Girl kicked out of summer camp after boy kisses her

[The Straight Story]

WESTPORT, Conn. (AP) — The parents of a 15-year-old Connecticut girl sued a summer camp in Massachusetts on Monday, saying their daughter was kicked out of camp last month after a boy kissed her.

The girl was sent home from Camp Emerson in Hinsdale and a camp official falsely accused her and the boy of sexually provocative behavior, according to the lawsuit filed in Bridgeport Superior Court. It also says she suffers from emotional and psychological disorders including obsessive compulsive disorder.

Neither the girl nor her parents are named in the suit. The boy was also kicked out of camp, said Rosemarie Arnold, attorney for the girl's family. Sue Lein, the camp director, declined to comment.

The relationship between the girl and boy "became the summer romance that most teens yearn for," the lawsuit said.

"This summer romance made plaintiff Jane, a child of divorced parents who suffers from anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and treats with a psychiatrist and medications, and who always felt insecure and inferior to her peers, feel confident and beautiful for the very first time in her life," the lawsuit said.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/lawsuit-girl-kicked-out-summer-camp-over-kiss

[dsc]

1. If kissing isn't against the rules

the camp is likely in trouble here.

[snappyturtle]

2. Sounds to me like some camp counselors need to be

escorted out of camp....not the campers. I can't believe the camp resorted
to the police.

[MintyWriter]

3. People

worry about the littlest things sometime. It was just a kiss.

[Initech]

4. Teh horror!!!!!!1!!!!1!

Those counselors should just join the Taliban and get it over with.

[malaise]

5. Isn't that what 15 year olds do if we're real lucky these days

That was the only freaking reason to go to camp in my day

[Blue_In_AK]

19. Ditto.

I lost my virginity to a boy I met at church camp.

[malaise]

22. Bwaaaaaaaaaah hahahahaha

That was the norm back then

[KansDem]

26. Ain't that the truth!

When I was in high school, I belonged to a youth group at a local church.

We would meet for fellowship Sunday evenings and to lean the teachings of Christ. Afterward, we all piled into cars for a trip to the pizza parlor. One such car was noted for its rear seat on which a lot of heavy petting took place!

I never rode in that car, though...

[flvegan]

6. $6500 for a month of camp? Is this camp also known as "med school" by chance?

Otherwise, I blame Voorhees Syndrome. Kisses at camp lead to axe murdering psychos. And many, many sequels.

[lumberjack_jeff]

46. +1 n/t

First world problems. Wanna bet the parents are lawyers?

[ZombieHorde]

7. That is pretty messed up.

The headline isn't very good either.

[The Straight Story]

8. They don't pay me to write headlines

otherwise I might try better

[ZombieHorde]

10. You get what you pay for. nt

[The Straight Story]

11. That's what she said, but I was still happy

[adirondacker]

9. The lawsuit seeks more than $600,000 in damages, alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress

That should put Jane through med school. I'm sure if this was some kid from Bridgeport, attending a YWCA camp, the damages would be a couple or few decimal places over. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve it (I think the counselors should lose their jobs and the camp should pay for counseling and offer an apology), but just saying.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

12. reminds me of something that happened 50 years ago

[pokerfan]

13. WTH is this, Dubai?

Woman faces prison sentence after being raped in Dubai.

[customerserviceguy]

14. Your headline implies that it was only the girl who was kicked out

Sounds to me like they treated them equally. You can't have summer camps turning into orgies for raging adolescent hormones.

[burnodo]

16. I dont see any implication

it merely states that the girl suffered a punishment derived from the boys' kiss

[customerserviceguy]

17. With it being called "a summer romance"

by even the litigious parents, I take the implication that the kissing was mutual and consensual. You're right, there's another thing I missed pointing out about the title.

Most people don't send their pre-adult children to summer camp to get "lucky". Seems these folks thought that was part of the package price.

[Orrex]

30. heh heh. Package.

[The Straight Story]

21. It is from the very first paragraph

"their daughter was kicked out of camp last month after a boy kissed her."

And the story centers around the girl as it is her parents suing.

[customerserviceguy]

24. So, what do you make

of those very parents calling this a summer romance? I take it that she kissed back, and repeatedly.

This is not the situation where a woman in a Muslim country is raped, and then sent to prison for adultery. I think the title of your post implies that she alone was punished for his behavior, and the story tells something quite different.

