Not So Frequently Asked Questions
If your curiosity isn't satisfied by reading this, our complete brochure, or our most recent Camper Handbook, send your questions at us and we'll respond to them privately or here. The "I" here is Grace, who wrote this page (mostly back in 2003, with a few updates since then).
Contents
Can people who go to school come to NBTSC?
Is this a sex camp?
Is it true that campers share sleeping bags?
Is NBTSC anti-parent?
Is NBTSC anti-school?
Why don't you have a power shuffle anymore?
Why does camp cost as much as it does?
Can people who go to school come to NBTSC?
Yes. Usually we have at least 1 or 2 schoolers at any given session, probably never have had more than 4 at once. Sometimes these are former or prospective future unschoolers, sometimes they're really just regular schoolers whose friends have told them about NBTSC and who want to broaden their horizons. This has always worked fine. I think if we had a higher proportion of schoolers we'd want to do some screening and just check out folks' motivation and such.... but it's never been an issue.
Is this a sex camp? I can't believe the trash I saw on your website!
That's a paraphrase, but pretty close to what one mother wrote me (I think the year was 2003) after reading stuff on the NBTSC wiki/community site (which is not, and never has been, our official website). First, no, it's most certainly not a sex camp, though sexuality is one of many facets of life that gets discussed, joked about, and expressed (pretty innocently, for the most part, in my opinion) at camp. A more accurate generalization would be to call it a consider-dramatically-changing-your-hairstyle camp.
Second, let me just take this little self-created opportunity to talk about what I see as the relationship between the community website and NBTSC itself. I myself sometimes blush when I pop over to Wiki to see what's going on there. I can easily imagine how an outsider could gather from a small percentage of the pages and posts that camp must be one big fat orgy. The truth (as perceived by my undoubtedly slightly incorrect stodgy old brain) is that many NBTSC-ites are eager to discuss pretty much everything and to reveal themselves pretty trustingly. Some seem more this way online than in person, but overall it's a pretty self-disclosing bunch. In person, though.... the people who write that racy stuff are a bunch of harmless, sweet, affectionate, playful teenagers, probably somewhat less sexually active than a typical cross-section of urban teens, probably pretty average for American teenagers overall. Except more likely to tell you if they have a crush on you (and then run away blushing).
Whenever I think about parents worrying that there might be too much sexuality at NBTSC, I can't help but remember the fundamentalist Christian church camp I attended several times as a teenager, where undoubtedly very few people actually had sex, but where the overall sexual tone was highly charged and central to the quality of camp. I would feel disturbed if that's what we had at NBTSC, and I actually think that one reason we don't have that tone is that the staff doesn't get bent out of shape about sex-related joking, open discussion, tasteless songs and skits (even when we don't like them personally), mild expressions of sexual affection, etc.
Is it true that campers share sleeping bags?
Sometimes, yes. But the picture you conjure in your mind, upon reading that, may not be an accurate one. Some years ago a mother was alarmed (understandably so, I thought) when her daughter told her that she'd twice shared a sleeping bag with her boyfriend. Although the pair hadn't been sexual (by their own account, which I trusted) and had been fully dressed, I was embarrassed and felt like I had indeed let things slide.
So, the next year we made a new rule that people of different genders couldn't share sleeping bags or blankets. But this led to all kinds of consternation--what did we mean, exactly? Were groups not allowed to sit on the couch with a sleeping bag over them? Or was that OK, as long as they didn't nod off? Could a group of three siblings not share a blanket even though they shared a family bed at home? Could a lip-locked couple embrace all night if they were willing to freeze? Wasn't it discriminating to make the rule pertain only to mixed genders, and thus ignore the existence of people attracted to those of their own gender? Could they pin 2 blankets together so there wasn't a cold gap between people sleeping next to each other? (That kind of detailed grilling doesn't often happen at camp, but when campers are frustrated, it is guaranteed to!)
