<p>My D was a counselor at an upscale overnight camp (costing $2600-$3000 for 2 weeks)–
she figured she made about $2.50 per hour when she did the math—one day off per week–pretty much 24/7 the rest of the time. BUT SHE LOVED IT!!! She really misses it this summer.</p>
<p>And she NEVER received a cash tip. She was however given wonderful thank you letters from very appreciative parents. She obviously had a great influence on their kids and she was really touched by their kind words.
I am not sure if tipping is a no no—when she went to this camp as a camper I never tipped. So maybe it is a regional thing…</p>
<p>I sent my girls to a nice sleepaway camp for many years. We were told not to tip the counselors. However, I sent a nice gift to each counselor every year.</p>
<p>D1 was a counselor for a couple of years. She never received any tips. She really liked the notes from parents thanking her for taking care of their children.</p>
<p>My son volunteered at a day camp these past two weeks, and he really did enjoy it for the most part. However, his comment after a couple of days was that he thought the kids were those whose parents would like to be rid of them all day long. Perhaps that is why certain parents tip?</p>
<p>My fear is that if tipping counselors is an expectation, it will be a reason for camps which are quite expensive for the most part, to pay counselors even less.</p>
<p>Right on, GTalum! Look what’s happened in the restaurant industry, as an example. I worked in the retail clothing industry as a salesperson in high school and during college breaks. We didn’t expect to get tips for good service and no, I wasn’t on commission. If we had gotten tips, our pay would have been adjusted accordingly (as George Zimmer would say) “I Guarantee It”!</p>
<p>If counselors don’t feel as though they are being well compensated, perhaps they should look for other summer work.</p>
<p>That is what my daughter did for this summer- which is a shame because she was one of the favorite counselors & had a special talent for dealing with very challenging middle school kids. But she just needed to earn more money.</p>
<p>( this camp charges roughly $100 day- sessions vary in length)</p>
<p>I agree that a better system is to pay counselors well and not expect parents to tip. I certainly would have preferred that back when I was a counselor. </p>
<p>At the day camp I went to and worked at, there were three distinct counselors for each age group, so it was obvious who to tip. Parents also tipped the “bus counselor” (and as a former bus counselor, I can say those tips were very helpful).</p>
<p>I did have some parents hint early in the summer that if I “took good care” of their kid, I would be rewarded. Mostly that happened on the bus. And yes, we counselors did on occasion hear rumors of a family who didn’t tip. Most of the time the rumors were inaccurate.</p>
<p>Question: If your kid went to a camp that supported tipping, would you withhold that tip on principle, because you disagree with it in theory?</p>
<p>F and D–I might be mistaken, but most of these “support tipping” camps seem to have fairly wealthy clientele (could be wrong, but I don’t see any of this talked about with the Y and Scout camps, for example.) I’d probably not have a kid at them in the first place. If i did, I’d probably find out if the wage the counselors made was equivalent to those in non-tipping camps, and if it was, I’d probably not tip (and not make th mistake of going there again.)</p>
<p>I read through this thread with stunned disbelief–I can’t believe that the OP thinks we should be tipping camp counselors and I certainly never heard of that, either growing up or sending my daughter to GS and church camps. I certainly hope this is a regional thing only which will not be floating out to the west coast! We have a family friend who’s at the same GS camp as Shrinkrap’s daughter and she’s said nothing about tips. My d says her friends sometimes get bonuses; they know going into it that the pay isn’t great.</p>
<p>We live in the northeast. My D works at a local town and recreation department camp. Not a private camp. Flat rate pay that equals to about 5.00 hr which is below minimum wage.</p>
<p>I thought the same as everyone else, when my D was a wee camper, until I asked around and that is when I found out that other parents tip, so I started. I never felt an obligation, but was happy to do so because these young counselors were so gracious and treated my D well.</p>
<p>Never tipped a camp counselor. Never even crossed my mind, didn’t know some people tipped or expected to be tipped. I would think it would just add to the activity of moving out day. BTW child, who would you like me to tip for doing a fine job? Must be regional.</p>
<p>Metro NYC suburbs. S is a day camp counselor at a town camp in a fairly affluent area. Is paid less than minimum wage for working with 12 fairly obnoxious going-into-kindergartners. This is for a full day. The director of the camp sent out a newsletter which gave suggestions for tipping-modest amounts but much appreciated by the counselors. I always tipped day camp counselors when my kids were younger. Many overnight camps are members of the American Camping Association which specifically prohibits tipping-I remember strict instructions from camp directors that tipping was absolutely not permitted. I was not aware until this thread that certain areas of the country did not tip counselors.</p>
<p>Some years I never even met my kids’ counselors. For a couple of their sleepaway camps, they took a bus to and from camp. I always drove them the first year to help them get settled in, but in subsequent years they asked to take the bus because they had heard it was more fun The counselors don’t take the bus, they pretty much stay at camp and try to rest up for the one day off they usually got between waves of campers! So even if tipping was traditional at this camp, it would have been harder to carry out.</p>
