Do many more kids go to overnight camps these days?

[Anonymous]

I went for five years, four week sessions each time. DD has been poring over my camp yearbooks for ages and begged to go. At 9 she feels confident in going solo (without a friend from home) and is counting the days until she goes. She is going for two weeks, which isn't really enough time to try all the activities, but four weeks just seemed like too long for a nine year old. She has been away from her parents for a week before (at "Camp Grandma"), which might help some.

She'll get try: sailing, riding, tennis, archery, riflery, lake swimming, paddleboarding, canoeing, fishing, soccer, lacrosse, climbing wall, ropes course, mountain biking, and the list goes on. I'm jealous!

She will also have to do chores (and without her parents nagging): make her bed, sweep the floor, set the table, clean the bathroom, rake around the cabin, flag duty. And writing letters--on paper!

The camp actually offers a family camp, which has been tempting, but doesn't really fit into our vacation schedules at this point.

As for safety...you need to do your due diligence to feel comfortable with the camp. As I attended the camp (and my brother and dad attended the brother camp), I feel pretty comfortable with their staffing standards and safety precautions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, grew up in Atlanta and most of my friends did, usually in Brevard, NC. My mom grew up in NY and all her friends did too, usually in VT, NH or ME. My kids are at camp right now, same ones (single sex) we went to as kids - for a month, just like us. It was my hands-down favorite childhood memory. Loved every second of it and would go back today if they let adults come. Not allowing your kids to go to sleep away camp because of you hang-ups is really sad and selfish. Its is one of the most positive things you can do for a child.


That said, tons of people I know in DC send their kids to sleep away camp. Most of them are private schools kids, if that has anything to do with it, as far as who does or doesnt do sleep away camp.

I think the biggest difference today is that most people wait until kids are 10 or so to send them and there are more camps that offer just 2 or 3 week camps. When I was growing up lots of kids went at 6 and 7 yrs old and the shortest session was a month.

My 6 yr kid was sent on 2 week rookie camp this summer. I got the cal about 10 days in saying she wanted to stay for 4. The last letter I got was asking to stay for 2nd session. She's happy. I will let her stay for 2nd session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, grew up in Atlanta and most of my friends did, usually in Brevard, NC. My mom grew up in NY and all her friends did too, usually in VT, NH or ME. My kids are at camp right now, same ones (single sex) we went to as kids - for a month, just like us. It was my hands-down favorite childhood memory. Loved every second of it and would go back today if they let adults come. Not allowing your kids to go to sleep away camp because of you hang-ups is really sad and selfish. Its is one of the most positive things you can do for a child.


That said, tons of people I know in DC send their kids to sleep away camp. Most of them are private schools kids, if that has anything to do with it, as far as who does or doesnt do sleep away camp.

I think the biggest difference today is that most people wait until kids are 10 or so to send them and there are more camps that offer just 2 or 3 week camps. When I was growing up lots of kids went at 6 and 7 yrs old and the shortest session was a month.

It's amazing how resilient and strong kids can be when they have a solid belief that their parents are there for them (even if they are not physically in the same place). They can find the confidence to try new things and embrace new situations. Thanks for sharing.

My 6 yr kid was sent on 2 week rookie camp this summer. I got the cal about 10 days in saying she wanted to stay for 4. The last letter I got was asking to stay for 2nd session. She's happy. I will let her stay for 2nd session.

[Anonymous]

My son is going back to camp in western NC (maybe the same camp as the PP who mentioned Brevard area, NC). He cannot wait to go! I agree that the kids are the ones who seem more secure than the parents. I was a bit nervous about sending him last year but that was my issue, not his. I cried a bit after we left but knew my son and knew he was more than ready. He was ready when we toured camps the summer before when he was 7. 8-9 are good ages to start. This year he is going for 2 weeks and has already picked out his activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

I feel sorry for your kids! It is definitely their loss.

I am not the PP but a lot of kids never to overnight camp and they turned out fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

I feel sorry for your kids! It is definitely their loss.

I am not the PP but a lot of kids never to overnight camp and they turned out fine.

I lot of kids never went to college and they turned out fine.

