Kids learning how to ball up their fists during self-defence lessons.
Anyone could sit on the inflatable “Friendship Bench” at camp – a sign to everyone else that that someone needed some help or perhaps a listening ear.
With 40 families gathered at this 3D2N camp, who knows if some friction or unpleasantness might occur at some corner? And so, a little camaraderie would help smoothen things.
“This initiative is about creating connections and reminding our children that they are never alone.
“A shared conversation and a listening ear can go a long way in improving one’s mental well-being,” Carmen Coudray explained.
Coudray is the founder of All About Camping Malaysia (AACM), a social group of almost 200,000 happy campers.
The Friendship Bench was a heartwarming feature in their recent “mega” camp, coined the AACM Kids Campmeet 2.0, held in early December in Santai Riverside, Janda Baik, Pahang, a misty valley 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.
It went beyond fun and play – this round, their gathering focused on bullying and mental health among children.
Educators and experts from HELP International School and UCSI University were present to hold workshops and learning sessions.
Making a pint-sized new buddy on the ‘Friendship Bench’.
Not only the kids benefited from the activities, as there was a parents-only workshop that included an open-sharing session for the adults to speak on their parenting experiences.
This led to a good deal of both laughter and tears when everyone realised their parenting pains were not so unique to them at all.
Coudray was among those most touched by what she had learned.
“We (parents) are busy with our work, putting food on the table, and we may not be giving enough attention to our kids.
Children making hearts for art.
“How do we detect if our kids are being bullied at school? Or maybe they are the ones doing the bullying?
“We need to learn how to spot the mental or emotional condition of our kids,” she said.
Coudray admits to feeling guilty after realising she “has not been doing it well”.
“I come home from work; my son wants to talk to me but I am like, ‘Don’t disturb me’. I am busy replying messages.
Coudray sharing a fist bump with a youth attendee.
“Then it’s time to eat, and time to tell him to shower, and then I have to prepare things for my other kids. Most of the time, I avoided conversations with my son.
“I am going to make adjustments to that,” she said.
HELP International School educator Paul Lau, who led the parents’ workshop, stressed that school bullying is not new.
“It’s not that when we were younger, there was no bullying. Bullying has always been around.
A plush family-sized tent roomy enough for parents and children, replete with lounge chairs.
“But has there been more bullying? Yes. During the movement control order of the Covid-19 pandemic, because our children had been locked away at home for almost two years, they did not learn to socialise.”
He pointed out that there would be cases of overreaction, in which a child might cry bully over a simple slight, and then there were cases when some children really were being harassed.
“Some parents confess to seeing their children come back from school angry, maybe because they were harassed or belittled, and the parents don’t know how to respond,” Lau said.
There was a teens-only session at the camp too, where the highlight was a silat lesson, which even some kids joined.
Professor Dr Richard Bailey, deputy dean (research and postgraduate studies) at UCSI University, said the teens learned methods of punching, kicking and breaking plastic boards.
Goodie bags being distributed to children at the camp meet.
“The reason we do it is to try and teach them a sense of personal power, that they control their bodies, they control what happens to them.
“People who lack control of their power are vulnerable to bullies.
“What we want is for them to have a sense of ‘I can do what I want with my body’,” said Prof Bailey.
Then came the kids’ session, and there was a whole lot of fun.
The younger ones were led through a psychological game called “Two Truths, One Lie”, which required them to ascertain outrageous statements that are nonetheless true, and outright tall tales such as: “I have touched a snake before”, “I like cats” and “I like roller coasters.”
They also took part in a form of Charades in which volunteers acted out emotions or actions like happiness, sadness, fear, anger, pain or gossiping with only their body language for the rest to decipher.
Educator Jinelle Chay, who everyone called “Teacher Rainbow”, guided the kids to get their parents’ colourful handprints with their own onto a poster dubbed the family’s anti-bullying pledge: “I will not use my hands for hitting or my words for hurting others. I will use them only for helping”.
Other experts who contributed to the workshops at the camp included UCSI’s Prof Dr Ku Faridah Ku Ibrahim, Dr Anne Noor Sri Juwaneeta Jamaludin, Dr Nadia Samsudin, Dr Khairudin Che Tak and Thomas Cheah Han Lin.
UCSI undergraduates G. Vrinda, Noor Fadila Haswani and Celine Cheah led the children’s sessions too.
During workshop hours, catered meals were prepared but at other times, it was back to the usual camping tradition in which every family was back at their own tents, cooking their own meals.
There was free ice cream for all the kids, courtesy of Coudray, and at night, the gang enjoyed a bonfire and the kids had the chance to roast marshmallows.
Formed in 2021 after the pandemic restrictions were relaxed, the AACM group would head out to the woods almost weekly, with “formal” gatherings held several times a year.
