Normal for camp for high schoolers?

[Anonymous]

My son is at a 4 night sports camp for high schoolers (he is 14, turning 15 in October). He takes 4 medications for ADHD and anxiety, two of which are controlled substances. I went to check in his medications, and the camp had no idea what to do with them. I was bounced around between 4 people, the final one told me to just give my son the medication bag if he could remember to take them. He certainly can, but it seems really strange to me that a camp would have a teenager just hold onto a bag with controlled substances. But maybe this is normal once kid are in high school? What have others experienced?

[Anonymous]

Normal. He’s old enough to be responsible for his meds.

[Anonymous]

Normal. He’s old enough to be responsible for his meds.

NP. I don't fully agree. I agree he's old enough to be responsible for them if he goes away with a friend's family or similar, but at a camp where young teens are living in a group setting, controlled substances should be locked up, not floating around in a kid's bag/dresser etc.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have direct experience but can’t imagine it’s a best practice to leave medicine that other kids can steal and abuse in the camp common areas (which it will be if DC has custody of it).

[Anonymous]

Definitely not what’s supposed to happen. This means they are not used to kids who have to take medication for mental health/adhd reasons.

[Anonymous]

Normal. I find that summer camps aren't nearly as restrictive with regulating meds like the schools are. My teenager's tennis camp doesn't even have a check-in / check-out procedure. I just drop him off and pick him up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not what’s supposed to happen. This means they are not used to kids who have to take medication for mental health/adhd reasons.

I have found that camps for teens do not offer much caretaking aside from providing food, shelter, and first aid. They are expecting older children who can take care of themselves, including administering their own medications. It could be that some 14 year olds can't handle this, but those children shouldn't go to overnight camp.

[Anonymous]

Only familiar with summer camps in TX. but they are very strict about all medications being held by, and doled. out by, an onsite nurse. These are fancy camps though; I assume not all camps can afford a nurse on staff.

[Anonymous]

Not normal in my experience. Even at the small, informal teen-only camp my child attends, we have to give the meds to the counselor at drop off and then she takes them herself each morning.

But at a pre-college program on a college campus, she did hold on and was responsible for her meds by herself.

[Anonymous]

Sleep away camps should have a medical officer of some sort - camp nurse being the usual. Whether epipen or meds, they're used to it. What do they say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Normal. He’s old enough to be responsible for his meds.

NP. I don't fully agree. I agree he's old enough to be responsible for them if he goes away with a friend's family or similar, but at a camp where young teens are living in a group setting, controlled substances should be locked up, not floating around in a kid's bag/dresser etc.

This. It's a lot to ask a 14 yr/old to be responsible for a controlled substance in such an environment. Not to mention that maturity-wise, the average 14 year-old with ADHD might be on par with a neurotypical 10-12 yr/old, and therefore less equipped to manage it.

[Anonymous]

Not normal. The first issue is your son remembering to take his meds. Maybe he’s responsible enough to do this. The second issue is what if another child steals his meds. ADHD meds are in high demand. This is definitely an issue in college but maybe not as much in a teen summer sports camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normal. I find that summer camps aren't nearly as restrictive with regulating meds like the schools are. My teenager's tennis camp doesn't even have a check-in / check-out procedure. I just drop him off and pick him up.

This happens at sleepaway camp? They don’t care who is/is not on campus? They don’t know who they’ve released your kid to at the end of the session?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normal. I find that summer camps aren't nearly as restrictive with regulating meds like the schools are. My teenager's tennis camp doesn't even have a check-in / check-out procedure. I just drop him off and pick him up.

Day camp is way different from sleep away camp. Sleep away camps have many more in loco parentis responsibilities.

[Anonymous]

Most sleep away camps require that any medications be dispensed by their medical personnel. Some of the more specialized camps that my DS attended (a one week wrestling program etc.,) as a young teen didn't really have any formal process for medication in place.