Defines "at-risk youth." Describes characteristics of resilient children and their families, friends and mentors, schools, and communities. Discusses camp program practices that have been shown to promote resiliency: focus on youth development, intentional processes that target the personal domain, organizational elements borrowed from…

A total of 141 staff at residential summer camps and 31 university students attending summer school completed personality measures at the beginning of their summer experiences and 8 weeks later. No significant differences were found between groups, although camp staff shifted somewhat toward androgyny and internal locus of control. (SV)

Are camps solely in the business of providing fun, or are they facilitators of crucial life skills? A social worker explores the fun versus character-building debate, concluding that though camp is not group therapy, it contributes to overall personal growth and to the social and emotional development of all children. (JMM)

Parents responding to a survey on children's self-esteem viewed the environment as the most important factor in personality development, realized the significant role parents have in the development of children's self-esteem, and felt that separation or divorce negatively affects children's self-esteem. Only 29 percent of respondents thought camp…