Many children go to summer camp year after year of their youth and take the friendships and lessons that they learn into the years and decades ahead. If you have a teenager who benefited significantly from attending summer camp, and is looking for a job for the upcoming months between years of high school, you might wish to suggest that he or she returns to the same summer camp as a counselor. Some of the faces will be familiar, as will the surroundings — and many of the faces will be different, too. This environment can give your teen a chance to continue learning at summer camp, albeit in a slightly different manner. Here are some things that he or she will learn.

Acting In A Leadership Role

It's never too early to learn how to manage being in a leadership role, especially if your teenager has lofty career ambitions. Working as a summer camp counselor gives him or her the opportunity to learn and refine the skills that it takes to get a group to perform certain tasks in a certain way, all while being fair and firm and being someone whom the group can respect. For example, if your teen is teaching the summer campers how to tie knots, he or she has to do it in a manner that the children will enjoy and find fulfilling, while empowering the kids and not talking down to them.

Reacting Quickly To Changing Situations

Summer camp is a constantly changing environment, which will provide plenty of challenges and positive experiences for your teenager when he or she works as a camp counselor. Days at camp can change in many ways, whether it's a thunder storm when the campers are out in canoes, or getting lost while on a nature hike. Your teen will learn how to stay calm in changing situations, think quickly, and assess the best change of course. This is a skill that he or she will use not only in the work world after school, but even in school.

Encouraging Involvement

There may be summer campers who aren't as good at certain activities, which could cause them to act in a withdrawn manner. It's the job of the counselor to include these children and make them feel valued. Learning how to manage such situations is a skill that your teen will develop as a camp counselor, and this is an attribute that will serve him or her well in the future. For example, if the teen is doing a group project in school, he or she may be able to get each member of the group more involved and empowered.

For more information, contact a business such as Corbin's Crusaders Sports Club.