Camp ELK Review
My son was physically bullied at Camp ELK during the summer of 2019, and was turned away when he asked for help. He came off of the bus after camp in tears, showing us scrapes on his legs from being pushed onto the ground, said he couldn't write us because the bully in his cabin had gotten the other campers to gang up against him and they were shaking his bunk when he was in bed. My son said that there was a lot of physical bullying when they were in the cabin and the staff was outside. One night he reached out to his cabin staff by the name of Kyle, and told him that this bully was in the cabin kicking other boys in the private, and Kyle said, "I don't care - go back to your bunk." When I called the camp mid-week to check on my son, being that it was his first time at camp and he looked unhappy in the posted photos, I was told by 2 staff (including the Director, Jim) that he was doing great and that they didn't hear of any issues. While at pickup after hearing of these bullying incidents, we spoke with the Director, Jim, about how my son was physically bullied and how the cabin staff turned away his plea for help, and the Director Jim said, "That wouldn't happen", and completely dismissed all of these incidents. I am posting this for other parents to see and for the Director Jim and volunteers to see. Young kids should not be left unattended in the cabin, and the volunteers need to be retrained on how to watch for signs of bullying and how to address it. read more