Anonymous wrote:I never went to camp and no one I knew ever did either. No one could afford things like that where I was from.

My eldest (15) has done a 1 week sleepaway camp and didn't love it enough to want to return. Now she has too many other interests in the summer to try again. She has a few friends who go away for 3 weeks or so. My youngest (12) has never wanted to go. Her friends only do day camps.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread - particularly the anti-Semitic comments - are pretty horrible.

1. Many, many kids love sleep away camp. DHs camp friend are still some of his closest friends.

2. The parents I know with kids at sleep away camp miss them very much and scour the camp websites hourly trying to find pictures of them looking happy.

3. Jewish families often want their kids to have a Jewish education or experience but cannot afford Jewish day school. Studies have shown that Jewish camps are the best solution to this and offer the strongest experiences in terms of strengthening Jewish identity and awareness and learning about the religion and culture.

4. Very few Jewish camps exclude non-Jewish kids (maybe some Orthodox camps do, but given the level of religious ceremonial practice in these, very few, if any, non-Jewish kids express interest in attending those camps.

5. These camps are, for the most part, pretty expensive but parents I know scrupulously save and go without many other luxuries in life in order to afford them bc they can be such an amazing experience for the kids.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread - particularly the anti-Semitic comments - are pretty horrible.

1. Many, many kids love sleep away camp. DHs camp friend are still some of his closest friends.

2. The parents I know with kids at sleep away camp miss them very much and scour the camp websites hourly trying to find pictures of them looking happy.

3. Jewish families often want their kids to have a Jewish education or experience but cannot afford Jewish day school. Studies have shown that Jewish camps are the best solution to this and offer the strongest experiences in terms of strengthening Jewish identity and awareness and learning about the religion and culture.

4. Very few Jewish camps exclude non-Jewish kids (maybe some Orthodox camps do, but given the level of religious ceremonial practice in these, very few, if any, non-Jewish kids express interest in attending those camps.

5. These camps are, for the most part, pretty expensive but parents I know scrupulously save and go without many other luxuries in life in order to afford them bc they can be such an amazing experience for the kids.

Anonymous[b wrote:]Wow, this thread - particularly the anti-Semitic comments - are pretty horrible.[/b]

1. Many, many kids love sleep away camp. DHs camp friend are still some of his closest friends.

2. The parents I know with kids at sleep away camp miss them very much and scour the camp websites hourly trying to find pictures of them looking happy.

3. Jewish families often want their kids to have a Jewish education or experience but cannot afford Jewish day school. Studies have shown that Jewish camps are the best solution to this and offer the strongest experiences in terms of strengthening Jewish identity and awareness and learning about the religion and culture.

4. Very few Jewish camps exclude non-Jewish kids (maybe some Orthodox camps do, but given the level of religious ceremonial practice in these, very few, if any, non-Jewish kids express interest in attending those camps.

5. These camps are, for the most part, pretty expensive but parents I know scrupulously save and go without many other luxuries in life in order to afford them bc they can be such an amazing experience for the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To some extent there may be more kids going to overnight camps because there are more families with both parents WOH -- so parents needs to figure out what to do with the kids all summer and, with 2 incomes, they can pay for camp.

Beyond that, though, I think it's a cultural thing. Growing up in California, I can barely remember anybody going to camp for more than 1 week, but when I came east to college I met lots of people who'd gone for several weeks every summer. Interestingly, most of these folks were either Jewish or super-WASPY (like my DH), and in both cases, it seemed like their parents wanted them to meet other kids with the same socio-economic background.

My own kids picked swim team over camp; they're in HS and college now and have many happy summer memories (including memories of summers when they volunteered or were paid to coach swimming). When they were younger -- through ES -- they combined swim team with day camps; with the abundance of options in this area they got to try a lot of activities -- tennis, kayaking, horseback riding, photography, etc. In MS, they combined swim team, some day camps week, and some free-range weeks where swim team gave a bit of structure to the day, but they also just hung out with friends and came up with activities and projects on their own. (Your kids can actually do this if you give them a chance.) Finally, in HS, they went away for part of every summer to sports camps or on on service trips with school or church.

As teens and young adults in their early 20s, they're quite independent, so I don't think they were hampered by not going to camp. Among their friends, I'd say that those who have made the smoothest transition to young adulthood include some who went to overnight camp and others who didn't. The level of maturity, self-sufficient and independence, as well as the bond with parents and sibs, probably have more to do with the kind of family in which they grew up than with whether they went to camp.

Yes I agree. The Jewish camps only allow Jewish kids. These are parents that are saying we only want to send you to a camp with your kind. No Asian, no blacks, no Hispanics. We will pay top dollar and not look at any other camps that accept all kids. They are racist elitist snobs - oh but they are liberal. Lol

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

This could have come out of my mom's mouth, along with the stuff about a missing bond and all that. I obviously never went. She talked about parents who didn't want their kids around, how she could never let us go, etc. I recognized it for the bragging it was even as a kid.

We will send our kids when they are old enough. I don't want to do what my mom did in this respect.

My kids and I are closer than imaginable. But every year since they were 10-11, they have gone to camp for a week. Not because I need a break, or because I want to do something for myself, but because they want to. They have a blast, and the independence is great for their social/emotional development and self -esteem. I miss them every second they are gone, but it's not about me.

