Posted on 07/31/2009 3:59:09 AM PDT by Kaslin
WASHINGTON -- In the venerable tradition of summer, my wife and I sent our two children -- a tween and a young teen -- off to camp last week. Both boys had butterflies, evidenced by their distracted silence in the car to the airport and the pained, nervous wave from beyond security. But this year there were no tears.
At camp, they gain many pointless, essential experiences -- of unfiltered starlight, and outdoor showers, and musty cabins, and spiders in odd corners, and the morning mist off a lake, and belligerent mosquitoes (my youngest claims to have once counted 40 bites), and sweltering evenings when sleep comes hard, and the glorious, eye-watering pleasure of watching a campfire rise and burn.
But the ultimate goal of camp is the cultivation of independence -- for a child to be away from home and face problems without the assistance of parents. Children stand on the edge of a cliff, willing themselves to jump into the water below. Or manage a canoe during a thunderstorm on an overnight trip. Or ride an impossibly high zip line into the lake. In the process, they pass from taking external direction to accepting internal challenges: I will do this, because I choose to do it -- because I want to test myself.
In a way, it is like teaching a child to float: Lie back, and somehow the water will hold you, even if I don't. Lie back, and somehow the world will hold you.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Camp...country kids everyday life.
prolly why I never went to camp...or was in scouts for that matter...
These camps usually go for $1500-2000 a week. Who can afford that kind of layout in this Oconomy? And yeah—fishing, mosquitoes, running around the woods/mountains? Pretty much my entire life before I turned 18.
Camps, like schools, foster cutting family ties.
They are a business for people who want to say goodbye to their kids. I’m amazed at parents who ship their kids off at 8 or 9. And the parents who tell stories of how scared the kids were. Nice.
Great for you, not for me or mine.
I’m with you!!!!
I can camp for 20.00 a night. My kids have all the fun of “camp” without the cost or the “Lord of the Flies” atmosphere.
(and I liked the “Oconomy”! Says it all)
My wife and I sent our two children to camp.They should have saved the money for Obama will have all kids in camp soon.
Wow, what part of the country are you from? Where I’m from, a week at a summer camp complete with lame showers, spiders everywhere, and a lake costs about $150 per kid. In addition, why a plane? Even in NYC, a 2-hour-long train ride that costs you all of $13 will get you far enough out of the city to go camping in the woods.
Trading Post money not included.
One week of knowing that 14 year old Lurker, Jr is rolling around in the mud, swimming in a lake, shooting .22's and bow and arrows, earning merit badges while Mrs. L and I have some peace: Priceless.
BTW, this week that my husband and I spent with our yuoungest was unexpectedly special. I should add that my son came home from camp with his soap and shampoo unopened.
Very true. Many are subsidized by churches and other groups and can even be free for needy kids. Then again, there are others that WILL set you back five figures for eight weeks. Several of them operate up here in Maine and NH. Lots of little city dwellers, miserable because they’ve never encountered the NH state bird, aka, the greenhead. We also have Phillips Exeter Academy down the road from where I live/work. $30K/year for day students, $50K/year if you want room and board. Not something many of the locals can afford.
It's our sons 3rd year at camp. We sent the same soap and shampoo we got him for the first year. We just kind of hose him off in the backyard as soon as he gets home.
Wow, that link is insane, although I agree that $200-$400 would be normal... the one I went to probably costs just over $200 a week now, it’s ‘nothing special’ in general camp terms but the environment and people there are very special =)
The craziest part of this all is high school kids who go to camp - at best they could be working as staff at summer camps and making money (and it’s WAY more fun than being a camper) and at worst the parents could enroll them in a summer college program so that at least they’re getting college credits while the parents are paying exorbitant amounts of money to get them out of the house... I think a standard 6-week summer course with room, board, and activities starts around $5000 at the local private colleges.
Oh, and even $10,000 is pretty cheap for college tuition. If I didn’t have enough scholarships and stuff that I didn’t have to pay for it, it would probably cost me $25K-$30K per year.
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