As for these yuppie parents contentions, well, I guess we'll see how that turns out in court.

[The Straight Story]

25. OK, a few things

1. If all you read are headlines then you probably don't learn much from the news (or are you implying you don't but others here do?)

2. The could well have had a 'romance' and when sitting on the dock of the bay he kissed her. I am sure, to some, romance means all kissing and banging away, but to some it is a bit more involved than that. From what the article says the boy kissed her. That is accurate from the story. He initiated it, does not say they got into full blown rolling around the camp ground french kissing. If you are at work and someone you like kisses you in front of others does that mean you kissed them?

[customerserviceguy]

27. I do read more than headlines

But I think that the headline should not slant the story. I feel yours did. That's odd, because I usually admire the accuracy that you show in selecting the titles of your posts. I read a lot of what you post, and feel you do a service to folks here, and I should have taken the opportunity to thank you for that in earlier posts.

If this was a "Georgie Porgie kissed the girls and made them cry" sort of thing, then it was an injustice that she be kicked out. However, who would call that a "summer romance"? In fact, the parents lawsuit refers to it as making her "...feel confident and beautiful for the very first time in her life." Doesn't sound like sexual harassment to me.

They allege he incited it, and they further allege that male counselors took part in initiating the activity. I wonder what their side of the story will be. In any case, a more accurate headline would have been, "Kids get kicked out of summer camp for breaking rules, yuppie parents find ambulance-chaser to bring lawsuit on behalf of their little darling"

Ok, that last part was something incendiary thrown in by me, but you can see how headline writing can influence how a story is perceived, or even if it is read at all.

[The Straight Story]

33. Well here is much more on the story for you:

"Dick nervously kissed plaintiff, Jane, behind the arts and crafts building. This kiss was a beautiful, innocent moment between Dick and plaintiff, Jane."

The kiss came during "court time," which is held on a basketball court, and "refers to an activity during which the boys and girls at camp 'court' each other and get to spend time together," according to the complaint.

When the male counselors learned of the kiss they "high-fived" Dick.

But when Sue Lein, the camp director, learned of the kiss she "yelled and screamed at Dick and plaintiff, Jane, in front of other campers and/or counselors, falsely accused them of sexually provocative behavior including removal of each other's clothing, causing plaintiff, Jane, inter alia, severe emotional distress and/or mental anguish and/or depression and/or extreme anxiety and/or humiliation and/or guilt and/or embarrassment," Jane's parents say.

Jane was kicked out of the camp, "effective immediately," by a "uniformed, gun-carrying police officer," her mom says in the complaint.

Jane's mother C.M. was forced to postpone an international trip to pick up Jane and her younger daughter from camp.

The complaint does not state whether Dick was given the boot.

Jane's parents claim that the camp ignored the "three-strikes" policy described in its handbook, and that their daughter was treated differently than other campers and counselors caught doing worse things than kissing.

Other campers and counselors were caught in bed together, or in possession of condoms, or insulting the nutritionist by calling her fat, but were not kicked out of camp or reprimanded, Jane's parents say. They claim that some counselors were found smoking and drinking alcohol or doing drugs and were not reprimanded.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/07/30/59792.htm

[customerserviceguy]

34. Thanks for finding that

By the way, "Dick and Jane", how cute...

As far as the "uniformed, gun-carrying police officer", I find it tough to believe that the cops got involved unless there was something more going on. Cops don't usually play bouncer at summer camps. Too bad they didn't have a grief counselor on hand in soft pastels to escort the little darling off the premises.

I'd sure like to see the counselors' testimonies. Just like middle school teachers, they find PDA's to be very distracting to what they're trying to accomplish in their jobs. I would be really surprised to find that any counselors encouraged such activity, surely they've been given training regarding how to discourage behaviors that may lead to full-blown sexual activity. The girl's parents want over half a million dollars for kicking her out for breaking the rules, how much do you think they'd want if she turned up pregnant? I'm sure the owners and operators of the camp are well aware of what kids feel for each other at that age, and want to do when their parental units have dumped them off for four weeks.

Even if I believe what is said about this Sue Lein, the description offered seems to have treated both Dick and Jane equally. While I imagine that Jane's parents didn't give a fig what happened to Dick, the original story you cited indeed informs us that he got the boot as well. As for the complaint's wild charges about counselors and campers sleeping together, tobacco, drug, and alcohol use, and the condoms, I guess that's part of trying to tar the image of the camp. We'll see if anybody else backs it up.

