Alexander Natividad - Week #9: Camp Basics
Over the summer, I worked a part-time job. My job was a camp counselor; my co-workers and I had to run a little kids summer camp and entertain them every weekday afternoon. Sounds simple right?
Of course it wasn’t. But one of the things I learned from this job was the true grasp of power.
As a counselor, I was essentially the teacher of the group. Since it was my first summer working, I went in with the assumption that many kids would not treat me the same way that they treat my previously-working co-workers.
After the first few days, the kids quickly got comfortable with who I was and started to treat me like the other counselors. Apparently, I was one of the nicer and more easily approachable people in case a kid needed something.
In the middle of the summer, I had to change my ways of controlling the camp. There was one week where multiple incidents broke out between kids and another kid who was sensitive and got mad easily. Instead of being my usually relaxed self, I ended up being more assertive in these incidents and stopped more of them before they could escalate into further conflict. The kids’ perspectives of me did not change, but I noticed how easy it was to be the dominant voice in a conversation.
I realized I could tell the kids to do almost anything, and they had to listen to me. This reminded me of how a teacher normally has power over their students, but can choose how they want to use it. Some teachers point the blame on their students for some of their own mistakes, but there are also those who use their title of “teacher” to establish a sense of leadership and are more willing to treat students in a way as if they were a student themselves.
Having this type of control made me more aware of how it could easily be turned into something bad and even abusive. After that week of incidents, I decided to go back to my usual self and let the other counselors impose their willpower over 30 kids.
Just like the famous quote “With great power comes great responsibility” means, having a higher level of power demands respect and accountability.
Recreation, M. (2024). Retrieved 2025,.
Hey Alexander! I have also experienced many different moments as a teacher or counselor figure and what you observed is what I experienced too. The realization of seeing how much influence authority figures have on others, for better or worse, is sobering as it is a bit scary to see how easily those in these positions can manipulate others. You tying your experiences to the leadership role of teachers shows the shaping influence educators have in a students life. Identifying the potential for power to be misused really demonstrates a strong sense of self-awareness and maturity in yourself, which is honestly so impressive. While I have been in your shoes, I never realized the extent to which I have power over kids and how it can be almost dangerous. This was very interesting to read, thank you!
ReplyDeleteOver the summer, I worked a part-time job. My job was a camp counselor; my co-workers and I had to run a little kids summer camp and entertain them every weekday afternoon. Sounds simple right?
ReplyDeleteOf course it wasn’t. But one of the things I learned from this job was the true grasp of power.
As a counselor, I was essentially the teacher of the group. Since it was my first summer working, I went in with the assumption that many kids would not treat me the same way that they treat my previously-working co-workers.
After the first few days, the kids quickly got comfortable with who I was and started to treat me like the other counselors. Apparently, I was one of the nicer and more easily approachable people in case a kid needed something.
In the middle of the summer, I had to change my ways of controlling the camp. There was one week where multiple incidents broke out between kids and another kid who was sensitive and got mad easily. Instead of being my usually relaxed self, I ended up being more assertive in these incidents and stopped more of them before they could escalate into further conflict. The kids’ perspectives of me did not change, but I noticed how easy it was to be the dominant voice in a conversation.
I realized I could tell the kids to do almost anything, and they had to listen to me. This reminded me of how a teacher normally has power over their students, but can choose how they want to use it. Some teachers point the blame on their students for some of their own mistakes, but there are also those who use their title of “teacher” to establish a sense of leadership and are more willing to treat students in a way as if they were a student themselves.
Having this type of control made me more aware of how it could easily be turned into something bad and even abusive. After that week of incidents, I decided to go back to my usual self and let the other counselors impose their willpower over 30 kids.
Just like the famous quote “With great power comes great responsibility” means, having a higher level of power demands respect and accountability.
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DeleteHello Alexander, reading your blog was one of the most enjoyable things that I have done in a really long time. I also worked as a summer camp counselor last summer, and it was honestly one of the most life changing experiences I’ve had in my late teens. First of all, being a teacher really puts a lot of things into perspective , it really taught me how to learn and study, by trying to learn how to teach and make lesson plans makes you really understand how to actually study. Secondly, and more on topic, I learned how far confidence and costumes can take you. It felt so weird being in charge of about 10-20 kids, stopping them from doing things I would have done myself. It also felt like a fever dream when I was put incharge of a kid who was a year older than me. It was so crazy to think that I was the same age as the kids I was teaching, and it helped because I could relate to them, but there were definitely some challenges because I never really had a mean teacher voice like my coworkers had. In the end, I learned and changed a lot about myself and I was really proud of going there.
ReplyDelete