camp
The Importance of Summer Camp Friendships
Now more than ever, kids need the close bonds formed at camp By Madeleine Burry When summer camp is over and campers return home, many kids experience “camp sickness,” a phenomenon that’s the reverse of homesickness. And while camp facilities may be lovely and the atmosphere free from anxiety, it’s not the camp itself that kids miss most. It’s the friendships they formed that spark these feelings. Camp, as it turns out, is uniquely suited to provide all the very best ingredients for forming friendships: an escape from routine, shared activities, and exposure to new things—all happening under the watchful eye of well-trained role models. In fact, the friends kids make in camp—whether it’s day camp or a sleepaway—often last years, even decades. In an American Camp Association survey of more than 5,000 families around the U.S., 69 percent of families said their camper was still in contact with the kids they met at camp. That’s why during this period of social isolation brought on by the pandemic, it’s more important than ever for kids to experience the kinds of friendships made at summer camp. Here are a few reasons why those camp friendships form—and last—so powerfully.
Goodbye Tech; hello connecTions At many camps, no electronics are permitted. Plus, the stress of real life—between exams, daily homework assignments, phones 16
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vibrating with alerts, and after-school activities—is also absent. “At camp, kids and staff really get to connect with each other in a way society doesn’t provide anymore,” says Dan Weir, senior director of program development at the YMCA of Long Island. With the pressures of the outside world removed, what remains is a common routine and activities. It’s an environment that encourages kids to let down their guard and open themselves up. The hope, Weir says, is that kids who are unplugged will spend time with others, making deeper connections.
A chAnce To define And ReinvenT youRself At home, a child may be popular, the class clown, sporty, a slow reader, or forever tagged by an embarrassing event that took place in fourth grade. Labels are removed at camp; it’s an opportunity for a fresh start with a new community. “That’s the beauty of camp: You get to define who you are and who you want to be,” Weir says. Andy Lustig, a fashion designer who attended an all-girls camp in Maine, says she seized the moment to jettison the personality traits she didn’t like about herself. “Andy, you’re going to go there and you’re not going to be shy—you’re going to be outgoing,” she resolved. For her, camp was a place where she could recreate herself.
