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Home › Articles › General › I Don't Wanna Go!

I Don't Wanna Go!

Too Old for Summer Camp

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

Pages:  1  2  

A survey conducted on behalf of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York, an anti-crime organization, found that unsupervised teens were five times as likely to take drugs and four times as likely to engage in criminal activities. This makes finding supervised, yet engaging summer care for this age group all the more important for countless working families.

Not a Baby Anymore
As children grow older, they seem to feel that the activities they were once involved in, such as summer camp, are "too young" for them to continue. However, parents know that the experiences, lessons and learning that their teen has received is something they wish to continue.

"The American Camping Association (ACA) is a community of camp professionals who, for nearly 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs," says Marla Coleman, president of ACA. "Because of our diverse 6,000 plus membership and exceptional programs, children, [teens] and adults have the opportunity to learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development and healthy living – lessons that can be learned nowhere else."

Ways to Address the Issue
According to Karen Douchette from the Specialty Products Division of Abbott Park in Lake County, Ill., addressing the issue of sending your preteen or teen to summer camp can be quite touchy, and using care, concern and understanding is a must.

"Boys and girls entering sixth through ninth grades may feel they are too old for summer camp," says Douchette. "So bringing up the issue should be done when there are no other issues currently being debated. Offering the options and why they will not/cannot work for your situation may help your preteen/teen see that summer camp may be the best choice."

What NOT to Do
Offering an all or nothing, "you will or else" type of approach is not the way to go. Douchette says that this kind of attitude and conversation toward the issue is the best way to have your child fighting every step of the way and can cause a summer-long conflict between the teen and parents.

"It can't be forced," says Douchette. "The decision of participating in summer camp should be one that is decided on together, by both teen and parent. While it is the parents' final say that will make the difference, the teen should feel they had something to do with it."

Alternatives to Summer Camp
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