Camp counselor fail - NBR

merricksmom

I am probably overreacting but right now I am pissed.  My son had an incident with another child at summer camp.  Apparently my son grabbed or twisted the other child's arm.  Obviously unacceptable, had the keep your hands to yourself conversation with him.  I didn't find this out from a counselor though.  I found out from my son.  Apparently the father of the other child is a police officer.  He told the counselor that if my child touches his again he would arrest him.  And the counselor relays this to my 8 year old child who is now upset, crying and never wants to go to camp again for fear of being arrested.  I know my kid was wrong, but what kind of parent uses authority like that to scare a little kid....and what kind of counselor TELLS him that rather than telling my husband and I what he did?  Ugh.  Sorry about the rant but I am pretty annoyed and considering a converstion with this idiot. 

WhitEm14

That counselor was WAY out of line! I work with kids and we ALWAYS contact the parents of BOTH sides involved. So that was his first mistake. His second was saying that to your child, an 8 year old no less! No need to apologize for your rant IMO.

nycteach

Yeah, that's definitely crappy.  The camp director would definitely be getting a call from me.

merricksmom

Thank you!  I was hoping my perspective wasn't hormone skewed.  Maybe I should be a turd and talk to my husband's boss (Town board member and camp liason)....oh yeah, wait - I wouldn't do that because it's not the right way to handle things. 

phq2011

That goes way above counselor IMO. I would contact a director. I would also make an attempt to set up a meeting with the kid's dad. Arresting an 8 year old? Seriously?

PNWmommy

phq2011:

That goes way above counselor IMO. I would contact a director. I would also make an attempt to set up a meeting with the kid's dad. Arresting an 8 year old? Seriously?

This is what I'm thinking too. 

bigbootyjudi

PNWmommy:

phq2011:

That goes way above counselor IMO. I would contact a director. I would also make an attempt to set up a meeting with the kid's dad. Arresting an 8 year old? Seriously?

This is what I'm thinking too. 

This. What a douche for using his "authority" to scare a helpless kid. It's almost bully behavior. What grown man struts around threatening third graders? You absolutely have a right to contact the director and this man and have a sit down with all of them. I'd make sure he apologizes to your son as well, so that your son knows that, in reality, cops can't go around arresting people for whatever they please. 

punkrockabye

phq2011:

That goes way above counselor IMO. I would contact a director. I would also make an attempt to set up a meeting with the kid's dad. Arresting an 8 year old? Seriously?

Yep, definitely skip the counselor and contact whoever is in charge. Completely unacceptable. I am the type who would be contacting whoever is in charge of the cop dad, too. An actual police officer threatening to arrest a small child for roughousing? Of course there is no legal ground for this and he is abusing his privilege to scare your child into submission. What your son did is typical but unacceptable child behavior and how you and how you handled it was perfectly adequate if it was his first incident of being too rough.

Daniellekrista

The officer most likely never meant for your son to hear about the threat. I would call the officer and ask him to meet with you, and your son. You do not want your son to have a fear of cops. 

ETA: The counselor is a total douchecanoe and most likely made the whole thing up to scare your son. I don't think an 8yo can be arrested and a cop would *know* that. Maybe he was going to arrest the counselor? 

RuthieClanton

If you were to actually talk to cop-dad, keep in mind that the counselor (stellar individual that they appear to be) may have made that part up to try to scare your kid...totally unacceptable!  But before going off on cop-dad, I'd at least ask the question, 'did you say you would arrest my son if...'

 And as pp's have said, I would think that you need to talk to the counselor's supervisor (whether it is camp director, or some other title).