I'm absolutely dumbfounded that people seem to equate one week of summer camp to sending your kid to live with the nanny for the first 18 years, and I believe that people who refuse to let kids who want to experience camp go are thinking only of themselves and doing their kids a disservice.

Could not agree more. Some kids actually LOVE going to camp; more power to them!

Anonymous wrote:To some extent there may be more kids going to overnight camps because there are more families with both parents WOH -- so parents needs to figure out what to do with the kids all summer and, with 2 incomes, they can pay for camp.

Beyond that, though, I think it's a cultural thing. Growing up in California, I can barely remember anybody going to camp for more than 1 week, but when I came east to college I met lots of people who'd gone for several weeks every summer. Interestingly, most of these folks were either Jewish or super-WASPY (like my DH), and in both cases, it seemed like their parents wanted them to meet other kids with the same socio-economic background.

My own kids picked swim team over camp; they're in HS and college now and have many happy summer memories (including memories of summers when they volunteered or were paid to coach swimming). When they were younger -- through ES -- they combined swim team with day camps; with the abundance of options in this area they got to try a lot of activities -- tennis, kayaking, horseback riding, photography, etc. In MS, they combined swim team, some day camps week, and some free-range weeks where swim team gave a bit of structure to the day, but they also just hung out with friends and came up with activities and projects on their own. (Your kids can actually do this if you give them a chance.) Finally, in HS, they went away for part of every summer to sports camps or on on service trips with school or church.

As teens and young adults in their early 20s, they're quite independent, so I don't think they were hampered by not going to camp. Among their friends, I'd say that those who have made the smoothest transition to young adulthood include some who went to overnight camp and others who didn't. The level of maturity, self-sufficient and independence, as well as the bond with parents and sibs, probably have more to do with the kind of family in which they grew up than with whether they went to camp.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Can you expand on this? What are the reasons that you wold never send your child to sleep away camp? Or that it reflects on what type of parent you are?

Not the PP, and we have a few years until DD is old enough, but I'm torn about the idea of sleepaway camp.

I went to a private school growing up and was on scholarship unlike many of my wealthy classmates. A number of them went to the same expensive camp in another state every summer for a month or more. I remember my mother telling me it was because their parents didn't want them at home during the summer. I know she probably told me that simply so I wouldn't feel badly that they couldn't afford to send me, but it stuck with me.

I have a feeling that we'll probably allow a short overnight camp stint at some point during her summers in addition to a week at her grandparents' house, but I love her too much and she'll be off to college in just a few short years that I wouldn't want to have her gone all summer while still a kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

This could have come out of my mom's mouth, along with the stuff about a missing bond and all that. I obviously never went. She talked about parents who didn't want their kids around, how she could never let us go, etc. I recognized it for the bragging it was even as a kid.

We will send our kids when they are old enough. I don't want to do what my mom did in this respect.

My kids and I are closer than imaginable. But every year since they were 10-11, they have gone to camp for a week. Not because I need a break, or because I want to do something for myself, but because they want to. They have a blast, and the independence is great for their social/emotional development and self -esteem. I miss them every second they are gone, but it's not about me.

I'm absolutely dumbfounded that people seem to equate one week of summer camp to sending your kid to live with the nanny for the first 18 years, and I believe that people who refuse to let kids who want to experience camp go are thinking only of themselves and doing their kids a disservice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like everyone these days send their kids to overnight camps once they reach a certain age. I only remember a few friends going when i was a kid. Is this a nee trend, or did i just have an unusual group of friends and his was aleays the case?

Jewish parents send their kids for a month or all summer starting at like 7-8yrs old. It is really weird. Don't you want to spend any time with your kids? It is definitely this area. Sadly neighborhoods are ghost towns because parents don't want to parent. Kids have structure 24/7. Very sad.

First--it's not sad. Parents are sending their kids (who want to go) to gain experiences they can't give them at home. They are not sending them because they don't want to parent. Independence within a supportive environment; consequences for actions ie, you have to sweep the floor, else as a cabin we fail inspection---this teaches team work, accountability, and pride in your work; ability to make choices about what you want to do....archery or zipline, dance or volleyball?

Second, it's not just this area. If you do a search you'll find that there are sleep away camps all over the country and even the world. They wouldn't exist in areas outside of "this area" if there wasn't the demand.

Third---not all parents have the luxury of staying home with their children all summer. Sometimes, both parents have to work. Younger children need childcare. I have yet to hear of a day camp that offers completely unstructured days. There is structure in every child care environment.

I was on the phone yesterday with a camp director discussing options for my child for next summer. He made a comment that resonated with me. He said that many children are developmentally ready to attend camp by 2nd or 3rd grade but parents are not ready to send their children until 5th or 6th grade. Sleep away camp is not the right choice for all families, but for families that do make the choice, it is by no means "very sad".

I know kids who don't want to go and are sent anyway, even all summer. But most are 21-28 days. And if you can't discipline your child to teach them independence and consequences then I guess paying others to do it while you go on your own vacations and dinners with your husband, then more power to you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like everyone these days send their kids to overnight camps once they reach a certain age. I only remember a few friends going when i was a kid. Is this a nee trend, or did i just have an unusual group of friends and his was aleays the case?

Jewish parents send their kids for a month or all summer starting at like 7-8yrs old. It is really weird. Don't you want to spend any time with your kids? It is definitely this area. Sadly neighborhoods are ghost towns because parents don't want to parent. Kids have structure 24/7. Very sad.