The Transition from Camper to Counselor

This summer I was a camp counselor at Birch Trail Camp For Girls located in Minong, Wisconsin. I had been a camper there for six years, and this year decided to go back as a junior counselor. When I first decided to go back I didn't put much thought into how much responsibility I would have, and instead thought about how excited I was to see my friends whom I had spent the last six years with as campers. I was obviously not giving much thought to the fact that when I was a camper my counselors were always with the cabin and rarely spent time elsewhere.
Upon arriving at Birch Trail I met my campers, the nine cutest sixth grade girls I had ever seen! They asked me question after question about camp, which I loved because camp has always been my favorite thing to talk about. As the session continued, the transition from once being a camper to now being a counselor was almost effortless. Of course I saw my friends at camp, but we were all so focused on our cabins and campers that we could never really spend time together. The only time we spent together were on days and nights off which happened about twice a week. Instead of talking about boys and things at home like we did as campers, my friends and I talked about our campers and things that were happening at camp. Before camp I was very worried about the changing of roles, but when I was there I had no time to worry about myself because I was constantly answering my campers questions and making sure they were enjoying camp as much as I did when I was their age.
There were some days when being a counselor was extremely hard work. There were times that no matter what my co-counselors and I said, my campers would not go to their projects,or not go to sleep, etc. While ninety five percent of the time I LOVED spending time with my campers, those days and nights were when I needed time off the most. Being a camp counselor taught me that no matter how much I loved spending time with my campers, sometimes I did need time off. It also made me realize that unlike camp counselors, parents don't recieve that time off. Parents are constantly on duty every day for eighteen years. Overall, being a camp counselor was one of the greatest experiences and learning opperotunities of my life and I was so glad to have been able to do it this past summer.

The Student's Right to a Peaceful Freedom of Speech

Over the past few days our Issues class debated over the freedom of speech, and what it means to students in school. Should freedom of speech be executed everywhere or should it be limited in schools? By reading the Tinker vs. Des Moines and Morse vs. Frederick cases, our class was able to receive further insight on the views of freedom of speech in school.

In the Tinker vs. Des Moines case, students were suspended from school for wearing black armbands that symbolized their protest of the Vietnam War. While I don’t believe that all freedom of speech is okay in schools, I do believe that the freedom of symbolic speech is okay anywhere. In their protest, the students used a form of speech called symbolic speech. Symbolic speech is protected by the First Amendment because “no clear or present danger of destruction of life or property or of breach of the peace was inherent in the action”. The students never planned to hurt anyone. They were against the war! I believe that school board was too harsh on the students and should have let them exercise their right to free speech. Students go to school to learn how to become American citizens, and how can they learn if they can’t execute their freedoms? As long as students can exercise their freedom of speech in a peaceful way, schools should give them the power to do so instead of deducting their rights.

Similarly, in the Morse vs. Frederick case, a student was suspended from school for holding up a sign that stated “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” at a school sponsored event. This was not a form of symbolic speech because the sign promoted the use of illegal drugs. Drugs are illegal because they’re dangerous and they can create a “clear or present danger”. I believe the freedom of speech can only be used to a certain extent, and in this case Frederick went too far. The first Amendment gave the right to “peaceably assemble” to keep Americans out of danger. They certainly didn’t want anyone promoting it. While Frederick was exercising his freedom of speech, he took advantage of it to promote something dangerous. Therefore, I believe Frederick had a right to be punished.