Elitist camping group

[hipslikecinderella]

I have been introduced to an evangelical christian activity/camping holiday. It is for children and they take 2/3 boys and 1/3 girls - all children have to go to a top prep school.
Historically the man who set up the Trust who runs the hols has been accused of abuse on the camps.
He died and the trust did issue a statement after that to say they were investigating.
Anyway, my main issue is with the private prep thing . The reasons I have heard are mainly cost and also that the activities may be very glamorous and state children wouldn't be used to them.
However, we've also been told there are large bursaries available, although they are never taken up.
Aibu to think it's all a bit odd.....?

Sounds batshit, all of it. My DD is at a boarding prep school (as a day girl) and I can’t think of any activities state school kids “wouldn’t be used to”...except maybe lacrosse!?

Sounds so bloody dodgy.

To be fair about the divisions of schools etc. - the person who supported my school’s Christian union also helped on the camp that I helped on and there were quite a few teachers from the group of schools there. I can see how knowing people you also see at school helps make some continuity and community (which is hard when you’re at boarding school - not a complaint as there are lots of positives about boarding school and I feel lucky to have gone, but a reflection I guess).

There are so many organisations offering something similar that it really wouldn’t be difficult to avoid this one. However, I do have a very profound distaste for evangelical Christianity.

I'd have to worry about the motivation of parents who send their children to boarding school all year and then send them away again during the holidays.

My son went on the camp two years running. He loved it and met some really good friends - there was a talk at his prep by the assistant head and he wanted to go even though we are not religious in any way and neither were his friends who he met there. I was very wary of him going but he did love it and is going away with his friends next year from the camp.

WHAAAT???
Religious cult, history of abuse, "glamourous activities". Yep, sounds like a cool summer camp

Also I went on an evangelical christian camp when I was about 13/14 and it started my now fully blossomed atheism. It was called DNA and the people were NUTS. One day one of the leaders stood on stage and said that two people in the room - one male, one female - had had sex outside of marriage and God was asking them to confess. Funnily enough there was loads of pent up sexual energy and weird stuff going on between older teen boys and younger girls.

On one of the days we were doing a fun day for the public (whilst trying to foist Xtianity upon them) and a very kind lady came up to me and gave me a piece of paper with the name of an Atheist book on it. They confiscated it from me and I was told off for accepting it. I decided if they weren't secure enough to let me read opposing literature to consider the arguments, the whole thing was probably bollocks. And that was the end of my foray into religion.

It doesn't seem to exist anymore.

This does sound like a posh cult from the outside - no doubt most of the kids enjoy it enormously. As I did my school CU summer camp one year...wholesome outdoor fun plus a good dose of indoctrination.

Apart from this outfit, the thing which is somewhat stunning to me is the sheer number of evangelical Christian summer camps etc - there are big name events but as in my history, perfectly ordinary schools etc running them. Compare and contrast... does anyone remember front page stories a few years ago when a camp which combined wholesome outdoor fun and 'freethinking' (not atheism) started?

He died and the trust did issue a statement after that to say they were investigating

& the outcome of that investigation was ...?
Go on, surprise me. Say "nothing".

7 minutes of christian teaching is oddly specific.
Does that mean that for 23 hours 53 minutes that the kids will not be subject to elitist or religious views? I don't think so.

No. It used to be all boys but they let girls in - but they said 50/50 and the girls take over
Take over what? The notion of equality, & of not being viewed as some kind of 'alternative' to the default (male) gender? Don't let your kids anywhere near this misognistic bunch of brownshirts.

No. It used to be all boys but they let girls in - but they said 50/50 and the girls take over

That sounds in line with the observation that in environments which have been traditionally all or majority male, they start to feel like there's a lot of women when the ratio gets to about 30%. I'm pretty sure that mixed schools observe male dominance still tending to operate at 50:50. Maybe by 'take over' they mean 'approach equality'?

I saw the thread title and thought it was going to be about being looked down on by a neighbouring group of campers because you had a pop-up tent from Argos and they had high-end gear and fancy accessories!

I'm going to go against the grain here and say - do it, do it, do it. The contacts, the network, they'll serve your DC for life.

I remember being bored to death listening to all this religious crap, and never believed a word of it, but if your DC ever wants to follow that path of RG Uni, City / Law / Medicine job - those internships don't grow on trees. And having a few phone numbers you can call at these crucial times really helps.

All the other kids will be just as bored about the religious aspects as your DC, so don't worry about brainwashing, and I seriously doubt there'll be much child abuse - everyone's watching everyone else these days.

I know it's the sharp end of pushy parenting, but seriously - think about it. Any friends your DC makes there could make a world of difference.

Ha, I was going to come on a boast about my beautiful 67 split-screen camper, but see this isn't the place...

I bet Jacob-Rees Mogg sends his kids there.

Actually he wouldn't - wrong religion.

Yes never mind about the misogyny, the history of abuse and the elitism... it's all about the contacts innit Leafyhouse.

I can't access their website. Is it down?

leafyhouse ‘not much child abuse’. I guess your post was meant to be funny. It wasn’t.

@VirginiaWolfHall Yes never mind about the misogyny, the history of abuse and the elitism... it's all about the contacts innit Leafyhouse.

Well yes, it kind of is. And all the best jobs, let's face it, go to the pushy middle classes. I didn't invent the system, but don't try to claim that it doesn't matter. Maybe it shouldn't matter, but it undeniably does.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-49155953/why-are-working-class-kids-passed-over-for-top-jobs

Gosh that's really not a game I want to play or what I want to teach my children!

So if your child gets abused there, at least a top notch city job can help pay for their therapy?

It's not a case of working class v middle class Leafy, as you imply by linking that article.Believe it or not you can be highly successful and middle class without having to compromise your principles or rely on mummy and daddy to give you a leg-up.

And it does matter, but to me clearly not in the way it does to you. Because we wouldn't have such a mediocre bunch of unprincipled, opportunistic twats running our country into the shit right now if it weren't for elitist priviledge.

@hipslikecinderella just wanted to say I love your username! The Pixies are ace and Tame is my favourite!

Sounds like the intention is to convince kids that male supremacy and white supremacy are 'natural' because Jeebus thinks so (and a bit of sexual abuse by the leaders is just... not a big deal because you're going to be a Master of the Universe soon and then you can do all that stuff to other people.)

And I wonder how many of the 'specially selected' kids happen to be the ones with parents who are either too busy/drug-addled/dead to care much about what happens to their DC or who are themselves superstitious fascists who will gloss over a bit of child abuse because it's power that really matters...