<p>There is kind of a tipoff in one of the posts above – “this happens at the end of the summer”. When I was a kid, I went to a pricey camp that had a 4 week and an 8 week option. My kids typically go to camps that are only 2 weeks long, except one where D1 got high school credit, and D2 went to one that offers some longer canoeing trips. I expect that for sleepover camps, tips are more common when your kid has been there for a long stay.</p>
<p>Anyone who signs up to be a camp counselor and doesn’t know that they are gonig to make less than minimum wage is hopelessly naive, in my opinion. Of course you are working 24x7 at an overnight camp if you have a cabin of kids and run activities during the day. My kids think this is obvious (which is why, as much as they love camp, so far they have chosen more lucrative summer work).</p>
<p>I can just see this turning into a “game” of counselors trying to figure out which campers are from wealthy families and treating them accordingly! The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.</p>
<p>FWIW, at the three overnight camps I went to as a kid (in the Mountain West and Texas), tipping was pretty much unheard of, and two of these were camps for specifically kids with disabilities (where the counselors were expected to do more than “usual,” though that should have been pretty well known coming in).</p>
<p>Not only did I not get tipped for helping out daycamps this and last summer–I didn’t even get paid by the camp! (It was good experience on my grad school application, though, and counted towards my required number of Americorps volunteer hours, so I did reap some indirect benefit, financial and otherwise. The camp I’m volunteering in August won’t count for either, though, as I’m finished with my Americorps hours and admitted to grad school, so I guess that’s just pure volunteerism? )</p>
<p>This is really not a matter of one’s personal philosophy about tipping. And it doesn’t matter what goes on in other parts of the country or at other types of summer programs. We live in the Northeast in a suburb within 90 minutes of NYC. Tipping counselors is the NORM for private (not Scout or Y) day camps in this area. It’s simply common knowledge–if you’ve gone to the trouble of researching local camps and chatting with fellow parents about them, you easily ferret out all the relevant info. Counselors HERE take the job at minimum wage with the expectation that they will receive several hundred dollars in tips over the course of the summer–they aren’t volunteers in any sense of the word. Last summer, D received a tip from the family of every camper, totalling about $500. This year, with the additional job of bus counselor, she figured on getting around $700. Her summer earnings have to cover all her personal expenses at college, so it matters. But so far this summer she and her colleagues have been stiffed by a number of very affluent people who know better (or are certainly bright enough to inquire) but are simply cheapskates. (Trust me, you know these families–they’re the ones who “forgot” to bring a $15 birthday present to your 5 year old’s party and promise to drop it off soon–but never do.) </p>
<p>And yes, if the result of this change in parent behavior is an unacceptable level of compensation, D and many others won’t be able to come back next year. But meanwhile she’s feeling the financial pinch. If your kid were a waiter and half his patrons stopped tipping, you’d be upset, because tips are part of the deal. That’s D’s situation, plain and simple.</p>
<p>As far as ACA overnight camps that prohibit tipping–you’d be surprised at the number of gift cards slipped to counselors at those camps. The camp directors look the other way.</p>
<p>Maybe that’s the case. Or maybe the lower tips are a reflection of the economy. Many people I know have felt the changes in their workplace in terms of perks being reduced, business being down, no bonuses or raises, etc. There is a trickle-down effect.</p>
<p>Oh, I agree that if tipping is the norm it should be done, if possible! It’s just the whole idea of tipping being the norm that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Actually, I dislike the tipping structure in general and would prefer it if that was just worked into the cost structure.</p>
<p>As for the financial “pinch,” a lot of other jobs/fields, including mine (research), are feeling it as well, I’m afraid. Of course, it still sucks, company aside. :(</p>
<p>These camps charge a bloody fortune as compared to camps in other parts of the country and yet they can’t seem to compensate their employees adequately? That is what bugs me the most about the whole situation in the NYC metro areas where this is the most common.</p>
<p>Those camp directors are making off like fiends.</p>
<p>Once they can’t get staff or get back the staff that the children love so much, perhaps their salary policies will change.</p>
going-into-kindergartners. This is for a full day. The director of the camp sent out a newsletter which gave suggestions for tipping-modest amounts but much appreciated by the counselors. I always tipped day camp counselors when my kids were younger. Many overnight camps are members of the American Camping Association which specifically prohibits tipping-I remember strict instructions from camp directors that tipping was absolutely not permitted. I was not aware until this thread that certain areas of the country did not tip counselors.</p>
The counselors don’t take the bus, they pretty much stay at camp and try to rest up for the one day off they usually got between waves of campers! So even if tipping was traditional at this camp, it would have been harder to carry out.</p>