Kevin Gordon

About Kevin Gordon

Posts by Kevin Gordon:

How to Deal with Mean People

During this October’s National Bullying Awareness month, even as we focus on bullying behavior, we can also examine what we as individuals can do if/when confronted by behavior that is mean. As we do at our girls-only and boys-only summer camps, we can focus on empowering ourselves to make our world a better place. Here’s a good article from sociologist Christine Carter on steps individuals can take when confronted by mean behavior from others. The whole article is at this link, with the main takeaways summarized below: To maximize social and […]

4 Warning Signs That Your Child is Being Bullied

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, so a good time to focus our blogs on how to minimize or prevent bullying in our communities, just as we do in the summer at our multicultural summer camp. A recent article featured on Tesh.com discusses signs that your child might be being bullied. It’s important to note since the majority of children will not tell their parents that they’re being bullied. Summary below: Signs of Being Bullied Frequent headaches or stomach aches. Aching heads and stomachs are the go-to excuses for kids […]

Navigating the Pre-Teen Years

Here’s a good post from blogger Jodi Durr (Meaningful Mama) with some tips on navigating those sometimes treacherous pre-teen years. At our girls-only summer camp, we get lots of practice; below are some of the article’s highlights that can work well for you at home. Recognize it is Normal – Each child is an individual and should be treated as such, but the change in hormones and how their brains are developing is fairly consistent with other people their age. A Commitment to Love and Show Grace – Make it clear to your […]

Fun and Funny Camp Videos

Check out this link for a new camp video, https://youtu.be/aljJVLp7AWw plus a couple of other funny ones here https://youtu.be/Cs0oVhOzO58 and here that show the fun and benefits of camp!

How to Enhance Your Daughter’s Future

Our son Mico had a soccer game yesterday (in which he and his team played very well…but that’s not the point). His team is coached by a now-sixteen year-old girl, who has been coaching his team for several years now, since she was thirteen. (Her little sister also plays on the team.) She is confident, assertive, caring, great with the kids on the team who play very hard, practice very hard, learn a lot, and have a ton of fun. Clearly, her parents avoided doing any of the child development […]

Importance of Girls Camps Given Societal Issues

If you’re an NFL fan at all, lately there has been a lot of attention surrounding the league’s treatment of players with allegations of domestic violence. While the controversy has had potential good points, like the increased attention regarding the dearth of women in decision-making positions in the league, it has highlighted just how far the league, and American society generally, has in regards to issues that significantly impact women. For me, it underscores the importance of continuing to foster environments where girls and young women can strengthen themselves. It […]

Why We Need to Be Inclusive and Culturally Competent

Everyday, it’s easy to pick an example of a stereotype being perpetuated; we seem to continually forget the lessons of history and repeat discriminatory behavior—and rationalize to ourselves why it’s okay. Today it’s Muslims and homosexuals, yesterday (in historical terms) it was blacks and Jews, the day before interracial couples and Protestants, you get the drift… At our girls-only and boys-only camps, we exist for children as they are so they imagine the women and men they can become. To do that, we help them celebrate and appreciate their own […]

20 Things a Father Should Tell His Son

Here’s a fun slash useful post regarding 20 things that a father should tell a son. Some of my favorites are below…so listen up Mico! The only time it is appropriate to use your fists is to defend yourself from someone else using theirs on you. Learn to disagree with someone without taking personal offense – if for no reason other than the fact that you can’t expect something from someone that you aren’t able to deliver yourself. Never let anyone do your thinking for you. There are far too many people […]

How to Raise a Hero

As my eight year-old son returns to school for the beginning of the school year, it reminds me of the importance of providing an environment where he is challenged to be the best person he can be. An old article from sociologist Christine Carter has some good tips on how to maximize your child’s ability to take action rather than be an unresponsive bystander when witnessing wrong. Our communities can always use more heroes! Highlights below! Here’s how we can make it more likely we raise heroes than bystanders: Foster their […]

Helping Children Through Transitions

Late summer brings with it many transitions for families–kids coming home from camp or other summer activities and getting ready for school; families with young adults getting set to head away from home or to college. Just like at camp, parents should be careful when considering “rescuing” their children who are undergoing tough times, whether the child is anxious, homesick, or lonely. Sociologist Christine Carter advises parents on helping manage transitions, emphasizing that the seeming “rescue” can often exacerbate the issue longterm, rather than letting them get through it and […]

Is There Such a Thing as “Reverse” Stereotypes?

(This is the first excerpt of a multipart blog to unravel during the coming weeks.) My life hasn’t been much different from any other life of a young adult from northern Illinois. Since I was young, my family supported me in all of my decisions and always pushed me to be my best and pursue my aspirations. Because of my family’s influence, I always strove to be the best both academically and outside of the classroom with extracurricular activities. As high school in a different, yet similar small town to […]

5 Reasons Why Your Children Are Safe With Us

Especially in a world where many perceive risks to pervade their day-to-day lives, the last thing that parents need to worry about if their child is safe as s/he is away at summer camp. There are several reasons why parents can rest assured that their children are in good hands while at Camp Kupugani. Here’s Why: The topography of camp (i.e. bluffs, cliffs, water, rural location bounded by large farms and forest) prevents / minimizes any outside access. This includes the thick brush and trees that prevent outsiders from looking […]