Safety Concerns At Youth Summer Camps

A couple of generations ago, parents sending their children off to summer camp would worry about their children staying up too late, or eating too many sweets from the tuck shop.  Today, there are many more serious safety concerns that perhaps were less of an issue before our society became so media driven. Youth summer camp leaders now have to deal with sex education related issues on top of their existing responsibilities.

It is easy to dismiss this concern – after all boys and girls have always been interested in each other, and had some harmless fun sneaking out to see each other while at summer camp, but things are different for this generation.  Youth summer camp can have a different atmosphere now, compared to how it would have been a couple of generations ago.  Many children are now hitting puberty at a young age, and some are experimenting with sexuality even before they reach puberty.

Any set of statistics about sexual activity will confirm that information. First kisses fell somewhere between the ages of 16-19 two generations ago. Now, shockingly for some adults, this happens anywhere from age 10-16. This means that youth summer camp has a higher and higher percentage of campers who are kissing each other.  

Can Anything Be Done?

While it might be shocking to many adults that children who, just 20 years ago, snuck out of their camp cabins at night to go to the ‘other side’ of the camp (boys sneaking to the girls’ side and vice versa) to talk are now doing it to kiss, and perhaps more, it’s the truth when it comes to many youth summer camp. Camps have always been strict, for the most part, about enforcing rules such as staying on one’s gender-appropriate domain, but at the same time, the counselors knew that that was part of the fun of summer camp.

You may have fond memories of sneaking out to go to the boys, or girls camp when you were a summer camp resident yourself – it was exciting to try to sneak out, and if you were caught, then it was an opportunity to boast to your peers – punishment was a badge of courage, so to speak.  The difference is that the reasons for sneaking out now have changed, instead of the act of sneaking out being part of the fun, the goal now is to kiss someone, or perhaps go further than that.  Parents now have the fear of pregnancy or diseases such as herpes to worry about when considering sending their child to a summer camp.  Or, perhaps worse than a treatable disease, the worry of a naive child having an experience that they are not ready to handle.  It is the responsibility of the summer camps to ensure this does not happen, and they have to evolve and be aware of the issues older children and teenagers face.

If possible, speak to the leaders and counselors at your chosen summer camp and explain your concerns.  It is important that they are taking safety at the camp seriously.  A youth summer camp should be an experience that is remembered by the campers for the rest of their lives, but for positive reasons, not traumatic ones.

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