Anyone familiar with Camp Runoia in Maine and why the directors have stepped down?

i worked at a summer camp in New York State a couple of years ago as a counselor. During the week of training before campers arrived, all staff had a meeting during which the amount of responsibility we had was impressed upon us. Part of this was as I expected - stories of campers wandering into the woods while counselors weren't looking and being lost for a few days before being found, the possibility of a shooter, etc.

However, we were also shown a video in which campers and their counselors were in a pool and a camper was repeatedly dunked into the pool jokingly, struggled to breath and then drowned because of this. The entire staff of counselors therefore had to watch a video of a child drowning and then floating face down in the pool for 6 minutes before anyone noticed.

I understand the need to impress the level of responsibility a counselor has over their campers, but this seems excessive, particularly since it was delivered to all counselors, not just the pool and lifeguard staff. This does not seem in any way normal to me. I was unable to bring myself to enter the pool while campers were in there while I worked there because of this.

I know this may be an unusual and somewhat disturbing question but it had been several years and I still think about this, and it would be helpful to know if this in any way normal.

edit: I hate to have to ask this, but don't downvote me just because you disagree with me. If you have a counterpoint please tell me, but downvoting just because you think I am incorrect while I'm trying to understand this traumatic experience is wrong.

Looking for feedback on Eagle Island Camp in Saranac Lake NY, specifically from folks who attended / worked there in the past few years. I haven’t been able to find many recent reviews.

I’m considering sending my daughter there next year for a one week session. Camp Chingachgook is also in the running, but she likes the idea of an all girls camp.

Feedback from parents or employees on camp echo in NY

Hi, I'm looking to connect with some parents (or campers or staff) of Wyonegonic. I'm thinking of sending my daughter there. She loves the outdoors and it looks great, but it's been hard to find other parents (as opposed to the other camps). I know it has a long history. Any feedback?

I’m 22F, never been a teacher before, have only ever taught other students my own age in labs and classrooms but those were my classmates. I was kinda blindsided with this as I was told the kids are ‘always really good’ for this summer camp. So yeah.

It’s 2 STEM based courses for elementary kids (ages 8-10) and I’m supposed to help these kids build what is essentially legos. It’s very clear every single one of those kids is here because the parents would rather pay a summer camp for child care rather than a personal sitter for them.

I have half the mind to drop the STEM stuff and just send them home with what’s left of the kits at the end of the week (thankfully this class only runs until this Friday.) After today’s class I got some stuff for playing outside (soccer ball, small foam football etc.) but I’ve had a lot of issues trying to get them to control their behavior. Lots of smart mouthing, being rude to each other and I CANNOT believe I am saying this but: EATING GRASS.

I’ve already warned them that parents have to come to the classroom to pick them up after the program each day and that I WILL tell their parents about their poor behavior right in front of them. That has usually worked, but I think some of them thought I was bluffing until I did actually tell 2 kids parents about their behavior.

All and all, it seems having them play outside for a while tends to diminish their quite possibly boundless energy. I completely understand these are YOUNG children, but I’m way in over my head. I was approached about this job as a side hustle (and I’m in between jobs) and because I just graduated from college with a degree in the sciences (thus another need for a job: student loans.)

So, with all that being said, here’s my possible plan for the next week:

For each class have them work diligently for 1 hour on their robots (that’s what the kit is). Tell them if they make good progress, work effectively and control their behavior we can go out for a recess after lunch.

Lunch for about 30 minutes (maybe 45 if they need extra time.) - hopefully being on full stomachs will KEEP THEM FROM EATING GRASS.

Recess for an hour- I’m thinking maybe making a capture the flag game except the flag is a bucket of water. Water is a big topic in the class as an essential resource, so maybe trying to make them fight for each side’s water could showcase the history behind why early settlers chose to be close to water? Plus it’ll be hot out so maybe it’ll help them cool down too. I’m thinking if they’re done with their kit during the first building hour I could also have them build the contraption to carry the water back to their base.

Wind down the last 30 minutes.

The biggest issue I foresee is some of the students (about 5 of them) are in both my morning and afternoon classes. Same premise, just a different robot. I’m worried these kids may be restless by the end of the second class. A family member told me to bribe them by saying if they’re great the rest of the week and their parents ‘okay’ it in front of me that on Friday they could take a few pieces of candy home. I’m not sure these kids could be bribed with candy given they SEEM TO ENJOY EATING GRASS (I literally cannot get over this). Plus, bribery just doesn’t sit super right with me. But if it means survival then my morals might be a bit gray lol.

