Like I said, I see the appeal, and genuinely I do not think of myself as a helicopter parent, but the idea of giving strangers nearly unlimited access to your kid for idk I assume weeks at a time while you don’t is weird. That’s why I said I’d rather take them camping and let them run around in the woods, but be around if needed.
Summer camps are usually only for a week. It’s rare kids would be there for longer than that unless they are teenagers training to be camp counselors. Lots of summer camps are also associated with existing after school programs so parents aren’t totally unfamiliar with the people running them.
Okay, but that just seems like what I described but with extra steps? Taking your kids camping and being a trusted chaperone. Also that pretty much negates the benefit the other user described which is you get to reinvent yourself because no one knows you. Can’t really reinvent yourself when you’re surrounded by known peers. Might as well cut the middle man and just take your kids out yourself.
Well to be clear not all summer camps operate the same way. There’s going to be benefits at one you won’t find at another.
That said, I don’t think it is what you described like at all. Parents, especially working parents, are just not going to plan all the activities you would do at a summer camp. Yes there is hiking and biking but also archery, rock climbing, arts and crafts, and all kinds of games. Kids also get to learn about nature, conservation, geology, and more. It’s an enriching experience.
Like I said, I see the appeal, and genuinely I do not think of myself as a helicopter parent, but the idea of giving strangers nearly unlimited access to your kid for idk I assume weeks at a time while you don’t is weird. That’s why I said I’d rather take them camping and let them run around in the woods, but be around if needed.
Summer camps are usually only for a week. It’s rare kids would be there for longer than that unless they are teenagers training to be camp counselors. Lots of summer camps are also associated with existing after school programs so parents aren’t totally unfamiliar with the people running them.
Okay, but that just seems like what I described but with extra steps? Taking your kids camping and being a trusted chaperone. Also that pretty much negates the benefit the other user described which is you get to reinvent yourself because no one knows you. Can’t really reinvent yourself when you’re surrounded by known peers. Might as well cut the middle man and just take your kids out yourself.
Well to be clear not all summer camps operate the same way. There’s going to be benefits at one you won’t find at another.
That said, I don’t think it is what you described like at all. Parents, especially working parents, are just not going to plan all the activities you would do at a summer camp. Yes there is hiking and biking but also archery, rock climbing, arts and crafts, and all kinds of games. Kids also get to learn about nature, conservation, geology, and more. It’s an enriching experience.