Older kids —no summer camp options

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't say a 16 year old. 13, 14 even 15. I 100% believe that they are still kids and that they should go out and play. Older teens 16+ yes they should have jobs and such. Furthermore, you can make them go play, take the electronics, set limits. Who's in chatge here.

Who's in charge here is the teen because Mom and Dad are at work. You are not the mother of a teen. Trust me, if they're at home for 10 weeks alone they will get into stuff you don't want them into. They will compulsively surf the net. Yes, they will. Deny it all you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the 'let your kids stay home' people actually have teens?
I don't fully schedule my child's whole summer but she would be more than content to sit at home literally all day and watch tv and play video games and talk to friends on her phone. Occasionally she'd go with a friend to the pool or the beach. I want her to have a more enriching summer than that.

I don't have teens, my experience is based on babysitting kids with older siblings or kids I babysat who grew up into teens. But with that said, I actually don't care if they spend the entire day playing video games and talking to their friends on the phone. They're in that middle zone between needing structure and being able to be left alone and getting jobs to fill their time and earn money. I assume it's only a couple summers that would be like this, so small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. At that age, I spent the summer in my friends' pools or playing video games, reading or watching TV or going to the movies and then went on to work during the summer starting at 15 in retail. I don't understand the tv and video games are death mentality.

I think people just don't want the entire summer to be like that for their tween/teen. The electronics are much different than when were growing up--YouTube, Netflix, social media,texting. They are much more addictive and potentially harmful than what we were exposed to.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

I'm not in denial, i'm just not into generalizations ans blanket statements. Not all teens are like that. Also, I never said kids can't have some structure, just thay these days they are overly structured.

[Anonymous]

If you are in Montgomery County, there is a program called Summer Leadership Challenge through MoCo Recreation Dept that runs for two week sessions. You can check the Summer Camps guide. I don't have personal experience so can't offer a review, but I'm thinking about it for my 13 year old. It's only $249 for two weeks full time. Stone Ridge has some options for teens like Adventure Camp and Community Service. There are Girl Scout overnight camps that are a good value. You don't need to be a member of a troop-you can join GS just to go to camp. They go caving, kayaking, do archery, etc. Writopia Lab has writing camps for teens that sound great-they are expensive though.