{"id":32431,"date":"2019-04-19T03:35:25","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T10:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=32431"},"modified":"2019-04-17T22:16:45","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T05:16:45","slug":"safe-healthy-and-respectful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2019\/04\/19\/safe-healthy-and-respectful\/","title":{"rendered":"Safe, healthy and respectful"},"content":{"rendered":"

Campers at Pennsylvania\u2019s Camp Havaya. (photo from Camp Havaya)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Fathers)<\/em>, Ben Zoma says, \u201cWho is honourable? One who honours others.\u201d The Foundation for Jewish Camp\u2019s Shmira Initiative \u201caims to make camps safe, healthy and respectful model communities. Shmira<\/em>, in Hebrew and in the vernacular of Jewish summer camp, means guard duty, embodying the social and individual responsibility every community member has to ensure a safe environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some camps, the initiative provides practical training that has been needed for some time. But, at Camp Havaya in Pennsylvania, camp director Sheira Director-Nowack told the Independent<\/em> that they have been operating on the initiative\u2019s principles for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have people who go by \u2018he,\u2019 by \u2018she\u2019 and by \u2018they,\u2019 as rabbis, teachers, students, educators, campers and staff,\u201d said Director-Nowack of the camp, which is part of the Reconstructionist movement. \u201cSo, for us, the sexual harassment piece is something we\u2019ve always discussed, have always had a policy for. I used to work at a camp that did not have that defined as clearly and they had some real challenges. We don\u2019t have some of those challenges here, because it\u2019s very up front and very clear \u2013 how you treat all people, not just insofar as gender, but in all areas of inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Camp Havaya, respect is constantly discussed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe name of our camp mascot is Howie Bee,\u201d said Director-Nowack. \u201cWe talk about \u2018how we be,\u2019 using that as a fairly common statement to talk about how we should treat each other with respect, kindness … better than you\u2019d want to treat yourself, you\u2019d want to treat the other person … and, not just as a Jewish phenomena, but as a human phenomena.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Director-Nowack acknowledged that, every so often, they run into power conflicts in a relationship, they try to ensure it never gets near the point of harassment.<\/p>\n

At Camp Havaya, she said, flirtation is discouraged. For example, there are strict rules as to what clothing is acceptable. Everyone must wear shirts at all times and clothing should be loose fitting. They also have no boys against girls competitions. Instead, all sports are open to everyone and, while everyone swims together, there are rules about appropriate swimwear.<\/p>\n

Language and attitude is another area that is closely monitored at the camp. \u201cWe don\u2019t use the word \u2018broad\u2019 or \u2018chick,\u2019 we don\u2019t use a lot of derogatory terms,\u201d said Director-Nowack. \u201cWe don\u2019t make jokes at other people\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want everyone to treat each other how they would treat their own family or themselves…. There\u2019s not a constant need for romance or underlying things that go into that modern love thought and, because of that, we don\u2019t see certain behaviours that other places might see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concepts of the #MeToo movement are discussed at camp, as are other relevant topics, like Black Lives Matter and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur constituency is made up of people who are interested in these things … also, things like respect for people with special needs, inclusivity, race, culture and minorities,\u201d said Director-Nowack. \u201cWe don\u2019t talk about these things because they\u2019re hot topics. We were talking about them before they were considered cool to talk about.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also give the credit to younger people, because it is them who are changing the verbiage, changing ideas. They are bringing them to us and we are bringing them to camp, because, if camp is a microcosm of society, then we want to be part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

If and when the topic of sex comes up, Director-Nowack said she teaches her staff to turn the conversation back to the camper and ask why he or she is wondering about it.<\/p>\n

Camp Havaya has a no-sex policy. If inappropriate behaviour is observed, Director-Nowack said, \u2018We don\u2019t punish people for behaviour, but I may or may not ask them if camp is the appropriate place for it. I don\u2019t feel like there\u2019s any place at camp where you could be sexual appropriately, and that\u2019s what we talk about.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t hook up in the middle of the woods \u2013 that\u2019s just not what we do. And, we really don\u2019t have a lot of that. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d kick someone out of camp just because they kissed someone. But, I\u2019d say something like, \u2018I just walked passed you kissing … not what I want to see, not OK, not cool.\u2019 If it got further than that, it would depend on the kid, the parent, the discussion and the situation. We\u2019re dealing with human beings and we have an environment that\u2019s not constant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, staff members do talk with campers about consent, in an effort to ensure all of them are comfortable in their own space at all times.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to create young leaders in the Jewish community who are thoughtful and intelligent, and who are, therefore, going to go out and lead a Jewish life and know themselves,\u201d said Director-Nowack. \u201cWe love that some people find their love and their relationships at camp. But, I also love that people find their independence at camp … or that they want to lead a more productive Jewish life without a partner\u2026. We want our kids and staff to leave camp as people who are going to make decisions guided by some basic values.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the Shmira Initiative, visit jewishcamp.org\/shmirainitiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Campers at Pennsylvania\u2019s Camp Havaya. (photo from Camp Havaya) In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Fathers), Ben Zoma says, \u201cWho is honourable? One who honours others.\u201d The Foundation for Jewish Camp\u2019s Shmira Initiative \u201caims to make camps safe, healthy and respectful model communities. Shmira, in Hebrew and in the vernacular of Jewish summer camp, means […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[7772,1573,5864,8154,2243],"class_list":["post-32431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-metoo","tag-camp","tag-children","tag-ethics","tag-harassment"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}