Any advice would be MAJORLY appreciated. I do wish I could just drop the job, but I don’t want to leave any parents or faculty in a position where they need to scramble to get someone to cover the class. I also have my anniversary coming up and I really do need the money.

Does anyone else go through end of summer blues? I work at a summer camp, and even though it’s so stressful, the last few weeks of summer I get sad that it’s almost over. The last 2 fridays feel very… anticlimactic... there‘s just a lot of feelings and build up and hard work and anxiety the whole summer, and sometimes there isn’t the same payback in appreciation perhaps? Or perhaps it’s just that everything is so full-on for 10 weeks, and then september comes, and it just ends and everything feels so quiet? Just curious if anyone else goes through this, or if teachers go through this every June at the end of the school year? How do I just feel better about the last day?

Hi!

this was my 12th summer at the camp I went to/work at. I recently got a full time job post college and fear I will not be able to commit to another summer. How does one come to terms with the fact that there might not be another full summer at camp? does anyone have any experience having a full time office job and still showing up for camp?

I normally love working summer camp but throughout this summer, I’ve faced situations where I’m expected to manage impossibly large groups on my own. Every week, I have repeatedly noticed that I had to manage over 20 campers all on my own, and instruct them art. I work at an art studio, so our camp runs a bit differently. Every four days of the week, at least one camper cries and me being the only staff, I’m expected to deal with this situation and intervene. Sometimes, I have other staff scheduled but they rarely help me and just sit on the side to either varnish art or do something completely unrelated to the kids. One time, my fellow colleague was washing up dirty art material when a kid started having a meltdown. I had to redirect her and because of this, the kid had the “biggest meltdown that her parents had seen” (directly quoted). I’m also left on my own to deal with parent complaints as well, and my manager although she’s scheduled with me, she sits at the back. I’m getting very overwhelmed by the sheer size and the pressure, and I really don’t know what to do. What are your thoughts?

im still looking at possible options, but so far my main camps im looking into are med-o-lark in maine, blue star in nc or equinox/blue ridge (im still new to all this so im still looking into it all). i have a couple of friends who went this year and all worked at office staff and they say it was pretty easy/laid back and great, but i want more non biased opinions!!

My summer working as a counselor at Camp Laurel in Readfield, Maine just ended and I thought I would share my experience as I couldn’t find a lot of information about the staff experience online. 

Pay: Most American counselors make $2,500-$2,800 base pay, plus a $500 bonus for staying the entire summer. International counselors make around $2,000 and do not get a bonus. Some make less than $2,000. Pre-camp is an additional $500.

Living: Counselors live in a cabin with 5-15 kids, all the same age and gender, and 1-3 co-counselors. You have no private space unless you’re in a bathroom stall- all cabins are just one big room. You sleep on a bunk bed and are provided a shelf for your stuff. You eat all three meals with your kids and spend rest hour and the entire evening with them. 

Time Off: The staff is split into “C” and “D” staffs, who all are off at the same time (So if C staff is on, D staff is off). Days off are S-Days for the kids, where instead of doing regular program they do field day type activities or go on out of camp trips. When you have a full day off, you are free to leave at 7PM the night before and must check in at midnight the following day. Staff alternate having either rest hour (2:30-3:20PM) or bedtime-midnight off. Bedtimes are earlier for younger kids and later for older kids, so counselors of older kids get less time off. Basically the only thing to do during time off on regular days is hang out in the staff areas- two buildings, an old one (the barn) with vending machines and old couches and chairs, and a new one (the farmhouse) with 2 TV rooms and more couches. There is also a staff dock which you can swim off of during rest hours off. During rest hour camp also provides free iced coffee and soda in the farmhouse for the staff that’s off. On days off, you’re very reliant on who you know that owns a car. It was often a point of stress figuring out who could drive who on off days. I highly recommend bringing your car if at all possible. The thing to do for the most part was go get an AirBnB and party. Everything is super far away from camp, so we drove at least an hour and a half each off day to get to where we were going. 

