“Hazing” intensified in summer children’s camps

On July 5, the Sverdlovsk prosecutor’s office published a case of bullying of a 9-year-old boy at the Gurino summer camp. Everything was revealed only upon the arrival of the child home. “According to preliminary information, in June 2023, while in a children’s camp, teenagers aged 11 to 15 systematically, during the first shift, inflicted bodily injuries on a 9-year-old boy, drew inscriptions and drawings on his body,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. .

– When we drove away from the camp, the son said: “Thank God, I endured this shift!”, – said his mother. Her son’s subsequent confessions shocked her. The boy said that 14-15-year-old guys beat him, threw him over his thigh, tied his arms and legs, pulled off his pants … They scared him at night, poured salt into food so that he could not eat. The mother also saw evidence: a penis was drawn on the child’s stomach with a marker, and the word “loch” was written on the chest. Bruised knees, abrasions, bruises … Mom took a picture of everything and went with her son back to the camp. There it turned out that her 9-year-old son lived in a detachment with older students. Why this happened, the authorities are now investigating. The woman wrote a statement to the police, and a psychologist is working with the child.

“Here, first of all, I see the guilt of the camp workers,” leader Nikolai from Smolensk commented on this case for MK. – In no case should children of different ages fall into one squad, unless there was a specific request from the parents (this happens if the children are relatives or close friends), but even in this case, the age difference cannot exceed 2-3 years .

– Have you yourself observed cases of bullying in the camps?

– All such attempts were nipped in the bud by me. It is often clear at first sight in the children’s team who can become a victim of bullying, it is enough to talk with the child on the day of arrival at the registration desk. I communicate with such a child, a potential victim of bullying, more than with everyone else, I follow him, how he develops relationships with other guys.

Alas, the case in Gurino is far from unique. On June 28, 13-year-old Yekaterina S. disappeared from the Grenada children’s health camp in the Krasnoyarsk region. The next evening, she was found in an abandoned building, the Krasnoyarsk Investigative Committee reported. And in the Samara region, for more than a month, they have been looking for the missing 15-year-old resident of the village of Romanovka Konstantin K., who left the Young Builder camp. Until now, his whereabouts are unknown. Psychologists say that if children escape from the camps, then, as a rule, this means that they have faced bullying.

“When children get to the camp, they find themselves in an unfamiliar team,” commented, in turn, child psychologist and neuropsychologist Alexandra Kordyukova. – They need to establish connections, make friends, communicate, and then such a situation may arise that those who have become friends are all right with them, they are comfortable, and those who have not found comrades for themselves and walks everywhere alone can just be in the role of a victim bullying.

– How can parents protect their child before going to camp?

– First, keep in touch with the counselor; as a rule, counselors give their phones, and at any time you can call and clarify what is happening there. If the child has already had some negative cases with other children before, then the counselor should be warned that there may be problems with communication, and asked him to follow this up.

Secondly, it is better to establish contact with the child via video call. Then it is easier to understand by his face and look, is everything okay with him? Ask him questions – who are you friends with? What do you like to do at the camp? How do you feel?

Thirdly, it is better to choose camps in the nearest access so that you can come to visit your son or daughter on the weekend.

What should you talk about with your child before going to camp?

– We need to talk to him about some possible situations. For example, if you are called names – do not answer the offenders, do not call names back, but, on the contrary, try to answer funny and cool, or just ask: why are you so interested in me? And prepare the child for the fact that if he has a problem, he should go to an adult.

Often children are ashamed to address adults, believing that only sneaks do this. It is necessary to explain that he can approach the counselor and say: now something happened, they took a thing from me, they don’t give it to me, I tell them that this can’t be done, but they don’t listen to me. Please help figure it out.

– Another worrying aspect is sexual safety …

– Children should be aware of sexual safety. In greater danger are those children with whom such things are not discussed at home, for example, moments that intimate places should be covered for a reason, but because they cannot be touched. No one except a doctor has the right to touch you there and there. If the topic at home is taboo, then both in the camp and at school the child will be ashamed and incomprehensible if one of the guys, for example, does something with him, pulls off his pants, etc.

He must firmly know that there are personal boundaries of the body and no one has the right to violate them. If this happens to you, you should tell an adult right away. That is, stop it in any way.

In spite of everything, the child before the camp needs to be set up for the positive: that there will definitely be guys with whom he will have common interests. As a rule, in camps they try to unite children in joint activities, competitions, games. But about whether enough attention is paid to this in a particular camp, parents need to find out in advance by studying the reviews about the camp, talking with the parents of the children who were there.