[Anonymous]

Sending a 7 or 8 year old to overnight camp seems really young. Wow. Maybe a mature 9 year old. But for weeks at a time… now that has to be about the parents. Baffling.

[Anonymous]

No PP. Parents in this area seem to like that their children "need" them all of the time. If your child goes to camp for a month and is fine and has a great time, it hurts your sense of "being needed." So they say things like, "It must be something about the parents to want to send your kid away to camp for weeks at a time." I am secure enough to know that my son can 1) live without me for 2-4 weeks 2) and have an awesome time without me there. Parents seem to like when their kids cling to them. When my son went to camp for the first summer, I saw parents going overboard saying goodbye to them. Crying, hugging, etc. They wanted their kids to act like this because in their minds, if they just walked away and were fine, it meant the kid didn't love them or didn't care. Kids should not be having to comfort their adult parents. I hugged my son and he walked away and turned around and rolled his eyes when he walked past a mom crying like a baby over her son. I knew he would be just fine for 2 weeks without me and he was. He is at camp now for a month (his choice). His postcards say that he caught a few fish, he loves smores and he is going on an out of camp horseback riding trip next week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No PP. Parents in this area seem to like that their children "need" them all of the time. If your child goes to camp for a month and is fine and has a great time, it hurts your sense of "being needed." So they say things like, "It must be something about the parents to want to send your kid away to camp for weeks at a time." I am secure enough to know that my son can 1) live without me for 2-4 weeks 2) and have an awesome time without me there. Parents seem to like when their kids cling to them. When my son went to camp for the first summer, I saw parents going overboard saying goodbye to them. Crying, hugging, etc. They wanted their kids to act like this because in their minds, if they just walked away and were fine, it meant the kid didn't love them or didn't care. Kids should not be having to comfort their adult parents. I hugged my son and he walked away and turned around and rolled his eyes when he walked past a mom crying like a baby over her son. I knew he would be just fine for 2 weeks without me and he was. He is at camp now for a month (his choice). His postcards say that he caught a few fish, he loves smores and he is going on an out of camp horseback riding trip next week.

Why can't anyone ever accept that people make different parenting choices and both choices can be right for their families? So sick of seeing parents trying to justify their choice as the "right" one .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No PP. Parents in this area seem to like that their children "need" them all of the time. If your child goes to camp for a month and is fine and has a great time, it hurts your sense of "being needed." So they say things like, "It must be something about the parents to want to send your kid away to camp for weeks at a time." I am secure enough to know that my son can 1) live without me for 2-4 weeks 2) and have an awesome time without me there. Parents seem to like when their kids cling to them. When my son went to camp for the first summer, I saw parents going overboard saying goodbye to them. Crying, hugging, etc. They wanted their kids to act like this because in their minds, if they just walked away and were fine, it meant the kid didn't love them or didn't care. Kids should not be having to comfort their adult parents. I hugged my son and he walked away and turned around and rolled his eyes when he walked past a mom crying like a baby over her son. I knew he would be just fine for 2 weeks without me and he was. He is at camp now for a month (his choice). His postcards say that he caught a few fish, he loves smores and he is going on an out of camp horseback riding trip next week.

Why can't anyone ever accept that people make different parenting choices and both choices can be right for their families? So sick of seeing parents trying to justify their choice as the "right" one .

Yes me too especially when overnight camp is way out of our budget. You know, food, lights, electricity, housing. I have to pay for those, so no overnight camps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

I feel sorry for your kids! It is definitely their loss.

I am not the PP but a lot of kids never to overnight camp and they turned out fine.

I lot of kids never went to college and they turned out fine.

Oh please, they are hardly comparable.

I'm not anti-camp by any means, but lets please not forget that its absolutely a luxury expense (at least most of what these people are talking about- if summer is 10-12K then 2 summers cost what my master's degree did at public uni!) and the idea that somehow kids who don't do this (vast majority of people don't have that kind of money) will not learn independence or be worse off is silly.

Camp is no different than any other luxury expense- those who do not have it miss out on something fun, but not something essential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

I feel sorry for your kids! It is definitely their loss.

I am not the PP but a lot of kids never to overnight camp and they turned out fine.

I lot of kids never went to college and they turned out fine.

Oh please, they are hardly comparable.