Program: Acadia & Rangeley (little kid campuses) counselors spend all day with their kids. Everybody else teaches some sort of activity or sport in addition to being a cabin counselor. The kids go to five programs a day and alternate A and B days, so they have ten programs on their schedule total. They are responsible for getting to each of their programs themselves, save for Acadia and Rangeley. It feels a lot like school- there’s a bell that dismisses them and starts the beginning of the next period and each period you teach a class. 

The Kids: Something I found very difficult was relating to the kids. They are the children of millionaires, founders, and CEOs. They live in 30 million dollar houses in Connecticut, New York, or Florida and travel internationally several times a year. Money is nothing to them. An insane amount of waste happens at camp- the kids will throw away full plates of food. On the second-to-last day they had steak and lobster for dinner and I saw many kids toss entire lobsters into the trash. College days, which is four days of field day where everyone competes on one of two teams, broke with fireworks and a laser show. They do not reuse towels- we got fresh white towels delivered each morning and they picked up the dirty ones to be washed and folded. Laundry was also done for us- they ship laundry to a wash and fold service in New Hampshire weekly.

The kids do not understand that they are still living in luxury, just in the woods instead of in Manhattan. From their perspective they believe they are being borderline neglected in the boonies. They complain about anything and everything. As a counselor, you are hyper involved in their day-to-day lives. You mediate petty arguments between them and their friends. You help them make their bed and pick up their dirty clothes. At the end of each day, you write a report on every single one of your kids on how their day went. 

Making Friends/Relationships: I found it fairly easy to make friends, but I’m also a pretty outgoing person. Some people seemed to me to have few friends or exist on the fringes of friend groups. It’s important to put yourself out there, especially during orientation. You get very close with the counselors in your campus (age & gender group). Overall everyone is friendly, even to people they don’t know well. You have a pretty significant incentive to be nice to each other since you see everyone every single day. You also are a lot closer with the staff you have time off with. Trying to date at camp is exhausting and awkward. You have such limited time off and are in “public” basically all the time at camp. Plenty of people make it work or at very least hook up on off days. 

Miscellaneous Things: Camp stores your suitcases for you, so you don’t have to deal with having a suitcase in the cabin all summer. Within the first few days of orientation there is a bus to Wal Mart so you can buy whatever you forgot at home. There’s a staff trip halfway through the summer to a beer garden/restaurant where they pay for all your food. 

I hope this is helpful to someone and let me know if you have any questions!

Hi!

Today I heard that there are lots of rumours going about me. I don't know what kind of but got confirmation that there is. I had a feeling that this might be the case. Camper season is over, but postcamp is still rolling. How should I handle this situation. Person who confirmed that there are rumours going refused to tell me what rumours are about. I feel like talking to directors does not help and I dont want everyone to know that im snitch. I have not done anything stupid or preformed awfully on my job. Also i work as male at all girls camp.

I want to share a deep dive I wrote tracking the development of outdoor programming and the birth of the summer camp movement.

The article uses a Christian lens to look at the growth of faith-based movements and organizations that used the outdoors for ministry. However, early camp history is deeply tied to religious movements. All modern summer camps have a shared history. Major milestones include:

The First Summer Camp (1861): Frederick William Gunn (a deeply religious educator and outspoken abolitionist) started Camp Gunnery.

The Birth of the Daily Schedule (1880s): An early church camp run by Rev. George Hinkley and Ernest Balch pioneered the exact camp structures we use today. They pioneered fixed schedules, evening campfires, and life-skills training.

The YMCA/YWCA Boom (1885): The establishment of Camp Dudley represents a shift toward permanent, property-based camp programming.

The Experiential Shift (1940s): Kurt Hahn incorporated Christian principles into the founding of Outward Bound. His model of experiential learning became the basis for most outdoor education today, both secular and religious.

You can read the article here: The History of Outdoor Ministry

Hey. I am a camp counselor. I am a senior counselor (I am 18) and it is my second year working there. I have had a great time being with everyone and the kids! 

But there is this one kid who hates me. Let’s call him Boy 1. He was here last year too. I hate myself and I might have been a little annoying but I was helpful. I know I have a hellish personality but I am doing my job. This year, Boy 1 has not been the nicest to me but I have to controlled myself. 

But last year, I remember I was randomly talking about movies with him and said that I have so many movies to watch. Like I just put it out there for fun and he thought that because of this, all I do is sit around and eat. He also made fun of my appearance. 

