Is Summer Camp the New "Old Neighborhood"?

What are the highlights- those moments that stick in your memory- from your own childhood? Do you remember playing outside with neighborhood kids until the street lights came on or building forts, clubhouses, or bike ramps? How about heading to the playground for a pick-up game of kickball or just to swing and go down the slide (remember how hot those things got?) without any adults around?

Our children generally can’t do those things today. For both the better and the worse, our kids aren’t heading out into the world without adults or getting exposed to new sports or other activities through pick-up games on the playground. In fact, think about your local playground or sledding hill or school drop off area. Today there are just about as many adults in these areas as there are kids. We rarely allow our kids to be off on their own, and when we do, we know exactly where they will be, provide them phones to text us updates, and track them on our own phones.

I recently read a newsletter put out by Jack Schott, camp professional and youth program advisor, noting that summer camp today has taken the place of the experiences kids used to get growing up, back in a time when there was less supervision, less scheduled activities for kids, and less ways of staying connected to kids when they were out of the house. In other words, when kids had more freedom, made more of their own decisions, and took more risks. Camp provides the best of that “old neighborhood” but in a setting where there is supervision- it’s just from the cool college aged counselors who are well trained and who kids love to be around. Schott wrote, “It’s about taking what made those neighborhood adventures so special- the freedom, the creativity, the skinned knees and belly laughs- and making them possible again” Take a look at what Jack has to say.