I have written about this subject before–it is something I care a lot about and need to get out there. I really really don’t like when people go camping and disregard the rules set by the campground. I especially don’t like when the people disregarding the rules of the campground are people in a leadership position for youth groups. Whether they are Boy Scout leaders, Girl Scout leaders, church youth groups, Boys and Girls Club leaders, it really does not matter what the affiliation is. If you volunteer to lead a group for children, then you should know that when you disregard or disobey the rules of the campground, you are leading by example.
You are teaching the youth who look up to you that it doesn’t matter what the rules are, if those rules prevent you for doing something that you want to do while you are in the campground, then you are teaching our impressionable youngsters that it is ok to disobey if we don’t agree with the rules.
The most common rule these people break is putting up too many tents on a campsite. These people really do not understand that the rule of having only three tents per site is one that protects the environment of the campground, and keeps it just as beautiful for the next campers as you found it today when you arrived. That is also the reason for a limit on the number of people on a site. At a campground that has 85 campsites 4 bathrooms, the limit is stated because that is the number of people our sewer system can accomodate. Also, if you bring 10 people to camp on a site designed for 6, you are encroaching on the sites around you, not only with your excess people but with the noise they produce as well.
If you can not get reservations for three sites if you need three sites according to the rules of the campground, then you should plan your trip at another time. The people who were violating several rules in our campground today would have been perfectly fine on a group site designed for 25 people. And at the beginning of the day, two of those group sites were available due to no reservation being made on them. I can understand that maybe their group didn’t have $50 to reserve the group site, but that is just a little bit more than the rate of $18 per site for the two sites they did reserve. However, these same people also presented senior passes for a 50% discount on those two sites, so for the low low price of $18 for two sites, they had about 19 people camping on those two sites. And I think the reason they didn’t reserve the group site is because those sites do not qualify for the discount.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the gist of it. These “leaders” are leading by example to just barge in, take what you want, when you want, and have no regard for the well being of the facility, the comfort and pleasure of the people around you, or any respect for authority.
And just in case you think I don’t know what I am talking about, I will tell you that I was a Girl Scout leader for more than 8 years. When we went camping, the girls in my troop always knew what the rules of the facility were. We all obeyed them–whoever did not adhere to the rules did not go camping with us again. So, please, Mr. Church Youth Group Leader, Mrs. Girl Scout Leader, and everyone else who has our youth in your care, please please please, lead with integrity, so that our children will see what that quality really is.
So true! I once had an ‘issue’ with a youth group leader who was breaking 2 or 3 rules all at once. After trying my friendly ranger route, the leader wasn’t going to budge. I finally waited for a bunch of the children to gather around, and I looked straight at the leader and said, “You are violating several rules. Do you want to tell the children which ones, or should I?” He flustered around and finally cleaned up his act. It shouldn’t be that way. Group leaders should be raising the bar, not trying to squish under it.
Oh, I really wish I had thought of that. and I really wish that all leaders who bring kids to the national parks would see themselves in this post and clean up their act so that our children would learn the right lessons.
I like Anna’s suggestion.
Well said.
I was at the N. Rim CG in 2010 and a large group of kids, 50-70?, came in on a bus from NJ. They had all the tents up in about two hours and were off. I get up early for the light to photo and they were gone by 6 AM, tents and all. The site was CLEAN. It was amazing.
They were at Zion the week before when we there. The same thing there.
They even wore casual ‘uniforms’…
I know there are lots of great youth leaders, who do the right thing, and the kids in their groups behave well. Good leadership shows. But when leaders lead by example by disregarding the rules set for everyone, that shows too. There just happened to be two such leaders of two different groups on the day I wrote this piece. It is very discouraging to see, because it isn’t just about camping. It is about a way of life that disregards laws, disrepects authority, and teaches the youngsters in their care to be the same way. It is those leaders and those kids being led astray to whom I am referring.