My impression when I first read the story is of some Connecticut yuppie couple whose over-diagnosed behavior problem daughter was dumped off at summer camp while the mother planned to flit off to Europe with her new husband/boyfriend, and Little Darling acted out in protest. Of course, she's busted, and when Mommy gets mad at her, she comes up with a BS story about how bad this camp was.

Of course, Mommy has given in to Little Darling for years, especially trying to win her over from Daddy in the divorce, and believes the whole thing hook, line, and sinker. Both parents find an opportunistic lawyer who will settle the case for a refund of camp costs, a few thousand bucks, and his sizable attorney fees, because the camp doesn't want the bad publicity. However, that cat's out of the bag, and I expect them to fight this tooth and nail now that their name is out in print on this. Nothing you've posted or what is in the second article refutes my initial impression of what occurred.

This should be amusing to watch, thanks for alerting me to it!

[lumberjack_jeff]

47. Not equally at all.

Although both the boy and the girl were kicked out, it is only the girls parents who think a jury would consider their plight lawsuit-worthy.

And in the DU zeitgeist, all subjects must be written in a way that communicates her victimization.

[customerserviceguy]

50. I guess her parental units decided otherwise

I'm sure they thought that they could threaten the camp with exposure, but once that exposure was gleefully provided by the media, their bargaining chip turned worthless.

Yeah, your last sentence rings true, brother!

[Scootaloo]

52. Orgies, huh?

[distantearlywarning]

15. WTF is wrong with people these days?

Possibly getting the chance to kiss a boy was the best reason to go to camp at age 15. Nothing wrong with it - it's typical teenage behavior. Now we're pathologizing being 15 and wanting to kiss a boy? This culture is seriously fucked up.

[Trillo]

18. Camp to prison pipeline.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

20. It's striking that the headline is phrased in the passive voice.

Are we meant to assume that the girl was not a willing participant in the kiss? It doesn't sound like that from the article.

[B Calm]

23. I'm a little surprised, I figured Camp Emerson had to be a religious camp

but, it's not.

[cthulu2016]

28. What's with the headline?

real headline: Lawsuit: Girl kicked out of Mass. camp over kiss

OP headline: Girl kicked out of summer camp after boy kisses her


The OP headline robs the girl of any agency and creates the (false) impression that we are talking about a girl being punished for what some boy forced on her. The girl in the headline is passive... an object being acted upon.

[magical thyme]

31. the headline is fine based on the article itself.

The 1st 'graph of the article makes the girl passive. While it would have been safer to just quote the article headline, the re-written head does accurately reflect the contents.

And then there's this:

Male counselors at the camp had encouraged the boy to kiss the girl, according to the lawsuit. A camp handbook does not prohibit kissing, the suit said.

The girl, who lives in Westport, was escorted out of the camp by a uniformed police officer and was forbidden from saying goodbye to her friends and counselors, according to the lawsuit. The family spent $6,450 for the four-week camp, which was not refunded, Arnold said.


That camp had some effing nerve not refunding their money, not to mention treating the girl (and presumably the boy) like criminals. While $600,000 seems more than a little out of line, the fact is when you are paying that kind of money for 4 weeks of summer camp, you're up in the stratosphere as far as all their incomes go and you do have to hit them where it hurts.

What a bunch of effing jerks those counselors must be. Here I spent my whole life wishing I'd been able to go to camp....

On the other hand, remembering what the upper crusts can be like, and remembering that all that girl's emotional problems didn't happen in a vacuum, not to mention that we are only hearing the parent's version of what happened, which could well be based on untruths told by a teenager afraid of her parents or made up to win the PR battle, it's entirely possible that the 2 kids were effing around in broad daylight and in other ways being serious problems for the camp.

So I'll wait to here the other side before condemning them. Because thinking about it, it really is hard to believe the counselors would be that totally stoopid...

[customerserviceguy]

35. I fully expect

that little Dick and Jane are going to look like the trouble makers in this. At least Dick's parents had the sense to keep this out of the public eye, I'm sure they've gotten the real story on what happened, and are somewhat ashamed of it. Not so little Janey's mother, who fits my image of the Lexus-SUV driving yuppie parental unit, the kind I see every weekday on the road.

[magical thyme]

39. nothing says it's not little Janey's father

who is the asshole here.

Not often we agree, but this is one of those exceptions. The story strikes me as too over the top to be real...

