Should I be scared to send my kids to summer camp?

I

InMyOpinion

New member
My kids are 8 (twin boys). They went to this camp last year and I had terrible anxiety about letting them go. It's sleep-away camp, they're gone for a week. Both my kids have life-threatening food allergies. Nothing bad happened, they had a good time minus the thousand bug bites and bad sun burns (all a part of camp!). I only let them go because members of my church had offered to send/pay for them and I thought it was so beautiful of them to do that I didn't wanna say no.
I was planning on sending them again this year, we've even been selling chocolate bars the last 2 months to raise money (and so they could appreciate how much it costs to go to camp). But then the other day I was talking with my grandpa, and he says "hey did you hear about the 8 year old boy who drowned at summer camp a few days ago" I just got this horrible feeling in my stomach and now I refuse to let them go. Do you think I'm overreacting? I just feel like there's so many kids there, and they hire these inexperienced teens to take care of them. I sometimes find it hard to keep an eye on both my kids at the same time, and these teens are supposed to watch 4 or 5 kids by themselves?!
Am I over-reacting? I was gonna take them on a vacation instead, since we've raised the money and all.
 
I have worked as a camp counselor for several summers, both sleep away and day camp. The American Camping Assoc. has very strict guidlines on health and safety. Allergies are taken very seriously and counselors are made aware of them. Also, when I worked at a sleep away camp only college students were the counselors so it wasn't some 16 year old kid. Even the day camps that I worked at were mostly college age and older staff members.

In addition to bein ga counselor I was a water front director. There are very strict guidlines for swimming at camp. All staff who teach a water activity canoing skiing whatever have to be lifeguard certified. In addition, there are mandatory buddy checks ever 15 minutes I think. All kids in the water need to flip their tag everytime they get in so the staff knows how many people are in the water at a time. Also, all kids need to take a swim test before they can have access to the water. If they do not pass, they have to stay in the knee deep water. They have ways of IDing who goes in what area such as a swim cap. Honestly, your kids are probably safer swimming at camp than going to some random lake. Of course accidents happen but it is rare.

If they did well last summer there is no reason to think that they won't do well this summer. Camp is a wonderful experience for kids!
 
I know it will be hard to do, but i would let them go. They have worked so hard for this. Let them enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Things happen all the time, i would be scared but it wouldn't stop me from letting them go. They will be fine, the allergies will be watched, and if your boys have had even one swimming class they will be ok, life jackets are worn i am sure.

Take a deep breath and go for it.
 
I have worked as a camp counselor for several summers, both sleep away and day camp. The American Camping Assoc. has very strict guidlines on health and safety. Allergies are taken very seriously and counselors are made aware of them. Also, when I worked at a sleep away camp only college students were the counselors so it wasn't some 16 year old kid. Even the day camps that I worked at were mostly college age and older staff members.

In addition to bein ga counselor I was a water front director. There are very strict guidlines for swimming at camp. All staff who teach a water activity canoing skiing whatever have to be lifeguard certified. In addition, there are mandatory buddy checks ever 15 minutes I think. All kids in the water need to flip their tag everytime they get in so the staff knows how many people are in the water at a time. Also, all kids need to take a swim test before they can have access to the water. If they do not pass, they have to stay in the knee deep water. They have ways of IDing who goes in what area such as a swim cap. Honestly, your kids are probably safer swimming at camp than going to some random lake. Of course accidents happen but it is rare.

If they did well last summer there is no reason to think that they won't do well this summer. Camp is a wonderful experience for kids!
 
I'd let them go. They usually aren't teens they are college students. I went to camp and they watched us very closely. That was probably some freak accident not the norm.
 
That's like saying "did you hear about the child who got hit by a car in the crosswalk" and never letting them cross a road again.

Kids can drown in a bathtub - do you let them take a bath? Kids drown in swimming pools - do you let them go swimming?

It's not worth the anxiety. Not to mention you'll just pass the fears off onto your kids. For the hundreds of thousands of kids who go camping around the world every year, there are rarely any serious accidents. But yes, accidents sometimes do happen. You can't prevent those no matter where you are.
 
No you should NOT be nervous about them going to camp.
But it all depends, can your kids swim? do they get homesick easily? and do they make friends easily?
It's normal to worry about them, but I'm sure they had a lot of fun at camp.
The counselors are chosen at camps for a reason. Most camps have them being in collage or older. Odds are they are responsible and want to do what they are doing because little kids can be a handful.
 
I worked as a camp counselor for 2 summers - At our church camp we could volunteer for a week - I have to say that issues like allergies and medical conditions are taken very VERY seriously. Each counselor was given a copy of the registration forms for the kids in their cabins and the whole group was made aware of any issues like allergies. The teens that work at these camps are usually very well trained. I can't tell you what to do because you are there mom and why would you listen to some possible nut case on the internet? But you should feel confident that your boys will be OK for a week.
 
Check out the reputation of the camp where you're sending them and the qualifications of the staff. Look at the place and ask yourself if it looks safe. Think of the thousands of kids who go to camps every summer; the proportion who are seriously hurt or die is minuscule. The risks of playing unsupervised with their friends are probably higher.

It's a hard choice, but I remember that as my kids grew up, I was always walking that fine line between protecting them and letting them experience life. Every time they wanted to go snowboarding, ride horses, drive cars, go on school trips, or visit friends in foreign countries, I would hold my breath until they came home safely. I still do. It goes with the territory. And by the way, all three of my kids went to camps for about 6 years. Nothing bad happened.
 
I think you should let them go. Stuff happening like that is often VERY rare, or they have poor supervision. Can you meet with the camp leaders? If so ask them about the supervision that will be available and what activities would your children be doing? Your kids went last year and nothing happened, so keep that in mind as well. You have had them selling candy for 2 months to raise money to go and suddenly saying "You can't go". Will just make them disappointed and not want to work for something anymore in fear of being let down.
 
Back
Top