A Letter To Campers

To Future Campers, Current Campers, and Concerned Parents alike,

If you really care about your kids, you should send them away. 

Some parents fear letting go of their children, and rightfully so. It can be terrifying to watch your pride and joy grow up and branch out on their own. As a parent, you’re there for all of the firsts, but sometimes, kids need to learn and grow on their own.

Summer sleepaway camp is the experience of a lifetime for kids, and it’s riddled with benefits. In fact, in a 2010 study by the Canadian Summer Camp Research Project, it was discovered that attending an overnight camp comes with a multitude of positive impacts. Kids were found to be more confident in themselves, more social, more empathetic and emotionally intelligent, and had both more appreciation for nature and the people around them. A kid after camp is altogether different from the kid you sent in. They’re more responsible, they take more risks, and they begin to blossom into their own person. Plus, the bonds that kids create at camp, with people from all around the country or even world, help develop them into impactful, empowered leaders of tomorrow.

As a camp attendee myself, I know firsthand what goes into play during the camp session. On top of that, as an older sibling, I watched my parents struggle to figure out the very best thing for my little sister when her time for camp came. And once she was with me in the mountains, I received plenty of instructions to send back a report on her and her friends for our parents, and theirs, in every letter I got from my mom. However, the pros easily outweigh the cons. From a young age, sleepaway kids are already being prepared to take care of themselves and make relationships in the real world. By the end of a session, which can be as short as two weeks, kids are lighter, happier, and have a better understanding of the world around them. 

I remember my first day so distinctly. The 4:00 AM rising time, the drive up the mountain that turned my stomach from motion-sickness and nerves, the first time I saw the lake in all its summer glory, the glazed donuts shoved into my hand, and my very first cabin, P-12R. A cabin that would bring memories good and bad, and friends that would last a lifetime. Through a day packed with unpacking, swimming tests, saying goodbye, and saying hello, there wasn’t a moment I wished to be somewhere else. And now, as I look back at the years I spent in the place that I was always jokingly complaining about, I wish I could have even more of it. This summer, my last summer, is the last time I will jump off the blob, the last time I will skip athletics to eat candy with my platonic soulmates, the last time I will be put in a “shelter in place” with no supervision, and the last time we will all be together as one. Losing a year to COVID, something I never thought I would regret, has become the one thing I wish I had back, more time. More time to sleep in the same tiny bed with two of my best friends in the world, laying on top of one another, silently laughing, and falling onto the floor. More time to freeze to death in the morning and sweat like it’s hell throughout the day. More time to sneak out onto the upper field for stargazing in the middle of the night. And more time to just be.

So to anyone considering camp, whether it be parents scared to let go, or kids intimidated by being alone, I would tell them to try it. Try it out and see what happens. Worst case scenario, you don’t go back the next year, but most likely, you will end up in the same place as me, wishing you could have more of it. 

Sincerely,

A final-summer camper who wishes she could turn back the clock. 

By: Sam Weiner