[customerserviceguy]

40. Well, here's where I took that from

Go to post #33, found and put up by the OP. It references a secondary news source, and this line:

"Jane's mother C.M. was forced to postpone an international trip to pick up Jane and her younger daughter from camp."

That tells me that she was headed off to Europe (or wherever), probably with her new husband or boyfriend, and dumped the girls off at summer camp for four weeks. Little Janey really threw a monkey wrench in her plans, and had to concoct the sex, drugs, and rock and roll story about the counselors to shift Mamma's anger from her towards them. Of course, Daddy had to go along with this, as he didn't want to foot the whole bill for summer camp himself. You did see where they were divorced.

[magical thyme]

42. ok, I missed the 2nd article...

I read through the OP article, but didn't see post 33.

Divorced doesn't mean daddy isn't part of the mess, though. Doesn't seem he wants to take responsibility for his little darlings any more than mommy does.

[customerserviceguy]

43. Depends on the custody arrangement

Usually when one divorced parent wants to take off with a new relationship, the other parent gets the kid(s) for an extended period of time. Maybe his weeks were another month.

But the very fact that he would go along with this lawsuit means he has no shame over what happened at this camp, either. I figure when the whole story comes out, we'll find out exactly why a cop was called (and decided to come over) to eject Little Janey.

[DreamGypsy]

29. The Philosophy of Camp Emerson...

...from Camp Emerson - Who We Are:

The philosophy in the early days was much as it is today. The brochure included Emerson’s quote, “Respect the child on every side, whilst he gathers the seeds of song…”. Respecting the child and placing him/her first is still what sets us apart from other camps.

and Philosophy:

Our program is designed to bring out each campers’ talents and to challenge them to try new things. And while the activities and instruction are top-notch, it is the personal relationships that keep our campers and staff returning year after year. To find a place where you can be yourself, safe to go outside your comfort zone and cheered for your unique gifts – that is to have found Camp Emerson.

Being taken away by police doesn't seem to fit the philosophy.

On the surface it seems to me that 'Jane' may have been doing exactly what she needed do.

The only slightly spooky allusion in the article in the post is:

Male counselors at the camp had encouraged the boy to kiss the girl, according to the lawsuit. A camp handbook does not prohibit kissing, the suit said.

Maybe something going on there by the "well-trained camp counselors" that wouldn't stand up to scrutiny.

Hope Jane wins the lawsuit.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

[customerserviceguy]

37. You've only read one side of the story

Of course, if Camp Emerson has had any other incidents, we can expect them to come out. My guess is that they know what they're doing while babysitting yupsters-in-training while their parents fly off to overseas vacations.

Little Janey just got Mommy to buy her BS about why she got kicked out of summer camp. Don't buy it yourself until you've heard the other side.

[lumberjack_jeff]

48. "... according to the lawsuit"

At best, the lawyer who wrote the complaint (and who wants an inflammatory accusation) got the allegation that the "counselors encouraged the boy to kiss the girl" from the mom, (pissed that she had to cancel her travel plans) who got it from the girl, (who doesn't want to face the blame for cancelling mom's travel plans) who got it from the boy (who has hormones and wanted to get around the "this is against the rules" inhibitions).

It would be surprising if the story accurately conveyed what the counselors actually said... if anything.

[MineralMan]

32. Sheesh! I'd have been kicked out of every summer camp

I attended, along with the perfectly willing girls also involved in kissing. How silly of that camp!

[customerserviceguy]

36. Wait until they tell their side

You don't get a cop to play bouncer for a summer camp too easily. I'm more than willing to bet that little Jane was causing some major havoc over being kicked out, and that's when they decided to bring in the authorities rather than risk a lawsuit handling it themselves.

I have a feeling that it was much more than a simple kiss that landed this couple in hot water.

[loli phabay]

41. yup the cop was thete to ensure the peace, thetes more to this story

[DreamGypsy]

38. Well, that was quick. The lawsuit has been withdrawn.

CTPost: Lawsuit over summer camp kiss withdrawn:

WESTPORT -- Court records indicate the parents of a 15-year-old Connecticut girl have withdrawn their lawsuit that claimed their daughter was kicked out of summer camp after a boy kissed her.

According to court records the lawsuit was withdrawn by the plaintiff's lawyer "As a result of unilateral action of party or parties without costs to any party."

