There was a time when certain things were so obvious they did not need to be said. If you wanted to teach , you had to know how to learn. If you wanted to teach kids how to read Hebrew, you had to be able to read Hebrew yourself. Crazy concept.

In a normal school, when a teacher applies, they are tested. Can you read? Can you translate? Do you understand what the words mean? Can you explain it to someone else? This is not some fancy requirement. This is the bare minimum. You can be the nicest guy in the world, the warmest, the most charismatic, but if you do not know what you are teaching, then you are not teaching. You are just talking.

On the flip side, you can have someone who knows everything. Walking encyclopedia. If they cannot explain it, if they cannot connect to a child, that also does not work. Teaching requires both. Knowledge and ability. One without the other is useless.

Somehow, when it comes to camps, this logic disappeared.

Learning teachers in camp are often hired with no real standard. No testing. No checking. Sometimes not even expectation. Show up if you want. Learn if you feel like it. Teach if it works out. And then we wonder why kids walk away from camp having learned nothing, or worse, having learned it wrong.

There are learning teachers who cannot read properly. Cannot translate. Cannot explain what the words mean. That is not a small issue. That is massive. You cannot teach Torah if you do not know Torah. You cannot fake it. Kids know. And once a kid realizes the learning is a joke, the whole thing collapses.

And then there is another staff problem, which might be even worse.

Head counselors.

There used to be a concept that a head counselor was someone serious. Someone experienced. Someone with judgment. Someone who understood kids, pressure, responsibility, and power. Today, it often feels like if you tuck in your shirt and look the part, mit amol you are a head counselor.

No training. No screening. No testing of character. Just vibes.

That is insane.

Head counselors make decisions that affect kids’ lives. Real lives. Kids come to camp sensitive, struggling, insecure. Some of the biggest traumas people carry come from camp, not because camp is bad, but because someone with authority used it wrong. A comment. A punishment. A public embarrassment.

And then years later, the kid is still carrying it.

If someone needs to hide their vape from a camper, they are probably not qualified to be responsible for that camper. If someone is a power freak who enjoys being in charge more than taking responsibility, they should not be anywhere near a leadership role.

This is not about being strict or soft. It is about being serious.

Camp is not a joke. Chinuch is not a joke. Learning is not a joke. Leadership is definitely not a joke.

If we want better outcomes, we need standards. Real ones. Test learning teachers like schools do. Train head counselors like leaders, not actors. Stop pretending that showing up is enough.

Because when the bar is removed, everyone trips over it. And the kids pay the price.

I would love to hear from the other members of inyonim to hear what I am missing?

This thread is open