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.

I initially started sending my 8-yr-old to sleep-away camp for selfish reasons - we really wanted to take a grown-up vacation abroad, and this was our only option. Nevertheless, he had an awesome time doing things he would have never done at home (horseback, sailing, eating junk food 3 times a day and not brushing his teeth), and we had a great time too. As long as I can afford it, he is going to go there.

Of course. More moms work outside the home and need to patch child care together for the whole summer. It's not easy to find one place (either day camp or sleep away) that goes for the whole summer.

Anonymous wrote:

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

Genuinely curious, with no snark, but what do you mean "it's not how you parent"? Isn't it just a summer activity for kids? Is there some greater significance that I'm missing such as overnight camp being associated with a particular parenting philosophy? I guess the short version of what I'm asking is - why not?

She deserves snark.

AFWIW

Anonymous wrote:It is an urban thing.

grew up in PA and no one went to a camp, never understood.

moved to mclean, and it seems everyone is sent to a camp, for multiple weeks, and parents compare, sailing in the bay or horseback riding or wv.

definitely something for the rich and urban.

I grew up in PA and went to camp. AFWIF I did not grow up on the main line. In fact, far from it.

Anonymous wrote:

It's safe until they are molested. You are leaving them with STRANGERS!

Really?

Grew up in PA - went to overnight camp for a month for a few summers. The sessions were 4 weeks and 3 weeks, and most people did both. I LOVED overnight camp!

My kids went for a week for about 4 or 5 years, and so did a bunch of kids in the neighborhood. They always wanted to stay longer.

It is an urban thing.

grew up in PA and no one went to a camp, never understood.

moved to mclean, and it seems everyone is sent to a camp, for multiple weeks, and parents compare, sailing in the bay or horseback riding or wv.

definitely something for the rich and urban.

Anonymous wrote:I went to ymca camp every year from age 9 to 13 or 14 when I was a kid. It was seriously the highlight of my year. This was in the 80s.

I think it's important for parents to let their kids learn how to be independent (I'm talking to you, PP!).

My brother and I did this too. I still have friends from back then. I also did a week at church camp and a week at Girl Scout camp. I was gone 4 weeks of every summer and absolutely loved it.

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.

LOVED overnight camp as a kid. I only went about 2 weeks a summer, but I looked forward to it all year. I still look back fondly on it.

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.

Genuinely curious, with no snark, but what do you mean "it's not how you parent"? Isn't it just a summer activity for kids? Is there some greater significance that I'm missing such as overnight camp being associated with a particular parenting philosophy? I guess the short version of what I'm asking is - why not?

I think a certain bond is missing if a parent feels okay being without their kids for many weeks.

My kid has been gone for 2 weeks already. She will be at camp for at least another 2 weeks and is asking to stay longer. I miss her very very much. But that is my issue, not hers. I know that I'm providing her a great experience. I would not let my feelings about missing her take precedent over her enjoyment and what she is learning at camp.

I disagree with you that a certain bond is missing. For a child to be comfortable away from home for an extended period of time, they have to know that they are safe, loved, and have been given multiple opportunities to assert their independence over the years. The nurturing of this relationship creates a very strong bond between parent and child.

+1, this is my philosophy as well. As hard as it may be for me at times, I would rather give my DDs the chance to gradually increase their independence from me & DH through fun, safe opportunities like sleep-away camps and school-sponsored travel than have their first experience of extended stay away from home be when they reach college age. I favor the idea of starting early and taking baby steps.

It's safe until they are molested. You are leaving them with STRANGERS!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously there is a large economic factor at play. I am from the Northeast and never went away to camp, and knew no one who did. No one in my universe had that kind of money.
I did work at a camp one summer while in college. 8 weeks. I was pretty horrified by some of the things I saw go on. At the same time, I did see a lot of fun, as other posters describe.
Not sure if I would let my son go if he expressed an interest, but I doubt it will come up. Even in the DC area, I think sleep-away camp is for a select few pockets. Most of the region doesn't have the money to be sending their kids away to camp for 8, or even 4 weeks.

Basically agree with everything said here. I only ever really heard of it being a thing that people do regularly once I got to college (in NY) and the wealthier kids, generally from downstate, but not all, would talk about their "school friends" and their "camp friends".

I do remember laughing at my old freshman roommate working feverishly hard to keep her 2 worlds apart when people she knew from both places were at college together now. It was a serious juggling act for her and I have no idea why!

One of the benefits of going to camp is that you can come out of your pigeon hole. If you go to a camp where most of your friends do not, no one knows you. You have an opportunity to reinvent yourself. If you're the geeky kid at school, at camp you have an opportunity to become the sports kid. If you're the quiet shy type, you can try out being extroverted. It a safe place to discover who you are becoming which may or may not be how your day to day friends that you've know since K perceive you.

PP you quoted-that's what I kind of figured might be going on, but she didn't seem to act differently around them so I couldn't be sure- we weren't very close but she was so sweet. I think her "camp friends" obviously eventually became acquainted with her "home" friends- but the first few months, she seriously had a color coded agenda book to keep meeting places and groups apart it seemed (remember those! hello 90s!)