Finally, we (Taber, actually) got a clue and addressed the subject in more subtlety (and awkwardness) but more truth: what we didn't want was "sexual sleeping," communal blanket or not. We wanted to discourage people from making out for extended periods; for that matter, we wanted to discourage a heavy sexual vibe during both day and night. (Of course, we also didn't want campers actually having sex--that's explicitly against our rules--but based on the public-ness of sleeping arrangements that wasn't really our concern at the moment. We figured anyone determined to break that rule would find a more private context in which to do so.) Campers understood us perfectly and, while there were still a couple grumblers, by and large the community happily embraced the "no sexual sleeping" concept. There seemed to be a consensus that that wasn't what people were at camp for. The spirit of the law was renewed, and in turn, we lightened up on the letter of the law. I'm sure this is not a perfect solution, but it's the best we've come up with so far.
Is NBTSC anti-parent?
No!!!!!!! And no one has actually asked us this, but as a result of some rather nasty gossip that took place back in 2002, I want to go on public record as saying so. At most sessions of camp we have one or more parents on staff, and always enjoy the dimension that adds. We don't get much chance to interact with the parents of our campers, but when we do we really enjoy it. We figure our invisible parent community must be an incredible bunch, to have nurtured up people the likes of our nbtsc darlings! We are always happy to hear from you--concerns, questions, suggestions, warm fuzzies, whatever you've got.
We host an open house during each session of NBTSC, and love meeting parents during that time.
Is NBTSC anti-school?
No, it's just pro-life. Granted, the name is a little sassy, but we don't mean it rudely. The staff discourages school-bashing and labeling of people who attend school as "sheep." But it's rarely an issue.
Why don't you have a power shuffle at camp anymore?
(Background: the power shuffle is an intense personal growth exercise that a camper brought to nbtsc in 1999 and that we did at every session after that through 2002. Like most camp activities, it was optional, but most people participated. We decided to not do it starting in 2003. In the years since, we've developed a similar exercise that's a little less intense, and so far the response to that has been mixed but mostly positive..... though we're not too certain about this new activity either, for different reasons.)
In early 2003, after we announced there would be no power shuffle at camp that year and a number of campers wanted to know why, I wrote a letter in response. Here's a condensed edition (if you ask, I'll send you the whole thing):
For several years, the staff has been questioning the value of continuing the power shuffle. On the one hand, many people get tremendous benefit out of it and overall it feels like a powerful bonding experience for our community. We wouldn't have wanted the PS to continue at camp this long if it hadn't seemed like a hugely positive event in significant ways.
On the other hand, there are some downsides, and they appear increasingly serious. One is that the PS sometimes seems to feed a sense of drama at camp. We've felt that it can contribute to what we on staff call "bonding around pain." That is, some people experience a bizarre sort of sense that at NBTSC it's "cool" to be wounded and "not cool" not to be. As staff, we feel that none of the issues the PS touches on should be seen as either cool or uncool; the ideal is to move toward accepting and integrating one's own experience whatever it is (or is not).
There are several other issues (you can read about them in the long version if you contact me for that), but the clinchers are these:
We've begun to feel that for some people, going through the power shuffle is opening a big can of worms that we don't really have enough time to deal with at camp, before they return home and potentially to situations where they are not surrounded by adequate support. Similarly, at times we feel we don't have enough experienced and skilled staff to deal with all of the emotional needs that result from the power shuffle.
Normally I don't like to create policies based on rare occasions or extreme possibilities--for instance, I'm not going to institute a bedtime at camp simply because that might make it harder for a few rebels to break certain rules. But when someone's emotional equilibrium and overall well being is at stake, it's different. In this case, I feel that the safety of the few--or even the one--may outweigh the value of the PS for the rest of the community. Post-power shuffle trauma has been a very real issue for at least one person, and to a lesser degree, probably others. I'm feeling sobered by this knowledge, and don't want to risk that happening again.
We do hope to continue to incorporate the best aspects of the PS in one or more new activities at camp, and are open to your suggestions.
Why does NBTSC cost so much?
