Parent Voice: Jeremy Boland

Opportunities for connection strengthen relationships & strengthened relationships build stronger communities by Parent Jeremy Boland 

Opportunities for community and connection are the foundation for improved relationships, and improved relationships are the foundation for stronger communities.

This is an underestimated yet increasingly important cycle, which is why I was excited to lead a Grade 5 Parent-Son Camp in my capacity as Vice President of Xavier College's Burke Hall Parents' Association.

I have designed and facilitated camp-based programs around this cycle before, working with justice-involved young men in one context and with student leaders in university residential colleges in another. Different cohorts, same underlying mechanism: structured time away from familiar pressures, paired with deliberate facilitation, creates conditions for honest conversation that everyday life rarely allows.

This year's camp took the same intentional approach, placing genuine connection between parents and sons, and among the parents themselves, at the centre of the weekend. Facilitated activities supported reflection on masculinity in particular, and parenthood in general, while creating conditions for stronger relationships across the cohort.

The post-camp evaluation results were striking.

The strongest shift wasn’t between fathers and sons (which started from an already high base), but between the fathers themselves. Parents’ sense of connection to other dads in the year level increased from 2.3 to 4.1 across the weekend, while the number of parents they felt comfortable reaching out to rose from 2.2 to 4.0.

That matters. Community is often talked about as though it emerges naturally. In reality, it usually requires intentional design, structure, vulnerability and facilitation.

Some of the most meaningful parts of the weekend were also the simplest. A facilitated parent-son walk became the highest-rated activity for both groups. One Grade 5 boy wrote, “The walk was the best thing about camp, because I bonded with my parent.”

The parent circles were another standout. Fathers sat together and spoke honestly about uncertainty, vulnerability, masculinity and fatherhood. One dad reflected afterwards that the conversations had only “scratched the surface.”

Across both parents and boys, 95% said they would recommend the camp to another family.

I have worked with very different cohorts over the years, from justice-involved young men to university student leaders, but the underlying mechanism continues to hold true: when people are given structured opportunities for honest connection away from everyday pressures, relationships deepen remarkably quickly.

Thanks again to my Burke Hall Parents' Association colleagues, Bianca Hudson and Darren Stomilovic from Cave Hill Creek, and to all the families who embraced the spirit of the weekend.