I asked...as you do..."What camp?"
He replied, "Doesn't matter, I don't want to go."
Which of course meant I wanted to know everything about it.
Turns out he has been invited to attend a Leadership camp next February.
It is being run by a well known club that does a lot for the community and whose ethos is to
"provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world"The school has chosen him to attend, he is allowed to invite a friend to accompany him...and they will pay the cost for both of them....$320 each. He is the only child from his school to be chosen.
To me it seems like a fantastic opportunity, an involvement with this club can lead to things like scholarships and other opportunities and it looks good on any resume.
To him it looks like a weekend spent with "nerds" where he will have to whittle wood, sleep rough, build emergency beacons from toothpicks and old milk cartons and eat baked beans.
How do you get a teenager to see the big picture, and to let them know that stepping out of their "comfort zone" may actually turn out to be something really good? That you need to take the opportunities life offers with both hands because who knows when another one will come along...if ever!
Do you make them go.....for their own good.....or do you let them stay home....because deep down you know you probably wouldn't have wanted to go either??
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