How can I help my 9 year old who is shy in camp

amother

Wed, Jul 19 2023, 8:59 am

My 9 yo Dc is my oldest. In school he does very well socially and has a good chevra. It’s not the most athletic boys but it’s a solid group of kids with great sense of humor and they really get along. He’s well liked.
We don’t have neighbors that he’s friends with/ they’re mostly youngest, with more of a date devil and athletic type of personality. He’s also shy of their big older siblings… so at home he plays with us, reads, sometimes plays with his younger brother and his friends.
He went to camp with two friends. One of them is athletic and easily made new friends (or it could be he knows them from before- I’m not sure). The other kid has some sort of issues maybe adhd and it comes out a lot in camp, to the point that he’s bothering my kid and doesn’t have good boundaries, so my kid doesn’t want to be near him in camp. He will poke the other boys, tease, and just doesn’t know when to stop.
My ds told me he feels sad in camp bec he doesn’t have who to sit next to other than this one friend who is annoying and “weird.” Because the other friends sits with other boys.

How can I give him to tools he needs to branch out? And also be validation?

I should add that I hated camp as well. I was an introvert and very shy and just did not like the whole thing so I very much feel for my ds