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HouseArrest
Guest
I know there used to be a Catholic boarding school called St. Gregory’s in Elmhurst, PA run by the FSSP. It closed in May 2012. I believe it was due to finances. They must be using it for the camp. I don’t know if that tells us anything about the camp or not!
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HouseArrest
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I have to add that I would be hesitant to send any of my children, at any age, to anyplace that will not allow phone calls to and from a parent.
Their reasons may be faultless, but I still would not be comfortable with it.
Their reasons may be faultless, but I still would not be comfortable with it.
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llenadegracia
Guest
In regards to attending a program with a no phone call to and from a parent policy…
I attended a Catholic program for around 8 days during high school in which they actually collected our cell phones at the very start of the program. At first, I admit, I was a bit skeptical. Although I definitely do not use my cell as much as my peers do, I felt strange not having the ability to text or call my family (or others) within a moment’s notice. But it really was a blessing. A lot of teens are super attached to their phones (especially ones with internet…) and groups function the best when everyone is fully present. Even with one participant just playing with their phone it just draws the attitude of the group down and makes everything less sincere, in my opinion. Of course, we could have always asked to call home if needed and our parents had the center’s phone number as well as our specific small group adult leader’s cell number (and a few other numbers too…) so really there wasn’t an issue.
But I can definitely understand why some would be uncomfortable with the idea.
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HouseArrest
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I understand collecting cell phones during activities during the day because they are otherwise distracting.
I believe I read on the website that the participants were not allowed to contact their parents by any phone - not just by cell phone.- for the duration of the seminar.
That would be unacceptable to me.
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TheRealJuliane
Guest
We put our son into a 3 week behavioral camp and he had no access to any electronics the entire time. We took his phone back home with us. The head of the camp relayed messages from him to us, after about 10 days. We emailed the director and he kept us up to date as to how our son was doing. But ours was an emergency situation to get him back on track and make him realize what he had been doing. It seems a little extreme for a camp like this to keep the boys from making any contact with their parents at all.
However, it may be for the boys’ sake in order to get them out from under their parents’ thumbs. Know what I mean??
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dixieagle
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Absolutely and completely agree. A policy like this is a terrible idea, in light of the recent scandals.
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HouseArrest
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Was he allowed to call you from a land line at the camp? I am thinking about emergency situations, not just for conversing with parents.
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salusanimarum17
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I know nothing about the camp but I don’t think there is any reason to think that emergency communication is also forbidden. That would be absurd. I also don’t see the connection between not allowing routine communications and sexual abuse. I’m sure the whole thing has gone through all the hoops that any such endeavor has to go through before being allowed in any Catholic diocese and religious community.
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HouseArrest
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Oh gosh there are a lot of camps/schools (none of which I know that are Catholic, though) that do not allow any communication, including emergency communication. There are also a lot of places where children have died while in the care of a camp.
There are a lot of them in Utah, supposedly because regulation is lax in the state.
Now not all camps/boarding schools are bad, even some that don’t allow the communication. But it is a very real problem.
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Cojuanco
Guest
Well, it’s run by the FSSP, which is a legitimate religious institute, so they’re in good standing with our Holy Mother the Church. As to the communications policy, I suppose it’s your call.Hi all,
I was curious to know if anyone knows of Camp St. Isaac - run by the FSSP because their website is quite vague. Their website. I would appreciate if everyone could pray that I may go to this camp if it is God’s will, for it surely would enhance my faith! God Bless and Thanks!!
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TheRealJuliane
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No, he was down in the woods with no electricity at all. The director would have brought him up to the house and then, I would expect that I could speak to him over the phone, yes. I expected no emergencies, and in fact, we were 2 states away so anything that happened would have had to be handled on that end.
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HouseArrest
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Okay well that makes sense. I am guessing, too, that if you called them and said you had to speak to your son immediately they would have gotten him to the phone. Some will not - and that is not the same policy. I can understand inconvenient to place a phone call but not forbidden to make a phone call.
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TheRealJuliane
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You mean if one of us had died, or something? Yes, they would have gone to fetch him up to the house and then we would have gone to pick him up. Otherwise, the isolation from electronics was part of how they reached the boys and changed their behaviors.
In fact, his girlfriend was not allowed to contact him AT ALL, not even sending letters or packages. We tried to keep the address of the camp a secret - I think she eventually found it - but even if she had sent something, it would have been returned without being opened. I sent him one large care package as I recall.
He was allowed to send us an email that he had written and the director then took to the house and typed on his behalf, but that was pretty far along into the program.
