Summer Camp TV Show Gives Negative View
NBC is launching a new series on Wednesday, July 10 which features lots of "Rivals, Activities & Hook Ups" called - you guessed it ... CAMP.
According to tv.com, the show "promises to satisfy all the nostalgia we might have for summer camp without the teary-eyed phone calls to mom begging her to pick us up. The series stars Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) as a recently divorced camp director who's back on the job and back on the hunt for loooooove, and the setting allows for plenty of raging teen hormones, mean girl cliques, and poison ivy-masturbating jokes."
Certainly, our industry has weathered other questionable portrayals of the camp experience; however, they may not have been quite so suggestive.
Most parents and even kids will likely recognize the exaggerated portrayal, but it still would be wise to have some conversations with those who answer the phones and staff who will talk with parents on opening/closing and visiting days.
Help your representatives be intentional about reactions and responses to joking or serious comments that the show could encourage.
Joanna
Need an objective perspective on any aspect of camp? Give me a call at 310-451-1876 or email campconsulting@verizon.net
(Note from Travis: We are so thrilled to be posting the always brilliant HINTS from camp consultant Joanna Warren Smith! If you don't already you should sign up to receive theses HINTS in your email - in the right-hand column of Joanna's website: http://camp-consulting.com/)