A few years ago, 2 parents asked us this directly, and from time to time we hear rumors of campers or parents grumbling about our price-tag. (Actually, lots more people have asked us directly why camp is "so cheap for what it is," and many summer camps cost way more, and we have not raised our basic prices since 2006--but when we hear rumors, they're of discontent....) So, here's the deal:
We know that for some families, choosing NBTSC means choosing not to have other things or experiences they'd also really like. We really appreciate all of you who place a high value on it and find a way to pay for it, especially when that's not easy! We don't charge what we do without reason, and nobody gets rich off NBTSC. In fact, the first 10 years I ran NBTSC, I rarely earned more than minimum wage for my work; often I made much less than that--or nothing. (Or, for the first two years, less than nothing. In 1996 I used my credit cards to come up with $5,000 to help pay the NBTSC food bill, after I'd spent the summer working insane hours to prepare for camp without earning a penny .... of course, those were fitting and fair consequences for being a phenomenally bad business planner -- and for charging everybody else just $185 to attend -- and gradually I learned my lessons.)
But our pricetag is not pocket change, and there are other camps that cost less--in some cases, much less. Why is that?
- Unlike many camps operated by religious institutions or other non-profit organizations, particularly longstanding organizations like Girl Scouts, we do not own our own sites, so we must rent the property we use. This is a major expense.
- Similarly, many religious and other camps are largely funded by grants or other money provided by their parent organizations. The only money we receive is that paid by campers. We have a scholarship fund, but that only offsets some campers' fees--it doesn't increase our revenue.
- We do not believe in using substandard food. Most camps keep their costs low by buying ultra-cheap food. While we do buy our food wholesale, we purchase high-quality organic ingredients that we feel contribute to the health of campers and staff and to the farms that grow them. We figure that most families don't believe in eating trash at home, and that they wouldn't want their kids eating trash at camp either.
- We operate for only four weeks per year, so our overhead costs are shared by these sessions only, not by a whole summer full of camp sessions. (On the other hand, most of our overhead costs are shared by Grace's publishing company.)
- Because we run an unusual camp, where campers have a considerable amount of freedom, the staff and the directors, in particular, are continually challenged to revise our approach and our methods. It is our goal to provide a strong support system, not one that calls attention to itself, but one that subtly enables campers to have a powerful, potent yet safe experience. By and large we feel we succeed in this goal. But because of it, and the unusual nature of our camp, we never rest. We are constantly refining and experimenting with our approach. This takes time--particularly Grace's and her assistants' time--year round.
- In a broader sense also, we are always seeking to improve NBTSC, and it takes time to read through each year's evaluations (by campers, staff, and parents), decide what changes to make, and then to make them.
- Similarly, because of the unusual nature of our camp (tons of freedom and all that), those of us at headquarters spend a lot of time year round answering parents' (and sometimes campers') questions via phone and email.
- We pay the majority of our staff, and we pay them more than many camps pay. Not a lot more, and not anywhere close to what they're worth, but a little bit more, plus travel stipends for some of the folks who come from far away. Specifically, most senior staffers earn between $300 and $500 per week. Most really low-cost camps rely on volunteer staff, or in some cases on mostly college-age staff who earn much less than our people do. (We do have occasional volunteers, and are very grateful for them!)
- I (Grace) am committed to paying my year-round office managers a decent wage. Often that has meant they earn more (per hour) than I do. Not as much as they deserve, but enough that I feel in integrity with them regarding money. That's the way I want to run my business. On the other hand, their office hours are brief, in the interest of economy--you would never find them sitting around with nothing to do but wait for the phone to ring!
So....while I empathize with folks who feel stretched by the price-tag of NBTSC, we do feel it's fair. We give lots of scholarships each year, yet we also regard NBTSC not as a right, but as a privilege for people who really value it and are willing to invest something of their own into it.... just as we ourselves invest a great deal in it.
Have your own question? Ask it and we'll answer it--or at least address it--privately and maybe post here also.
