Better social skills focus of school district camp

A pilot program is now underway at John McInnis Centre for Learning Alternatives aimed at improving the social skills of a dozen youngsters when they are in the classroom setting.

Called the Togetherness Kids Day Camp, the group of children ages six to 12 who have been identified as having behavioural problems have started their summers by meeting for 10 four-and-a-half-hour sessions to work on their self esteem, anger management and friendship skills.

There is some instruction but the big feature is playing cooperative games where they can put what they have learned into practice under the close observation of a half-dozen members of the school district's behaviour team.

"Over the course of two weeks, they learn that if they use these other skills, they get the same results and sometimes better results," said Truman Spring, district principal of student support services.

Also, for about an hour each day, the parents are off in another classroom taking in tips on ways to work with their children. "Strategies that they can use in the home to get what they need from their kids and help support their kids," Spring said.

Rather than using the terms good and bad behaviour, Spring prefers the term challenging behaviour.

"Challenging behaviour is the type that makes it difficult to maintain themselves in the regular classroom," Spring said. "That might mean, he or she has angry outbursts, he or she takes off out of class, it might mean he or she doesn't do work or he or she might have difficulties relating to other kids in the classroom."

Sometimes the cause is mental health but many times it's learned behaviour.

"What happens is children learn how negative responses to things get quick action and so what they've learned is if they respond negatively, they get what they want," Spring said. "What we try to do is get the kids to learn there are positive ways for getting what they want."

Similar programs have been run in the Lower Mainland and the Kootenays, "but it hasn't been done for about 10 years and it's never been done up here," said Spring.

Depending on the results, the program could continue in Prince George for years to come.

"Over two weeks in this camp, they [the children] develop quite a relationship with the behaviour team and so what will happen when we get into September and October and November and over the course of the year, that relationship becomes a great thing to have," Spring said.

"They [the behaviour team members] can talk to the kids and say 'remember when you were doing this in the camp?' and the kids already know what they're talking about, there's a terms of reference."

The camp cost $320 per student but no family was charged the fee. Instead, Bid Construction, Dunkley Lumber, Sinclair Group, Carrier Lumber and Taborview Holdings donated the funding.