In an email, the father of the girl said the lawsuit was "done with right intentions to teach her to stick up for herself, but this has spiralled" out of control.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Bridgeport Superior Court, said the girl was sent home from Camp Emerson in Hinsdale, Mass., last month. It also said a camp official falsely accused her and the boy of sexually provocative behavior.

A few more oddities reported at the link.

It's a private matter now. CustomerServiceGuy had a good approach - wait and see.

[customerserviceguy]

44. Thanks!

Seems that the embarassment factor was too much for the parents to handle. When the father said this has spiraled out of control, something tells me that this isn't the first time this sort of escalation has happened.

Being as the camp has been mentioned prominently in news reports, but the identities of the parents and the girl have been kept secret, it wouldn't surprise me if the camp brought a suit for defamation against the couple, if only to get their names out there. Eventually someone will figure it out, and we'll know the whole truth.

I see that while the parents were from Connecticut, they found a lawyer in Fort Lee, NJ to handle the case. You have to ask why they ventured so far for an attorney, and one answer I came up with was that at least one of the parents works near there. Four years ago, I used only see one CT license plate every three weeks on the Garden State Parkway, now I see about three dozen a day, especially in the morning. I can't help but wonder if one of the parents flying by me in the fast lane, honking the horn on the Lexus SUV and flipping me the bird because I'm driving my Hyundai hybrid car a couple of miles under the speed limit in the slow lane!

[magical thyme]

45. I see it a little differently....

"When the father said this has spiraled out of control, something tells me that this isn't the first time this sort of escalation has happened. "

I'm thinking the camp came back with evidence of what really happened and threatened to expose all via a counter suit. Parents thought better of their action and likely agreed to withdraw their lawsuit if the camp would stay quiet.

The camp doesn't likely want to get a reputation for (and tie up valuable time and money by) suing its campers. In my experience in the horse world, upper crust luxuries go by "word of mouth" reputation, which includes discretion, as a general rule.

I don't think a Lexus necessarily fits the description of the parents. More likely benz or hummer. But that's just my experience. I think a Lexus is a couple notches down from $12,000 for summer camps for the little darlings.

[customerserviceguy]

51. Benz, Hummer or Lexus

it doesn't matter to the guy in the Hyundai hybrid who's being flipped off or honked at, while the yuppie speeds on by.

The camp really didn't have enough time to mount a proper response. My theory is that Daddy and Mommy figured that they had the embarassment card to play against the camp, and when the story came out in the news ("spiraled out of [OUR] control" as the father put it) then that bargaining chip was rendered meaningless, so they dropped the suit.

I sure hope the camp doesn't stay quiet, their name has been smeared, it's time to put out the truth about what Little Janey did to need a cop to escort her off of the premises. They don't need to get into the nitty gritty of what she did with Dick, all they have to do is expose her temper tantrum at being told that the camp was not some sort of free-love Woodstock of the 21st Century.

This camp needs to discourage parental units who think that it is a good place to dump off their spoiled brat for most of a month while they flit off to Europe.

[magical thyme]

53. this camp caters to parental units dumping their kids off while they flit off to Europe

or do whatever it is that the father was doing. The Parental Units are the camps bread and butter, and discretion is part of the deal.

The camp had plenty of time to mount a response. They deal with these types every day and any camp of this sort is going to have lawyers on retainer because when you're dealing with these types, you need them. It didn't have to be a formal response. It could have been along the lines of "we have it on video." I wouldn't be surprised if they had game cameras strategically placed to keep an eye out.

[customerserviceguy]

54. It would be an interesting video to see

Even if they didn't have one, I'm sure Daddy knew what kind of tantrum Little Darling could throw.

And it was the camp that kept this discreet. It was the filing of the lawsuit that made the thing public, when a sternly worded letter from a lawyer might have done the trick.

One of the NY tabloids has already outed the name of the father, Jeff Miller, a Manhattan attorney. I'm sure it won't be long before someone digs up all the dirt on this family.

[hunter]

49. When I was fifteen we didn't need no stinkin' summer camps...

... we'd just leave home and camp.

At sixteen my sister once told our parents she was going to stay with friends in San Francisco. Her friends told their parents a similar story. Later my mom found pictures of them flirting with Canadian Border Officers who'd decided the girls looked a little young for a road trip any further north and turned them away.

I don't think my own kids ever did anything like that, for one thing gasoline these days isn't cheap, but if they did I probably won't hear about it for another ten or twenty years...