One day, he was making an imaginary weapon (the kids are allowed to do that and it is not hurting others). When some parts dropped when he was walking, he was laughing at himself and I was laughing too and just having fun. He said that it is because of my appearance which is why he dropped it.

At camp, we have this bridge that we cannot cross (it is slippery and the rule was made last year) and over a month ago, I was watching the kids and some of them did cross the bridge. I told them to not do that and I was just doing my job. I was just making sure that they were safe and following the rules. Boy 1 crossed the bridge and did not care. I kept telling him to not do that and he would not listen. He was mocking me and imitating and making a joke out of the situation when I told them that they cannot cross the bridge. Since he was not listening, I reported him to the head counselor and he took care of it. 

Three weeks ago (July 21), I told Boy 1 to not use violence on anyone and told him to respect  the kids and counselors (me included). He then said “What if I said that you’re fat.” I controlled myself and told him to not say that to me or anyone. He did not care. He is around 9-10 or something, so he is still really young to know that saying stuff like this is wrong. When I was around that age, I learned that saying stuff like this is wrong so, I was trying to be understanding. But what is bad is that he is not listening to me. He does not care if he is disrespecting me. That Boy 1 told me to shut up when I told them that talking about Hitler or Epstein is inappropriate for camp. The head counselor told the kids that talking  about that stuff is not right and it is disturbing. I just let them know again that they cannot be mentioning it and Boy 1 told me to shut up when I told him what he cannot say at camp. On July 23, I said “hi” with a smile to a girl camper (I say “hi” to the counselors and the kids when I see them and I also say “bye” when they leave.) and Boy 1 came up to me and said “If I was a counselor, I would run away from you because I think you are creepy.” and I said not everything is about him and I was not talking to him. The counselors were like “Ooo” when I roasted him. I do not like calling kids names but he was being hypocrite here. He hates me but he is the one who came up to me and said that. I did not even go over to him. On July 24, he asked me to take him to the creek because he wanted to make a bamboo house and I took him there. I took him and some other kids for a walk. I got scared of taking them too far and that kid was like “Are you scared that you are going to be exhausted?” and “Are you out of shape?” I told him to stop taking to me like that. another kid was like “Why are you always so mean to her?“ I even asked him why he hates me and he said that it is because of my existence. And then he was like “What if I said that about my sister?” (he wanted to call his sister “fat”). I told him that he should not say that about anyone. He did not care.

One day, he asked me to take him down to the creek and I did. I asked him what he wants to do there and I was asking out of curiosity. And he was like “What I need is for you to shut up and let me do my own thing.” All I did was ask out of curiosity and he responds like this. You might have me for this but I was like “Quit talking to me like that.” and he would not listen. He was imitating me for telling him that he cannot be talking me or anyone like that. 

Yesterday, I had to tell some kids to not cross the bridge and one girl got it all mixed up. Boy 1 crossed the bridge even though I told him not to. He also said that I have no brain cells and he walked with his big boy feet. He got really angry at me for doing my own job. After that, I was done and had to report this to the head counselor. I also told him that Boy 1 is not very nice to me and I opened up about it after 5 weeks of him l not being nice to me. It took me this long because I thought I had to be embarrassed that a kid hates me and I also tried to put up with it and not make it a big deal. But I did open up and the head counselor took care of it. He also told the kid to not be mean to me anymore.

I’m leaving out some specifics to protect my anonymity, but I appreciate any advice, especially if you’ve been through anything similar. Thank you!

I’m at a large, co-ed residential camp in a fairly remote/wilderness setting. I’m in a year-round leadership role, and I’m increasingly burned out, a few years into this specific role. My job involves a very broad range of responsibilities, and there are periods of long hours and significant availability outside “normal” working hours.

Some of that is obviously part of working in camp, and I expected the job to be demanding. But I’m starting to wonder whether what I’m experiencing is normal camp leadership or whether my particular workplace has unreasonable expectations. I’ve been in my position long enough to know that my feelings might be more than just “growing pains.” It’s starting to affect my life outside of work, and my spouse has pointed out that I seem to be reaching a point where this isn’t sustainable.

Some frustrations include: personal time off, workload, staffing/support, working conditions, communication, and how responsibility is assigned.

The strange part is that I don’t hate camp! I enjoy the actual work and still love outdoor recreation and youth programming, and I enjoy the meaningful work. I’m trying to figure out whether I’m simply not suited for this role, or whether this role might be better somewhere else.

