lot of my own money purchasing additional cleaning supplies and anti-bacterial soap. Hornets nests and spiders, among many other insects were commonly found in the cabins. This is not surprising, BUT the supplies to handle these issues were not always readily available. Also, an essential product, such as toilet paper, was not available the entire week of camp. (I was told to try to take some from neighboring cabins).
Aside from these issues, working with the campers was the easy part, as I had some of the most amazing, talented girls in my bunks. The sad part is when you see a program that is designed for quick weight loss, not permanent results. On the whole, the girls fell into 2 categories: 1 group did NOT have a weight problem (1 girl was underweight when she came and lost 6 pounds); also those who needed a physician and a dietician to work with on a regular basis---not a quick loss diet that will ultimately add excess weight, if not followed up on at home.
As a nutrition student, I was appalled from day one by what the camp was serving. Things did get better after several weeks, when head nutrition staff demanded that more protein be incorporated. But my idea of teaching healthy eating habits involves an adequate diet (based on a campers age, weight, and bone structure), yet everyone was placed on the same diet with equal portions of nutrient-deficient food, including canned fruit, iceberg lettuce and canned vegetables. I realize that cooking for 550 campers plus staff is a task of enormous proportions, but if you are paying upwards of $6000 for 9 weeks of camp, you should be provided with higher quality food. The children did NOT receive milk on most days, nor yogurt or other sources of calcium. My iron levels were so low upon my return home that my body would bruise harshly with the slightest brush. Also, the snacks that were given out were often devoid of ANY nutritional properties. On one day, we were given popscicles (100 calories of water and sugar). When one of my campers asked me if it was a healthy treat, I had to reply honestly and tell her that no, in fact it was not. It also came to my attention that fiber supplements were mixed in with the food. Also, on hot 100 degree days, salty pretzels are NOT a good idea. BUT this all had a cummulative effect of rapid rapid weight loss.
I quote from the nutrition handbook that "NO CAMPER IS TO BE PUT ON MAINTENANCE UNTIL VISITING DAY". And when they were, it was a subjective decision "if the camper is visibly too thin". No accountable measurements were taken unless a staff member demended that their camper be evaluated. For a 7 year old child and a husky 30 year old man to be put on the same calorie controlled diet is insanity---and very very dangerous. It slows the metabolism and makes healthier future attempts at losing weight much more difficult. Also, when attending a "nutrition" class with my group, one of member of the nutrition staff referred to the group as "obese, overweight, fat, whatever...". Aside from this one incident, the nutrition staff was great and saw the flaws in the camp's quick-loss way of running things. However, these are terms that you just do NOT use with a young group of girls, particularly when maybe less than 10% of the group were obese.
Aside from my obvious contempt for the nutrition aspect of Camp Shane, the activities were not satisfactory on the whole. Though no one has control of the weather, a day of rain generally meant hours in the bunk planning your own activities.
I could go on for hours, but I saw the least terrifying aspects of camp Shane. Others saw attempted suicides, self-mutilations and explicit sexual behavior. When I was told that many of the campers had psychological issues, I was thinking of low self-esteem and trouble making friends,, etc. NOTHING like what is actually the case, with a staff that is typically not trained in such extremes.
Save your money. Go to a physician. A licensed registered dietician. Get the family involved in a new sport or physical activity. Learn about your child and his/her body's needs. Camp Shane may create friendships and lasting bonds, which is wonderful. But if recreation is the main goal, send your child to a sports camp. Going to Camp Shane will 99% of the time NOT solve your child's weight problem in the long-term. In fact, it could just make it worse.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 500
Type of Camp: Other
Best Suited For: 13 to 17 years
Camper to Counselor Ratio: Counselors were few and far between
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Epinions.com ID:
nutrion1st
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 3 members
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