Redirecting sensitive questions from kids
Young people are curious, which is awesome. When that instinctive curiosity brews, sensitive (and sometimes inappropriate) questions percolate to the surface. During summer training visits to North American camps, I’ve heard some epic inquiries, such as “Are you a virgin?,” “Have you smoked weed?,” “Whose side are you on (insert political parties, warring countries, rival sports teams, or divisive issue)?,” “What does it mean to be gay?,” “What do you think about abortion?,” and “Why did (insert co-counselor’s name) get fired?”
Most staff members do not need training on what constitutes a sensitive question because they feel it when they hear it. Nor do most staff members need training to determine a topic’s appropriateness because they can simply imagine the camper’s parents sitting on one of their shoulders and the camp’s directors sitting on the other.[i] If staff feel certain that the stakeholders on both shoulders would approve of a staff-camper conversation on a specific topic, it’s probably appropriate to continue. If not, it’s best to redirect. Let’s look at how to do that.