I'm not anti-camp by any means, but lets please not forget that its absolutely a luxury expense (at least most of what these people are talking about- if summer is 10-12K then 2 summers cost what my master's degree did at public uni!) and the idea that somehow kids who don't do this (vast majority of people don't have that kind of money) will not learn independence or be worse off is silly.

Camp is no different than any other luxury expense- those who do not have it miss out on something fun, but not something essential.

Actually, if you want to boil it down to money then it is sort of the same. College is not affordable for everyone. There are low cost options like CC and there are out of the sky tuition's. Camps are similar. Not all are private camps that cost $10-12K. Some are run by church groups and are very affordable (less than $500/week) and the church will offer FA is you are a member, want to attend, and cannot afford. You have to be willing to seek and ask though. And the less than $500/week camps may not be available in the DMV area--maybe you need to look to NC or WV or PA ---some other location that is reasonable driving distance but has a lower cost of living. The point is, if it's something you want for your child, like college, there are ways to make it possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

I feel sorry for your kids! It is definitely their loss.

I am not the PP but a lot of kids never to overnight camp and they turned out fine.

I lot of kids never went to college and they turned out fine.

Oh please, they are hardly comparable.

I'm not anti-camp by any means, but lets please not forget that its absolutely a luxury expense (at least most of what these people are talking about- if summer is 10-12K then 2 summers cost what my master's degree did at public uni!) and the idea that somehow kids who don't do this (vast majority of people don't have that kind of money) will not learn independence or be worse off is silly.

Camp is no different than any other luxury expense- those who do not have it miss out on something fun, but not something essential.

Actually, if you want to boil it down to money then it is sort of the same. College is not affordable for everyone. There are low cost options like CC and there are out of the sky tuition's. Camps are similar. Not all are private camps that cost $10-12K. Some are run by church groups and are very affordable (less than $500/week) and the church will offer FA is you are a member, want to attend, and cannot afford. You have to be willing to seek and ask though. And the less than $500/week camps may not be available in the DMV area--maybe you need to look to NC or WV or PA ---some other location that is reasonable driving distance but has a lower cost of living. The point is, if it's something you want for your child, like college, there are ways to make it possible.

I get what you are saying, its easy to draw parallels but they just aren't even in the same category. One is pretty much deemed as baseline to have any kind of professional (read: white collar) job, effects lasting through adulthood, the other is a fun childhood experience. And it does seems like a fun and wonderful experience that kids will thrive in and love.

Yes, I know that at the fancy camps that lifelong connections are made and can be used for networking 10 years later, yada yada- but let's be real. Its not apples to apples with higher education!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

I feel sorry for your kids! It is definitely their loss.

I am not the PP but a lot of kids never to overnight camp and they turned out fine.

I lot of kids never went to college and they turned out fine.

Oh please, they are hardly comparable.

I'm not anti-camp by any means, but lets please not forget that its absolutely a luxury expense (at least most of what these people are talking about- if summer is 10-12K then 2 summers cost what my master's degree did at public uni!) and the idea that somehow kids who don't do this (vast majority of people don't have that kind of money) will not learn independence or be worse off is silly.

Camp is no different than any other luxury expense- those who do not have it miss out on something fun, but not something essential.

Actually, if you want to boil it down to money then it is sort of the same. College is not affordable for everyone. There are low cost options like CC and there are out of the sky tuition's. Camps are similar. Not all are private camps that cost $10-12K. Some are run by church groups and are very affordable (less than $500/week) and the church will offer FA is you are a member, want to attend, and cannot afford. You have to be willing to seek and ask though. And the less than $500/week camps may not be available in the DMV area--maybe you need to look to NC or WV or PA ---some other location that is reasonable driving distance but has a lower cost of living. The point is, if it's something you want for your child, like college, there are ways to make it possible.

Maybe instead of spending money on camps, some parents are saving for college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never done it and I never will. That's not how I parent.

How lucky for your kids!

When I was growing up it felt like ALL my friends went to sleep away camp every summer and had "camp friends" and amazing adventures and I was super jealous. My parents never let me do it (in retrospect it might have been a financial issue but not sure - money wasn't tight but my parents were pretty frugal). Will definitely send my boys if it's something they want to do when they are older.