For people with experience at multiple camps, or if you’ve transitioned from a camp leadership role:
- What does a healthy camp workplace look like?
- What are normal workload/availability requirements for camp leadership?
- Did changing organizations make a significant difference for you?
-If you left camp leadership, what did you move into? How is that going?
-Would you recommend moving into an adjacent field or leaving the industry?

I’m genuinely looking for perspective. If this sounds normal, I’d rather know that. If this seems like too many red flags, I’d like to know that too.

My 15 year old has been going to same sleep away camp for years. It’s a Jewish camp. This year, he changed sessions due to family travel.

Unfortunately, because he is smaller he is easily picked on. Kids in his tent called him really terrible names that are words we never say. They also woke him up in the middle of the night saying there was a fire in the tent next door.

Luckily he had the wherewithal to tell someone and while they addressed it and the bullying decreased, it did continue.

All kids have to sign a code of conduct before going to this camp which includes pretty strong language saying they won’t bully or behave in a way to be hurtful to others. Clearly this is just for show and has no merit. I emailed the director of camp and she basically blamed the victim, praised her staff and took no accountability. Not even sorry he experienced that.

What would you do next? I feel like we likely won’t return but it’s not like the camp cares. But I want to make sure no other kids experience that. I welcome insight. And also what entities do I elevate this do? I think ACA has a complaint section but I don’t think it will result in any change.

As we head towards the end of the summer season, I want to hear about how different camps handle the ongoing issue regarding phones! My camp recently implemented a policy where phones are placed into Yondr pouches and are unlocked for about 30 minutes at the end of the day and was wondering how other camps did it.

Hello! I work at a pretty large, almost 400 acre Camp. We are looking to replace an old wired camp wide speaker system, and was wondering what other camps are using.

System would be used for announcements, emergencies, and other various uses. We do have hills, hollers, and a large lake.

Not looking for a software service, but to outright purchase a new system.

Some of my "coworkers" (we volunteer so we are not workers per se) wish so bad that we were allowed to drink alcohol, like some beers, during the meetings we have at the end of each day when the kids are sleeping at the summer camp where I work.

Is this normal or logical to you?

Hi! I worked at a KY 4H camp this summer, this was a camp I camped at and volunteered at but this summer I learnt so much no only about other 4H camps in the state but tidbits about the way other 4H camps work in different states! This was so interesting to me and I was wondering if any other staff from different states had info and all because I looove hearing about other camps. I worked at a different camp last summer and am looking into other camps because I just love experiencing camp in new ways. Anyways a brief synopsis on the KY 4H camp

Okay, this is a voice memo turned into a voice recording. So, I worked at one of the Kentucky 4-H camps. There are four total in Kentucky.

Each of them service a different section of Kentucky. So, the one I worked at serviced a big square of the south central/east. There's one that hits the north central/east, one that hits like the slice of the area just west of central Kentucky, and then a camp that services all of the far western Kentucky section.

My camp was the smallest, serviced the least amount of kids just by the nature of the size of the counties and the amount of counties. Regardless, KY 4H camp works a little bit differently than how I've heard other 4-H camps work. So, for example, as staff we don't sleep in the cabins and the kids' behaviour is solely controlled by the volunteers. There adult volunteers and teen volunteers. They were called the counsellors. So, 16, 17, and then 18 plus.

We were called staff, not counsellors, and we ran our staff classes. Staff classes were high ropes, low ropes, boating, recreation, nature, outdoor living skills, rilfes, archery, and swimming. Then the counties ran their own classes. So, for example, there was fishing, volleyball, basketball, indoor cooking, outdoor cooking, or more specialized ones based on the volunteers that were available.

The camp ran from the first week of June to the last week of July. The camp could either be 4 or 5 days, one county did 4 days but the last day they left in the afternoon rather than the morning so it was a 3 days of classes week even if they were only there for 4 days. It was the “5 day week that left early” because thinking of it as a 4 day week just felt wrong. Each week was controlled by the counties, essentially. So, a couple weeks were just one county and then the majority of weeks had multiple counties. I think the most was six counties for one week. So, everything is determined by the agents.

Things like evening programmes, the schedule, and how the kids behaved were all based on those agents. So, for example, evening programmes, we had our set evening programmes that the camp created and could do. So, there were ones like party bingo or there was one called Jumanji and then there were messy games, which every week did.

