education
SCHOOL
CAMPS
What to do if your child resists going
Malia Ryce opens up about having a child
who refused to go on school camp
I
n the international school system in Hong Kong, many
school camps start in year 4. On average, children
are eight or nine years old when they have their first
overnight school camp experience. It is meant to be
an independence-invoking, confidence-building, personal
growth-inducing adventure. The year 4 camp at our school
by all measures sounded pretty good to me, but my son was
extremely apprehensive about attending. Being away from
his family for three days and two nights was not something
he was looking forward to…at all. He wasn’t even looking
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forward to some of the activities highlighted in the camp
information shared at school. As a parent, I was advised that
the camp was a mandatory part of the curriculum and to do
my best to encourage him, discuss any fears he might have
and reassure him it would be just fine. With a fair amount of
discussion over days and weeks, he bravely accepted the
challenge, if somewhat tentatively, and went off to camp.
On the final day of camp, I was there at school to receive
my little guy and thought I would see a big smile on his face
after having conquered his fears and maybe even enjoying