Managing Risk

Safety is a major concern in running and attending school camps. But where is the line between “safe” and wrapping our kids in cotton wool?

“Safe.”  As a parent, it’s a status you want for your children long after they cease being of a child’s age – indeed, for as long as they live.

But what constitutes “safe” for the children and teenagers of the early 21st century? Are today’s parents and school administrators too worried about “safe”, and not concerned enough that the children in our care develop into young adults ready, willing and able to face the challenges adulthood will bring?

Are we bringing up kids who are undoubtedly physically “safe” but mentally on shaky ground – simply because we haven’t allowed them the solid foundation that comes from taking and surviving risks?

These are questions at the core of many of the issues surrounding school camps today, and oft pondered by David Petherick, executive officer of the Australian Camps Association, the peak body for the country’s residential camps in the country (www.auscamps.asn.au).

For Petherick, a discussion about what the best camps must provide to meet the needs of schools and their students inevitably leads to the issue of safety – and just what that means in a camping environment.
One aspect of what makes a good camp work is its consideration of risk management, he says – the policies and actions in place to ensure the activities and programs offered and run by a camp are “as safe as possible”. The ACA accreditation program Camping with Confidence is based on camps meeting the core requirements for the safe and reasonable operation of their sites.

The other major factor Petherick describes as “outcomes”. “More and more, camps are focusing on the outcomes rather than simply the activities,” he says. “It’s about ensuring the activities and programs that are offered fit into outcomes, whether those outcomes be curriculum, or healthy lifestyles, or environmental awareness. Or it may be community-capacity building and community strengthening – for instance, building resilience.

“The better camps don’t just go and acquire the next big thing in camp activities just because the guy down the road has it. A good camp today has a philosophy and a mission and an aim, and will update its activities and programs to meet its philosophy and aim – to help it meet its desired outcomes.”

It’s that capacity of a camping experience to assist in the mental and emotional development of children – particularly in building resilience – that takes Petherick back to the issue of safety. As a parent, he is aware of the typical parent’s overwhelming desire to keep his or her children safe, and as a former teacher he under-stands a school’s responsibilities toward children in its care. At the same time, he points out, none of us are 100 per cent safe – anywhere, anytime. Perhaps the camp experience is one in which children and teenagers should test their ability to challenge themselves, physically and mentally. “Yes, there occasionally will be accidents at camps as there are anywhere,” he says, “but as parents we have to weigh this against the benefits and against the cost of a more sedentary lifestyle.

“Camps can offer a lot of activities that enable schools to meet their desired outcomes in curriculum areas such as literacy, numeracy, science and history. But I’d suggest education today has to be more than that. Our children need to be able to keep up with a fast-changing environment and the ever-increasing pace of change. They need to be able to engage with change and be resilient.

“Adventure activities on camps are one way of helping build resilience and so cope with change and the fast pace of change. And I’d suggest that raising children without that capacity is more harmful to them in the long-term.”
Petherick stresses he is not advocating any camp abrogate its responsibilities in offering a camp that meets all standards in risk management. Clearly, he says, everyone involved wants to minimise the chance of any accident. But he wonders whether – while attempting to keep our children safe from the dangers the media reminds us daily are a part of life today – we are forgetting what it is that enables children to develop into strong, capable, confident adults.

He suggests that it’s when parents are “conned” into believing nothing could possibly go wrong – rather than given an accurate assessment of what the camp will involve and the risk involved – that when a rare accident occurs they are angered to the point of suing a camp or school. “They need to be able to make an informed decision,” he says. “It may be that some parents decide they don’t want to take the risk – and while we may not agree with that decision, we have to accept it. It’s their right to make the decision, based on accurate information and assessment of risk.

“But it’s our job to show parents and schools that the benefits outweigh the risks,” Petherick adds. He points to research into the benefits of outdoor education among 10,000 Australian children by Amma Griffiths, head of educational research with The Outdoor Education Group, indicating that of every five, three will be affected positively, one will receive no benefits, and one will be negatively affected.

The areas of benefit include curriculum, self-identity, relationships, problem solving, connection with the environment and physical well-being. And, crucially,  “accepting challenge”, defined as “a person seeks out, has a go, thrives and benefits from taking on challenges” – exactly what most parents recognise as a vital ingredient in their education as developing beings.

“Camps are temporary communities in which a group of kids come together for a short period of time,” Petherick continues. “That temporary community is a rare and fantastic opportunity in which to foster and encourage the building of bonds, mutual respect and teamwork.

“A camp that offers programs and activities according to the outcomes it wants to deliver is on its way to providing for our kids a fantastic and potentially life-changing experience.”