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HouseArrest
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There are several warning signs of abusive camps/schools and no phone calls to parents is one of them. Another is the school sending an escort to pick up the child. I can see where those policies would raise an eyebrow. I am sure visits and many questions to camps/schools can uncover an abusive place though.
It is true that the FSSP is an organization that is already an institute in good standing. I think that does say a lot about the camp. Probably me just over worried. Maybe if they were asked about it, the answer would make sense. Like I said before, I am rather positive the school was a good place, just ran out of money.
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TheRealJuliane
Guest
Well, I would probably trust the camp the OP linked to. I would think they would be under a lot of scrutiny. And they are not dealing with kids who have behavior problems, but good kids.
In our case, I had been looking for a behavioral camp for months, and I believe that God led me to the one I found. If our son had resisted going, we could have had an escort pick him up and take him there, but it’s an outside service and would have cost us extra. He was affected and much of his worst behavior stopped, although he still insisted that he would never break up with his GF. Eventually, she did break up with him and we were there to pick up the pieces. Finally, even though his heart was shattered, we had our son back.
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HouseArrest
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AWell, I would probably trust the camp the OP linked to. I would think they would be under a lot of scrutiny. And they are not dealing with kids who have behavior problems, but good kids.
In our case, I had been looking for a behavioral camp for months, and I believe that God led me to the one I found. If our son had resisted going, we could have had an escort pick him up and take him there, but it’s an outside service and would have cost us extra. He was affected and much of his worst behavior stopped, although he still insisted that he would never break up with his GF. Eventually, she did break up with him and we were there to pick up the pieces. Finally, even though his heart was shattered, we had our son back.
for the shattered heart, but a 
for getting your son back.
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TheRealJuliane
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He just bought me a book on St. Monica for Mother’s Day. He knows the kind of praying I was doing on his behalf.A
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gh4
Guest
I went to a YWCA camp when I was a kid, no calls home and no calls from home. (of course, this is before cell phones and email etc. ) and it was fun and wonderful. Postal mail to and from was encouraged. I LOVED camp. Parents could contact the camp in an emergency.
I took the cub scouts to camp when my kids were of that age. No calls from Moms and no calls to Moms. Parents could contact the camp in an emergency.
My boys both went to boy scout camp and on many many boy scout adventures. No calls from me to them and no calls from them to me. They sent post cards home. I had phone numbers where I could cal in an emergency. And that happened once and the chaplain was kind enough to let my son know that his great grandmother had passed away.
I was a nurse at a Christian camp in Indiana one summer. No calls from kids to home and no calls from parents to kids. Mail was encouraged. And parents had a phone number to call in an emergency.
All of the above were wonderful camps and the kids didn’t need to call home or to be called by their parents. It was good for the kids to get away from their usual life and that helped to make summer camp a wonderful experience for them. And yes, there was some homesickness involved on occasion, but kids get over that pretty well.
I think in this day and age we are way too dependent on continual contact with our friends and families. I think it’s a good thing for kids to get away from parents and phones and electronics and computers. So as long as the camp has a good reputation and repeat campers (ASK to see what parents write in, ask to call a local parent whose child has been to the camp) and a phone number a parent can all in an emergency, I’d be glad that my child could get away from the usual life of cell phones and ipads and such!
I took the cub scouts to camp when my kids were of that age. No calls from Moms and no calls to Moms. Parents could contact the camp in an emergency.
My boys both went to boy scout camp and on many many boy scout adventures. No calls from me to them and no calls from them to me. They sent post cards home. I had phone numbers where I could cal in an emergency. And that happened once and the chaplain was kind enough to let my son know that his great grandmother had passed away.
I was a nurse at a Christian camp in Indiana one summer. No calls from kids to home and no calls from parents to kids. Mail was encouraged. And parents had a phone number to call in an emergency.
All of the above were wonderful camps and the kids didn’t need to call home or to be called by their parents. It was good for the kids to get away from their usual life and that helped to make summer camp a wonderful experience for them. And yes, there was some homesickness involved on occasion, but kids get over that pretty well.
I think in this day and age we are way too dependent on continual contact with our friends and families. I think it’s a good thing for kids to get away from parents and phones and electronics and computers. So as long as the camp has a good reputation and repeat campers (ASK to see what parents write in, ask to call a local parent whose child has been to the camp) and a phone number a parent can all in an emergency, I’d be glad that my child could get away from the usual life of cell phones and ipads and such!
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