Field staff feel like they need a counseling degree to do their jobs.
That was the big theme after the pandemic. For a while, some hoped it was just a blip that would recover once the wave of students, affected by school and program cancellations, graduated. The programs that have since moved past this feeling recognized early on that this was not a phase. It was a new normal.
This trend was already underway before the pandemic. In a 2017 ACA survey of 335 camp professionals, 71% said campers' and staff members' mental, emotional, and social health is more of an issue than in the past. A follow-up survey in 2018 found 98% of over 400 respondents said the issue was the same or greater than the prior season. That data is almost a decade old now, which means programs were feeling this before the pandemic, and since, it’s become more pronounced.
COVID was the great amplifier. Think Sonic the Hedgehog hitting a speed ramp. The trend was already moving, and the pandemic launched it forward. That is why it felt like such a shock in 2021 and 2022.
So, here is the changing risk landscape:
Gen Z, the most articulate generation in history when it comes to their own mental health, is the primary population of today's field staff. Gen Alpha, born roughly 2010 to 2025, is entering the primary student population and will be for some time.
Does an outdoor educator need an advanced degree to work with a more aware and articulate student population?
What about a population that has grown up with the algorithm and has a preference for videophilia over biophilia (they’re more oriented toward screens than nature)?
No. I do not think so.
The programs that have adapted to this new normal have one major thing in common. They recognized that baseline participant characteristics were changing, and instead of assuming their staff could take the brunt of those changes, they adapted their risk management programs to build a more thoughtful and robust support system for their staff.
That includes updated training, clearer protocols for behavioral and psychosocial situations, a better understanding of when challenge is productive and when it is not, and incorporating support specialists like mental health advisors.
These are the new, minimum requirements for OAE programs in the 21st century.
Stuart
P.S. The ACA survey data is from their 2017 and 2018 member surveys on mental, emotional, and social health (MESH). Seven Emerging Issues Today's Camps Face