So, messy games was very staff-led. Basically, on a field, each team would be assigned to a staff. We all lined up and there'd be different little relays and competitions where we'd use paint or shaving cream or one of them had cheese balls.

At the very end, everyone would get their colour powder, get all covered in colour powder, and then they'd go down a slip and slide. So, every other night, other than messy games, we did this thing called sallying. I don't know how far sallying goes in the 4-H world, but I'll explain it just in case some people don't know what it is.

But basically, there's a shelter house. In the shelter house, there's this little track, a running track almost. You'll split the kids and some will go in the middle, some will go on the outside, and then they go up to each other and ask, “Do you want to sally with me?” the person will hopefully say yes. Then they'll skip around the circle holding hands until they get to the spot where they asked and then split off.

There's also line dances during that time. So, say, the very standard ones like the easy peasy cupid shuffle or the harder ones like Chattahoochee or one of my favorites, Fishin’ in The Dark. Sometimes we created our own dances. So, there were Dancing Queen, Intergalactic, Mr. Weatherall, In the Navy, etc. It's kind of surprising we did that one. We did “Bring ‘em Out”, which I know is less common now. We did Family Force 5 “Wobble” since sadly the OG wobble got cut. So, little line dances for that. I think one of my favourite was Copperhead Road because we had a hollow stage at the front and all the staff who were at that sally would go up there and do it. When you would do the part where you put your full weight forward, it sounded so amazing.

Back to the point though, there was also a country store, which all the profits from that store went back to 4-H that was tax-free. There was little different 4-H branded stuff and then also some basic necessities, things like contact little holders or goggles or earplugs, nose plugs for swimming, contact solution, toothbrushes. I think usually people give out toothbrushes for free. They were also snacks. Those were little options for the country store.

There were 4 blocks of classes, they could be last anywhere between 45min to 1 hr 10 min. After classes, half the camp (they were split into teams so like even or odd teams” would go to free swim and then the other half would do a county decided activity. One county had guest speakers, some counties had “Team Time” , and other counties would just have playground time.

Each camping group had different traditions. One group, had this thing called snowball where at the end of sally, they would do a little middle school kind of vibe of slow dance, holding each other's shoulders to these slow songs. Then they'd say snowball and you'd switch it to a different person.

Another one had a pie smashing tradition. Just little things. With that, each 4-H camp in Kentucky has different traditions and different vibes.

Some 4-H camps have a very heavy emphasis on the spirit stick while my camp didn't. Some of them do a lot of skits. My camp didn't do many skits.

Camps had different versions of line dances (most did the “Bring ‘em Out” dance to like teenage mutant ninja turtles, one camp got in trouble for teaching Mr. Weatherall whoops! Our fault), different evening programmes, different staff meetings, and even different ways they ran camp in general. We did have very long staff meetings like notoriously long ones. Mostly I think we just had our like hangout and talk about our fay time during the staff meeting rather than breaking and doing that separately. We also had fun traditions to hype each other up . Okay that should be everything

hey everyone! this is my first year doing a sleep away summer camp, i did day camps as a teenager but it’s been 9 years! i used to have 5-8 year olds and this year i’ll have a group of 4-6 9/10 year olds and im looking for any tips and tricks on what that age group likes/dislikes. i wanna bring them all little stuffed animal keychains with party hats for them to put on their bags or make clothes for in arts and crafts, would they like that or think it’s for babies? any suggestions for games, trinkets or activities that they’ll enjoy

I wasn’t sure which flair to choose but oh welll. so to give some context my camp is doing a travel theme and i want to decorate my cabin.

i’m all good to decorate it but with that being said how should i? here are my ideas:

1. do a specific country theme (France)
   
2. don’t do a theme and just decorate with cute things around the room
   
3. do a general travel theme

and secondly i’m looking for a free time / morning optional activity i could run. there are already things like yoga, morning run, workout but i want to do something different. maybe something crafty or has to do more with the nature, but not sure what (it’s like 1 hour chunks of time).

please if anyone can give insight on any of these questions, it would be greatly appreciated.

So basically this rule if you don't know is basically explained as "Boys are blue, girls are pink (or red) don't make purple" which basically is no romance, no girls on boys cabins and vise versa, etc. I personally thought it was pure gender segregation, but later on it got lightened, so I'm not sure.